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Explainer articles about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) are all over the Web. The Guardian does a nice job of breaking down the main issues in this two-minute video. SOPA, the narrator says, has ”turned into a culture war over two American touchstones, free speech and the economy.”
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Explainer: understanding Sopa | World news | guardian.co.uk
6 days ago … Will 2012 see the end of the internet as we know it? The House judiciary committee tried to finalize the Stop Online Pir… -
Consumer technology site Cnet offers answers to FAQs, including how the proposed laws would be carried out, the potential security risks for such a measure and a list of who in Congress supports or opposes the bills.
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How SOPA would affect you: FAQ | Privacy Inc. – CNET News
Nov 21, 2011 … An in-depth look at the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act, backed by Hollywood and opposed by the largest Web compa… -
Lance Ulanoff, editor-in-chief of Mashable.com, a technology, social media-centric site, has authored a passionate editorial in opposition of the bills in which he acknowledges that “real content piracy remains a persistent and daunting problem for companies and creators who rely on revenues from the content they create to continue making more content and, sometimes, simply to survive.” But he argues that “the language in SOPA is so irrational that I can only assume that the authors and backers wanted nothing more than to fundamentally change the rules of the web: To shut down the open post fields, kill reposting (goodbye, Tumblr), end shared videos (sorry, YouTube), expand the definition of what it means to infringe (sorry, Twitter, no sharing links that aren’t yours).
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SOPA Will Take Us Back to the Dark Ages
I had an epiphany today. The Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, was not written by people who fundamentally misunderstand how the web works… -
Attempting to put things into perspective, the folks over at Gawker Media have compiled a short list of what everyday Web users need to know about the bill, including a word of caution about the hype surrounding the bill. ”Techies have been freaking out like SOPA would force U.S. troops to crush one million kittens, instead of just possibly censor some websites.”
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What Even Non Nerds Need to Know About SOPA
Today, some of the best websites on the internet—and Reddit—are blacked-out to protest SOPA. But you think “SOPA” is what an … -
A video produced by a group called “Fight for the Future” also attempts to explain what’s at stake in the SOPA and Protect IP Act (PIPA) legislation. The video, created in October 2011, has rocketed across the Web, garnering millions of plays. On Wednesday, the video played more than 860,000 times.
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To protest the bill, a handful of popular websites have “gone dark” on Wednesday, Jan. 18, meaning they’ve blocked their content. It’s an effort to show web users what they’d be missing should Congress pass the bills. The New York Times summarizes the developments, which the paper dubbed “A Political Coming of Age for the Tech Industry.”
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Web Site Will Shut Down to Protest Antipiracy Bills
The bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House and the Protect IP Act in the Senate, are backed by major media companies and are most… -
A look at some of the landing pages for the websites that have “gone dark” to protest the SOPA bill.
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Google has also created this graphic and advocacy page with a link urging users to sign a petition in opposition to SOPA and the Protect IP Act (PIPA):
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End Piracy, Not Liberty – GoogleTwo bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would cen…
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Flickr.com, the popular photo sharing social network, is also inviting users to participate in a creative protest. They’re “letting members darken their photos — or the photos of others — for a 24-hour period to deprive the web of the rich content that makes it thrive. Your symbolic act will help draw attention to this issue and let others know about the potential harmful impacts of these bills.”
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Help raise awareness about PIPA & SOPA « Flickr BlogTwo bills are currently being considered in the U.S. Congress: PIPA the “Protect IP Act” and SOPA the “Stop Online Piracy Act.” Both are …
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New York Times media writer David Carr has a great take on Wikipedia’s “genius” blackout. Well worth a read.
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How I’m Surviving (or Trying to) Without Wikipedia at My Fingertips
My Internet is broken today. Hitting that “all known thought” button on my toolbar gives me a quick, maddening glimpse of Wikipedia and t… -
Here’s a look at some of the Twitter and Facebook reactions to the bills and associated protests.
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“Just announced NO votes on #PIPA: Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), a former co-sponsor. #SOPA
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“Mark Zuckerberg breaks his silence: “Facebook opposes #SOPA and #PIPA” theatln.tc/x4iQ6X via @theatlanticwire
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“Confused? If it’s #SOPA it’s the House, if it’s #PIPA it’s the Senate, if it’s freedom it’s being destroyed.
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“Imagine if we didn’t have social media to discuss the possible disappearance of social media… Wait. #SOPA #PIPA
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“Today is #SOPA Shutdown down. And here’s why you should care – t.co/Y5IbjmxY
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“Why #Wikipediablackout? #SOPA & #PIPA will cause serious damage to the free and open Internet. t.co/5XZxICGC
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“. @AJStream has put together great documentation of everything going on with #SOPA today: t.co/Qi5dC9J2
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“Awesome: Tumblr auto connecting people by phone via web-autodial to Senators re protesting #SOPA and #PIPA t.co/KggRWq65
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“This is the #SOPA explainer video to share with your non-techie friends and family: t.co/gErvb0AS
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“So, if the sponsors of the SOPA and PIPA bills pull their names from them, doesn’t that effectively kill the bills?: http://mashable.com/2012/01/18/pipa-sopa-abandon-bill/
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“I get the whole SOPA thing but where am I supposed to get my quasi factual information from without Wikipedia?
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“My tumblr is blacked out by choice of course to oppose against PIPA, SOPA, or whatever else lol. It feels weird to not be able to rant and other things on tumblr but it’s only for one day <3
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“Solidarity! PressThink is dark for the day: check it out:… pressthink.org/blackout.html (Thanks to webmaster Tim Libert.)
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“Awe-inspiring crowd at anti-#PIPA protest in front of Senator Schumer and Gillibrand’s offices. #SOPA
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“The audio is up from this morning’s #SOPA #PIPA debate on NPR’s @OnPointRadio! t.co/nQYTYCfo
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“Confused by all the talk of SOPA and Protect IP and threats to the internet? Here’s what’s going on: t.co/IzrtW10J
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“Like wikipedia? Then you probably better go check it out today, read up on SOPA, and contact your representatives.
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“RT @mozilla: SOPA and “The Great Firewall of America:” what it is and how to stop it ow.ly/8y7VM #stopSOPA #SOPAstrike
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Finally, some Patch readers may know we’re owned by AOL. While the companies aren’t participating in the blackout, Tekedra N. Mawakana, AOL’s Senior Vice President of Public Policy, issued a statement Wednesday morning. It reads:
“As written, we cannot support the bills. We believe an open Internet is critical for innovation, job creation, and the sustained growth of Internet businesses. We are in the process of working directly with lawmakers to improve the bills.”
