SOPA/PIPA blackouts

[xoul]

I know everybody's trying to make a point to congress, which I'm all for, but blocking these services isn't necessarily hurting congress, it's moreso hurting the rest of the country (or world, in the case of some websites). If they want to raise awareness, a banner or something on websites' homepages would suffice (like Google did). Blocking the usefulness of the site seems to me almost like childish behavior. Like, "oh yeah, well YOU CANT USE MAH WEBSITES, SO THERE!!!"

Ugh.

 

[Things]

Agreed. It's especially annoying when you don't even live in the US and don't have any say in what the US government does ...

BTW, if you wanna read something on Wikipedia, just stop the page from loading quickly before the SOPA blackout pops up.

 

[xoul]

Agreed. It's especially annoying when you don't even live in the US and don't have any say in what the US government does ...

BTW, if you wanna read something on Wikipedia, just stop the page from loading quickly before the SOPA blackout pops up.

Honestly, even if you live here, a regular citizen still has very little in the way of congressional influence. You can "write your congressmen", which in most cases never even makes it to they eyes of the congressman/woman. You get a "on behalf" response from an assistant, that usually dodges your question or statements. That's what I got anyway, when I did it once.



On the wikipedia thing, using Google cache is a great way to get around that I've found.

 

[Bluefan]

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/English_Wikipedia_SOPA_blackout/Technical_FAQ

They provide all the simple means to circumvent the blackout. I completely agree with the wikipedia action.

 

[Sigurthr]

I can see where they are coming from though with the black out. It is more of a "see, this is what it would be like if SOPA went through and we got shut down" than it is a true protest. They should have really come out and said it that way instead of this silly "we're closing our doors (except the non-java back door) because we don't like what is going on".

SOPA and PIPA need to be stopped, but it takes more than one website being silly to change something like this, and as Xoul stated; thinking writing in to congressmen will do any good is naive.

 

[FireMyLaser]

I don't think it is such a bad idea because this will raise awareness to those who did not know about the bills, and generate more petition signatures from these blacked out sites.
And it is only for one day... But if the bills pass, this is how most of the Internet will look like, possibly forever.

 

[Guyfromhe]

Yeah screw SOPA. I didn't even know about it till I saw someone posting about it here... This got the news covering it and lots more exposure... If the congress peoples assistants get flooded with emails and calls they might do something about it.

When a few people write or call in they obviously won't care.

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

I know everybody's trying to make a point to congress, which I'm all for, but blocking these services isn't necessarily hurting congress, it's moreso hurting the rest of the country (or world, in the case of some websites). If they want to raise awareness, a banner or something on websites' homepages would suffice (like Google did). Blocking the usefulness of the site seems to me almost like childish behavior. Like, "oh yeah, well YOU CANT USE MAH WEBSITES, SO THERE!!!"

Ugh.

Agreed. It's especially annoying when you don't even live in the US and don't have any say in what the US government does ...

BTW, if you wanna read something on Wikipedia, just stop the page from loading quickly before the SOPA blackout pops up.

1. The services are not at all unavailable.

2. Banners are EASY to ignore. This has been a very visible issue in the tech community for a VERY long time. Only with drastic examples, YOU, the general public are finally taking notice.

The goal of this action is to bring attention to an issue that WILL have INTERNATIONAL ramifications. Where US leads, many nations, including those down under, often follow. (Maybe not in popular sentiment, but certainly in government regulations.)

If this brings some international pressure to get rid of SOPA and PIPA, all the better.

It would have been amazing if google and facebook actually shut down for a day. To show the reality of what's being proposed.

Either that or started serving up ONLY government sites... to show that the MPAA and RIAA approved internet would look like.

So are you guys really complaining about a very temporary inconvenience in favor of not taking any action, and dealing with a permanent problem?

Under SOPA/PIPA, companies like C@$e0 would be able to shut down LPF EASILY. Just bear that in mind the next time you see a post with some beautiful photos, and build instructions, or analysis of a new diode.

 

[Elektrotechniker]

The title made me crackup. PIPA in greek means blwjob :crackup:

 

[FireMyLaser]

SOPA means loser in Swedish

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

The title made me crackup. PIPA in greek means blwjob :crackup:

How oddly appropriate... an act created by politicians whoring themselves out called bl:shhh:wjob.

SOPA means loser in Swedish

Just gets better and better :crackup:

 

[joeyss]

I don't think it is such a bad idea because this will raise awareness to those who did not know about the bills, and generate more petition signatures from these blacked out sites.
And it is only for one day... But if the bills pass, this is how most of the Internet will look like, possibly forever.

Exactly, even LPF would be in danger if this bill were to pass. The FDA or a certain company that makes projectors would be able to just get use shut down like that...since we could be violating some BS law that they now have the power to enforce...."OMG UR USING OUR DIODES WITHOUT PERMISSION ...VERY BAD."

