Updated Below
We all know about Reddit’s blackout in protest of SOPA (and what you should do with that spare time) and we’ve all wished that other internet giants would join in. Many sites are protesting SOPA by blacking out their sites, leaving only a few links to information on the legislation that stands in the path of a free internet. Recently, we’ve learned that Imgur and Wikipedia will also join in the blackout, meaning that a lot more people will see it.
But without action by the true giants such as Facebook, Twitter and Google, many of the tech-unsavvy folks will still be blissfully unaware of what is looming. According to CNet, Google plans to post a link on its US homepage. According to a spokesperson;
[quote]Like many businesses, entrepreneurs and web users, we oppose these bills because there are smart, targeted ways to shut down foreign rogue websites without asking American companies to censor the Internet, so tomorrow we will be joining many other tech companies to highlight this issue on our US home page.[/quote]
Google says it will not cover or replace the Google logo, or blacking out the website, but it’s still more sets of eyes on a very important issue. And as we mentioned in the most recent episode of the podcast (due out soon), the Whitehouse has said that the President does not support many of the key parts of the bill, which has put SOPA by the wayside. However, the threat isn’t over. The main argument is that it’s not worth surrendering (or limiting/taking) the freedoms of all to save the intellectual property of the few, even if those few have the fat wallets.
Thanks to Melissa for the tip.
Source: CNet
SOPA has actually been shelved at this point, so the protest is just PIPA right now, which is the Senate version of the bill.
I mentioned that, but SOPA is the big name, and gets the attention as the “bad idea bill”
Actually it’s back on the table. So tomorrow’s blackouts will have impact after all.
Yeah, I’ve seen that as well.
I hope it passes.