[supersloth]

oh no

[Craig328]

Yep. Just gonna let that one roll on by.

[r.stiltskin]

[ccubed]

WolfCoder, on 15 January 2012 - 06:15 PM, said:

..But annoying users of these sites are the point, it catches the attention of people and lets them know about SOPA. The problem is, all of us already know, so we're just going to be plain annoyed.

Which is the point. The websites that are participating, people who visit them already know what SOPA and PIPA are. Like Dream.In.Code. Sure, it's a nice gesture. Sure, it's great that they're supporting an effort to raise awareness about SOPA, but at the end of the day, how many people on DIC don't already know about SOPA? How many people on Reddit /aren't/ complaining about SOPA and making jokes about it each day?

Now hopefully this gets on the news - I doubt it - but if it does, then hey, instant anti-sopa awareness. Otherwise, you're just reminding a bunch of people who already know about the issue that the issue exists.

[Craig328]

I heard a story about it on NPR this morning around the 8AM news. The reporter and producer of the story were pretty much ignorant as stumps about it and so fell back on playing sound bites from a couple of people both for and against and then ended it with an odd leaping claim that whatever bill gets voted on in Congress (SOPA or PIPA) "will look very different than they did just a few months ago". There wasn't anything in the piece to suggest that any effort was being made to offer amendments to the bills. In fact, the immediately preceding sound bite was Harry Reid saying he still wanted a vote on it and then offered some banalities about wanting it to be a "winner for everyone".

So, it's making news outside of tech circles...but it's being reported by idiots quoting other idiots.

[Magixion]

Don't know the rules about pornography here, so I will not add a link, but a certain porn site also blacked out today. That should get the message across to a few other people other than just the more tech savvy crowd.

[macosxnerd101]

Just an update. The blackouts yesterday had a major impact. SOPA and PIPA lost a ton of support on Capital Hill.

Cite: http://www.cnn.com/2...uts/?hpt=hp_bn3

Quote

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who was an initial co-sponsor of PIPA, reversed his position.

"I have decided to withdraw my support for the Protect IP Act. Furthermore, I encourage Senator Reid to abandon his plan to rush the bill to the floor. Instead, we should take more time to address the concerns raised by all sides, and come up with new legislation that addresses Internet piracy while protecting free and open access to the Internet," Rubio wrote on a Facebook post.

Rep Lee Terry (R-Neb.), an original co-sponsor of SOPA, also said he had changed his view.

"Thank you for your concern about #SOPA. I have asked to have my name removed from the bill. However, the economic impact of IP theft is real and a solution is needed," Terry wrote on Facebook.

Wikipedia, one of the websites that shut down on Wednesday, returned Thursday with the message: "Thank you for protecting Wikipedia. We're not done yet."

Clicking on that message takes a Wikipedia viewer to a thank you letter and instructions on how to continue fighting against anti-piracy bills that critics say could amount to censorship.

Even Obama says he will not support the Bill.
Cite: http://newsone.com/n...et-piracy-bill/

Quote

WASHINGTON-President Barack Obama has said that we would not support the controversial SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) that would allow the justice department to force search engines from linking to sites that were accused of copyright infringement and require Internet providers to block those sites as well.

[modi123_1]

Quote

Rep Lee Terry (R-Neb.), an original co-sponsor of SOPA, also said he had changed his view.

"Thank you for your concern about #SOPA. I have asked to have my name removed from the bill. However, the economic impact of IP theft is real and a solution is needed," Terry wrote on Facebook.

You're welcome for that one folks. Clearly my letter to my House Rep worked.

Side note - I found thedailywtf's "Support The Daily WTF in Supporting the Support SOPA Movement" pretty funny.

[Magixion]

I also sent a letter to Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and he denounced his co-sponsorship and said he would not be voting for PIPA when the vote comes up next week.

You're welcome as well.