 

[BShanahan14rulz]

It only takes a few minutes to write/call your congressman. What with people paying money for lotto tickets in hopes of receiving something when nothing is there, we should have no problem paying a small amount of time for something that may or may not affect the outcome. At least you can say you tried.

sopa and pipa are supported by morons in congress who are AFRAID of computers, who don't even understand the internet. I would like to see one of these bills passed, only to see the chaotic rebuttal by the public. Government needs to understand that the internet isn't owned by the US. They have no right to strip us of our constitutional rights, how dare they try to sneak this by us!

Or maybe I'm just looking at this the wrong way. Perhaps we will be a stronger country if we are all oblivious. Maybe we can simply run our people off of emotions. We'd have to find a way to keep people from thinking bad thoughts, but I guess that would fall under pipa.

 

[xoul]

1. The services are not at all unavailable.

2. Banners are EASY to ignore. This has been a very visible issue in the tech community for a VERY long time. Only with drastic examples, YOU, the general public are finally taking notice.

The goal of this action is to bring attention to an issue that WILL have INTERNATIONAL ramifications. Where US leads, many nations, including those down under, often follow. (Maybe not in popular sentiment, but certainly in government regulations.)

If this brings some international pressure to get rid of SOPA and PIPA, all the better.

It would have been amazing if google and facebook actually shut down for a day. To show the reality of what's being proposed.

Either that or started serving up ONLY government sites... to show that the MPAA and RIAA approved internet would look like.

So are you guys really complaining about a very temporary inconvenience in favor of not taking any action, and dealing with a permanent problem?

Under SOPA/PIPA, companies like C@$e0 would be able to shut down LPF EASILY. Just bear that in mind the next time you see a post with some beautiful photos, and build instructions, or analysis of a new diode.

While it seems most can be bypass through one means or another, some of my regular websites completely stripped their homepage of everything. So yes, there several that have completely unavailable services.

I can't speak for everyone, but the ones that use the FULL PAGE BLACK SCREENS are impossible for me to ignore, so adding a tiny (click here to continue) wouldn't be a total disservice, I don't think.

I am completely against SOPA/PIPA, but I feel the same amount of awareness would have been raised if pages like Strike Against SOPA & PIPA had a tiny link or something to bypass the banner. You think congress really gives a damn if Wikipedia goes black for a day? The people that are being hurt the most by these blackouts are the ones that couldn't put their hands on a congressman if their lives depended on it. The big companies raising the awareness are, with their lobbyists and finances. I would stake my life that if this bill somehow only impacted individuals but not the big internet companies, the awareness would have never been raised. And the secret society known as congress would have gotten away without much public knowledge until it was too late.

Also, who is C@$e0?

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

Again, temporary 1 day inconvenience to get the point across... vs having a law that will make the change permament.

You will be able to access those sites, most likely as of 12:01am EST.

If anything those websites deserve more credit since they are likely losing revenue to make a point.

As for congress... the reason the congressmen and senators are supporting this bill is entirely economic, that's never been a secret. US government has been mostly bought out for decades now.

The thing is, what many of them, I mean senators and congressmen, don't understand is the amount of economic power the internet does actually wield. A show of force helps to drive this point home.

While it seems most can be bypass through one means or another, some of my regular websites completely stripped their homepage of everything. So yes, there several that have completely unavailable services.

I can't speak for everyone, but the ones that use the FULL PAGE BLACK SCREENS are impossible for me to ignore, so adding a tiny (click here to continue) wouldn't be a total disservice, I don't think.

I am completely against SOPA/PIPA, but I feel the same amount of awareness would have been raised if pages like Strike Against SOPA & PIPA had a tiny link or something to bypass the banner. You think congress really gives a damn if Wikipedia goes black for a day? The people that are being hurt the most by these blackouts are the ones that couldn't put their hands on a congressman if their lives depended on it. The big companies raising the awareness are, with their lobbyists and finances. I would stake my life that if this bill somehow only impacted individuals but not the big internet companies, the awareness would have never been raised. And the secret society known as congress would have gotten away without much public knowledge until it was too late.

Also, who is C@$e0 (C@$e0?)

 

[BShanahan14rulz]

The people that are being hurt the most by these blackouts are the ones that couldn't put their hands on a congressman if their lives depended on it.

Obviously if we are hurt the most and say something about it and the bill still passes into law, there is a bigger problem than just censorship on the internet; it would indicate an inherent flaw in one of the main components/ideologies of our government. Instead of a government by the people for the people, it becomes a government against the people.

I would stake my life that if this bill somehow only impacted individuals but not the big internet companies, the awareness would have never been raised.

I wouldn't stake your life on a claim such as that. Sure, companies don't like the idea of loosing advertising revenue. But you know what? People don't like being cheated out of rights that were supposed to be unalienable. However, with groups like Wikipedia, google, and the like joining in the awareness campaign it makes us stronger.

Ignorance != Strength
Freedom != Slavery
War != Peace


And yes, that is an obscured, purposly mistyped pseudonym for that company that shall not be named.