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7:05 pm - 01/04/2012
JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL - THE INTERNET TO SHUT DOWN TO PROTEST SOPA
If Wikipedia Jimmy Wales' threat to turn off the crowd-sourced encyclopedia to protest the Stop Internet Piracy Act (SOPA) sent you into a cold sweat, you won't welcome this news.
Google, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Zynga and Etsy, along with other Internet-based companies take a "nuclear option" and "go simultaneously dark" in protest of the bill, and to "highlight the fundamental danger the legislation poses to the function of the Internet," ExtremeTech reports:
There’s been no formal decision on the matter, and the companies in question obviously risk consumer anger and backlash over any suspension of services. There is, however, safety in numbers — and a few simple sentences identifying why the blackout is in place will ensure that the majority of the rage flows in the proper direction.
SOPA, which the U.S. House Judiciary Committee is set to review later this month, makes the streaming of unauthorized content a felony. Further, the "vague language would create devastating new tools for silencing legitimate speech all around the Web," warns the Electronic Frontier Foundation. It's a concern shared by free speech and digital rights activists, as well as many major Internet-based companies.
Protests against SOPA went mainstream in December when members of the Reddit community organized a protest against Web-hosting giant Go Daddy for its initial SOPA support. More than 37,000 domains were transferred as part of the "Dump Go Daddy" protest, leading the company to make a solid statement opposing SOPA.
In anticipation of the hearing, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales conducted a straw poll recently to gauge Wikipedian interest in a community strike — a blackout of either the U.S. Wikipedia pages, or even the entire site. At that time, 87 percent of respondents were in favor of a strike.
Now, as part of the NetCoalition trade association, these companies are joining Wikipedia's Wikimedia Foundation in a possible Internet blackout:
AOL
eBay
Etsy
Facebook
Foursquare
Google
IAC
LinkedIn
Mozilla
OpenDNS
PayPal
Twitter
Yahoo!
Zynga
As ExtremeTech reports, there are no concrete plans for implementing the "nuclear option," but the most likely date for such a blackout is Jan. 23, the day before the Senate is scheduled to debate SOPA.
Source
Google, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Zynga and Etsy, along with other Internet-based companies take a "nuclear option" and "go simultaneously dark" in protest of the bill, and to "highlight the fundamental danger the legislation poses to the function of the Internet," ExtremeTech reports:
There’s been no formal decision on the matter, and the companies in question obviously risk consumer anger and backlash over any suspension of services. There is, however, safety in numbers — and a few simple sentences identifying why the blackout is in place will ensure that the majority of the rage flows in the proper direction.
SOPA, which the U.S. House Judiciary Committee is set to review later this month, makes the streaming of unauthorized content a felony. Further, the "vague language would create devastating new tools for silencing legitimate speech all around the Web," warns the Electronic Frontier Foundation. It's a concern shared by free speech and digital rights activists, as well as many major Internet-based companies.
Protests against SOPA went mainstream in December when members of the Reddit community organized a protest against Web-hosting giant Go Daddy for its initial SOPA support. More than 37,000 domains were transferred as part of the "Dump Go Daddy" protest, leading the company to make a solid statement opposing SOPA.
In anticipation of the hearing, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales conducted a straw poll recently to gauge Wikipedian interest in a community strike — a blackout of either the U.S. Wikipedia pages, or even the entire site. At that time, 87 percent of respondents were in favor of a strike.
Now, as part of the NetCoalition trade association, these companies are joining Wikipedia's Wikimedia Foundation in a possible Internet blackout:
AOL
eBay
Etsy
Foursquare
IAC
Mozilla
OpenDNS
PayPal
Yahoo!
Zynga
As ExtremeTech reports, there are no concrete plans for implementing the "nuclear option," but the most likely date for such a blackout is Jan. 23, the day before the Senate is scheduled to debate SOPA.
Source
And yes, this sounds crazy but ... this is really what it will do. Congress either is too stupid to listen to people talking about how abusable this is, or are totally sold out. They are trying their damnedest to railroad it through.
bye
I cried like a baby at this movie... so much love for it.
going to make a butt-ugly sim and name it "internet" and then kill it and cry to myself
yes i know this makes me a cowardly lion a-hole.
shit terrifies me
I mean I see what you and everyone else in the thread is saying about avoiding it bc of how it affects you, but that attitude can leak into other areas of your life and that's no bueno.
/cool starry bra
idk I just get disturbed when I see endless comments of peopel proclaiming willful ignorance of important issues on the basis of emotional security
i can't believe it
I'm far more interested in seeing the SHITSTORM that happens. No lie, I honestly hope it does come to this, I'll be sitting in front of whatever's still up with every popcorn.gif ever.