The Internet Blackout

[ResonanceSD]

http://gizmodo.com/5876984/the-mpaa-says-blackout-protests-are-an-abuse-of-power?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

The MPAA are saying that these blackouts being done by big websites are an abuse of power, and are being done to further their own corporate interests.

I have no words for this.

If you don't want to click on the link, here's what the chairmen of the MPAA said:

It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information and use their services. It is also an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today. It's a dangerous and troubling development when the platforms that serve as gateways to information intentionally skew the facts to incite their users in order to further their corporate interests.

Yes, this is real and he actually said this.

Again, I have no words.

I think I'll keep living life as normal and avoid giving any of the sites that join in this absurd blackout any of my money if possible. They are just tools of pirates and corporations and I refuse to help them.

I think we found who Cool Kid's real life identity is.

Seriously, I hope the blackout gives a reminder of what will happen if SOPA passes.

Yeah I'm sure that three major content gateways will be arbitrarily shut down under SOPA. That could totally happen.

 

[theultimateend]

"I am committed to continuing to work with my colleagues in the House and Senate to send a bipartisan bill to the White House that saves American jobs and protects intellectual property."

This ALWAYS means jobs will be lost.

I think I'll keep living life as normal and avoid giving any of the sites that join in this absurd blackout any of my money if possible. They are just tools of pirates and corporations and I refuse to help them.

Lol... just, lol.

What, what?

>tools of pirates and corporations
>Pirates and corporations
>pick one

Yeah I silverman'd at that cool kid post.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

http://gizmodo.com/5876984/the-mpaa-says-blackout-protests-are-an-abuse-of-power?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

The MPAA are saying that these blackouts being done by big websites are an abuse of power, and are being done to further their own corporate interests.

I have no words for this.

If you don't want to click on the link, here's what the chairmen of the MPAA said:

It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information and use their services. It is also an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today. It's a dangerous and troubling development when the platforms that serve as gateways to information intentionally skew the facts to incite their users in order to further their corporate interests.

Yes, this is real and he actually said this.

Again, I have no words.

I- Wh-

It sounds almost like he seriously believes that and isn't just trying to spin the situation.

Wow.

 

[AndyRock]

hmm, getting my motherboard tomorrow/today, hope this doesn't hinder me too much, but on the plus side, sopa should be stopped and one of the best ways of doing that is getting as many people against it as possible and that is exactly what this is achieving. It needs a major rework before it will be acceptable if not just completely scrapped.

 

[malkavianmadman]

Now imagine if they got the porn sites to go down. Half the internet would burn over that.

that would get peoples attention.

 

[FalloutJack]

*Starts passing around candles*

Anyone care for a round of singing?

Sure. Now let me think of a song that isn't copyrighted.... oh yeah NONE.

Aren't we fighting that crap anyway?

 

[NerfedFalcon]

I'm probably going to be playing Skyrim, assuming Steam doesn't go down. Else, 999.

 

[triggrhappy94]

Well as of 9:00pm Pacific time, Wikipedia has been down and will remain down until 9 tomorrow. I heard that Reddit and BoingBoing are also particapating. There's not much us as individual's can do, except mass spam our representative. If you go to Wiki now they'll help you.

I actually came on here to see if the Escapist was also going offline.

 

[triggrhappy94]

What the hell? Facebook is on that list, THE fucking Facebook.com, but Escapist can't be arsed?'

Edit: Nvrmnd, was just a lot of Facebook-related sites. Still, why no Escapist?

I was wondering the samething.
I think it'd just be preaching to the choir, if the Escapist went down. But it would be interesting to see what would happen, seeing how Wednsday is always high-traffic day.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Google is still up... so only Wikipedia is blacked out for a day?

Not really a monumental event...

EDIT: LOL

Even the pirate sites are still up. Too funny!

At least Google blacked out their doodle and had a "stop SOPA" message at the bottom. Hardly as big of a move as they needed to make if they really wanted to raise awareness, though. Wordpress is also down, or at least the main page has been replaced with a message about SOPA on it. I'm wondering why Reddit, Newgrounds, and CIA.gov are still up, though. CIA.gov is the least surprising; I don't think they can voluntarily do that, the name was probably inserted by a prankster -- maybe even one who plans on doing an anonops style takeover of the front page. Reddit and Newgrounds are a bit more surprising, though.

Edit: Daily Kos's take is entertaining, though. It starts out clean, but then the text gradually gets covered in what looks like a black magic marker. Think "statement redacted."

http://dailykos.com/

 

[oppp7]

Which response do you choose?
Horray! Fight da powah everyone! We gotta work together!
Damn, not sure if I can get through a day without Wikipedia.
This probably won't affect shit...
I say we attack Congress.

Hm... blue's a retarded slacktivist, green's trying to be funny and failing, orange is probably trolling, and red is trying to get me arrested. Lets see what the other colors think...

As long as the porn stays I'm ok with whatever.
WHY IS EVERYONE AGAINST THIS BILL?
This will probably work.
I hope this turns out ok. I don't want anyone else to lose their jobs over this. <white text
Oh man, I hope MLP stays up!
WTH is Reddit? I'll go check Wikipedia... *Wikipedia is down* AAAAHHHHHHH!!!
Hands up if you've actually read the bill.

Ugh, I guess I'll go with yellow.

And yes, I'm going to retry this stupid gimmick thing.

 

[Guardian of Nekops]

What the hell? Facebook is on that list, THE fucking Facebook.com, but Escapist can't be arsed?'

Edit: Nvrmnd, was just a lot of Facebook-related sites. Still, why no Escapist?

The Escapist is one of the places that actually discusses these issues for internet junkies. Other sites, like Wikipedia, have a wider apeal, and are doing their part by telling the masses, "Hey, you need us. Please don't let them take away our rights."

Completely different roles in fighting SOPA and other bills like it.

 

[Space Jawa]

If Google goes down for a day that could kill SOPA stone dead...

Or alternatively, it would just drive their customers to go use one of the other dozens of search engines out there. Do you really think people are that attached to Google that they'd refuse to use any other search engine and go complain to the government rather than saying "hey, I wonder if I can find what I'm looking for on Bing or Yahoo instead?"?

That's probably the major reason why Wikipedia is doing this while these other major websites are making a token effort. Wikipedia, unlike sites such as Google or Newsgrounds, is more a non-profit based organization that runs off of donations (you know, the reason they have those big banners at the top of the website every so often asking for money?). But if a for-profit website that gets its money from ad sales or otherwise running like a real for-profit company were to try to do what Wikipedia is doing right now, they'd risk A) Ticking off their customers; B) loosing money; C) driving their customers to other websites that ARN'T doing a 1-day blockout, potentially running the risk of loosing that customer long term if they discover that they like the alternative better instead.

So Wikipedia probably figures they can get away with doing the blackout while these other companies that might have supposedly joined Wiki reasoned that the potential risks of the blackout were not worth it to make the same kind of political statement.

 

[Treblaine]

So I guess escapist isn't blacking out tomorrow?

What's the point in a blackout if people have no where to vent about it?

 

[Treblaine]

If Google goes down for a day that could kill SOPA stone dead...

Or alternatively, it would just drive their customers to go use one of the other dozens of search engines out there. Do you really think people are that attached to Google that they'd refuse to use any other search engine and go complain to the government rather than saying "hey, I wonder if I can find what I'm looking for on Bing or Yahoo instead?"?

Bing is the default search engine on my placement PC's browsers. I can't stand it. The most common search on Bing must be "google" to quickly link them to a better search engine. Google is on top for a reason.

Everyone got an ipad because it was so much freaking better than almost every other MP3 player out there. Shortages of iPads didn't drive them to competition, they waited rather than spend almost as much on something inferior.

 

[seraphy]

So I guess escapist isn't blacking out tomorrow?

What's the point in a blackout if people have no where to vent about it?

They would went about it tomorrow.

 

[Space Jawa]

If Google goes down for a day that could kill SOPA stone dead...

Or alternatively, it would just drive their customers to go use one of the other dozens of search engines out there. Do you really think people are that attached to Google that they'd refuse to use any other search engine and go complain to the government rather than saying "hey, I wonder if I can find what I'm looking for on Bing or Yahoo instead?"?

Bing is the default search engine on my placement PC's browsers. I can't stand it. The most common search on Bing must be "google" to quickly link them to a better search engine. Google is on top for a reason.

Everyone got an ipad because it was so much freaking better than almost every other MP3 player out there. Shortages of iPads didn't drive them to competition, they waited rather than spend almost as much on something inferior.

Your attempt at a comparison here kind of falls flat given the differences between your example and the situation we're looking at.

For one, getting an iPad or an iPod is a far bigger commitment than deciding what web browser you're going to use on a given day, especially since you're paying a lot more money for it and you can't switch your MP3 player for another model or brand quite as easily.

Plus, given the circumstances, you'd either have to have Google or Wikipedia saying "Sorry, we don't have enough room for you to search our site right now, please come back later" OR you'd have to have Apple saying "Sorry, but we're not going to sell you an iPad right now because we're protesting X Legislation" in order for the comparison to match up.