# Google, Facebook, etc. threaten blackout over Stop Online Piracy Act



## Daenerys Stormborn (Jan 3, 2012)

Yes, the article's by Fox News, but they actually managed to write a decent one for once.

The gist of it is that some of America's most prominent Internet companies, such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon, are considering a "coordinated blackout" of their sites in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (currently in the House Judiciary Committee) and the Protect IP Act (currently in the Senate).



> In the growing battle for the future of the Web, some of the biggest sites online -- Google, Facebook, and other tech stalwarts -- are considering a coordinated blackout of their sites, some of the web’s most popular destinations.
> 
> No Google searches. No Facebook updates. No Tweets. No Amazon.com shopping. Nothing.
> 
> ...



Source:


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## Zaru (Jan 3, 2012)

I hope this piece of shit legislation is stopped. It pains me that I can't do much about it as a non-American citizen, but would still feel the negative results.


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## GRIMMM (Jan 3, 2012)

Zaru said:


> I hope this piece of shit legislation is stopped. It pains me that I can't do much about it as a non-American citizen, but would still feel the negative results.



Agree.


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## CrazyMoronX (Jan 3, 2012)

As long as they are getting their kickbacks from someone with enough money, politicians don't care about what we think.


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## Toroxus (Jan 3, 2012)

:WOW



CrazyMoronX said:


> As long as they are getting their kickbacks from someone with enough money, politicians don't care about what we think.



This is too true


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## Ryuzaki (Jan 3, 2012)

The regulation of the internet was bound to happen when it became a mainstream source of entertainment. Not defending the bill at all whatsoever, but I just had a feeling it would manifest itself in some shape or form, just happened sooner than later. 

I still miss the good old days when you could do what the fuck you wanted and nobody really cared. I don't think we need an internet to be regulated, just laws in actual countries to be reinforced and that's about it, generally.


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## Tsukiyomi (Jan 3, 2012)

Ooo, something like that would actually get the attention of most people who don't normally pay attention to politics at all.


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## Enclave (Jan 3, 2012)

CrazyMoronX said:


> As long as they are getting their kickbacks from someone with enough money, politicians don't care about what we think.



They care once it becomes an election issue.  Look at the whole Usage Based Billing fiasco here in Canada.  That said, the government keeps trying damn distasteful shit with our internet as well.


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## Toroxus (Jan 3, 2012)

And really, how would this bill "stop the sale of drugs?"


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## Patchouli (Jan 3, 2012)

I approve of this.


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## Cardboard Tube Knight (Jan 3, 2012)

They should do this too, make sure everyone knows.


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## Inuhanyou (Jan 3, 2012)

SOPA violates net neutrality, so i've hard


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## dream (Jan 3, 2012)

This would be a wonderful way to get the point across to Congress.


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## Thor (Jan 3, 2012)

Fuck the internet. The intercloud is the future.


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## neko-sennin (Jan 3, 2012)

It's looking more and more as if the only thing that can save the internet IS the internet, and I believe they should go through with the Nuclear Option, which threatens to kick down the door on the Gatekeepers' long-standing information blackout in all other mainstream media.

The Internet does not belong the Coporations. It belongs to the Users.


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## Draxo (Jan 3, 2012)

They need to stop talking about it and do it.

Do it i advance.  Put a big message on the screen when you visit the site, with links to a page of info and a page of what you can do about it.

Nothing more. Nothing less.

They keep dallying about it but this needs to be done in advance, not at the last minute.  Build up a huge furor in advance and get it kicked out by pure mass rage.


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## PikaCheeka (Jan 4, 2012)

> "When the home pages of Google.com, Amazon.com, Facebook.com, and their Internet allies simultaneously turn black with anti-censorship warnings that ask users to contact politicians about a vote in the U.S. Congress the next day on SOPA,” Declan McCullagh wrote, “you’ll know they’re finally serious.”



That's what really needs to be done. I wonder who has the balls to do it though?


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## hammer (Jan 4, 2012)

inb4nfgoesblack


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## Talon. (Jan 4, 2012)

neko-sennin said:


> It's looking more and more as if the only thing that can save the internet IS the internet, and I believe they should go through with the Nuclear Option, which threatens to kick down the door on the Gatekeepers' long-standing information blackout in all other mainstream media.
> 
> The Internet does not belong the Coporations. It belongs to the Users.



Fighting for the users is such a glorious thing.


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## Owl (Jan 4, 2012)

You gotta fight for your right to party.


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## Ra (Jan 4, 2012)

If the law is passed despite our outrage and petitions we'll see the true colors of our government.


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## rac585 (Jan 4, 2012)

let them throw their hissy fit to prove a point.

i'd use search with bing or probably yahoo, and shop with newegg as I always do.


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## Mintaka (Jan 4, 2012)

Hissyfit?

This is much more than a mere hissyfit.


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## impersonal (Jan 4, 2012)

neko-sennin said:


> It's looking more and more as if the only thing that can save the internet IS the internet, and I believe they should go through with the Nuclear Option, which threatens to kick down the door on the Gatekeepers' long-standing information blackout in all other mainstream media.
> 
> The Internet does not belong the Coporations. It belongs to the Users.



The interesting thing here is that we're witnessing a fight between corporations. On one side, corporations which want to protect the priviledges they have accumulated by lobbying for excessive intellectual property rights: the music industry, the film industry, various big name brands. On the other side, corporations that do not want to be affected negatively by these rights: facebook, google...

The interest of users is never really taken into account: users only count in proportion to the revenues they provide to corporations on each side. This is what democracy has become: from one person, one vote to one dollar, one vote. Your opinion doesn't count. When you do 10 google searches, you gave a little bit of your opinion to google. When you go to a cinema, you gave another little bit of your opinion to the movie industry. When you buy a pair of baskets, some more went to Nike, and each time facebook throws an ad at you, it steals that much of your right to vote.

It all adds up and by the time you try and elect a politician, you've spent all of your opinion away: regardless of who you vote for, corporations have received enough money from you to lobby that person into passing whatever law they want him to.

Okay, I'm exaggerating a lot. But you get the idea.


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## Hatifnatten (Jan 4, 2012)

None of those senators ever used Google, facebook and so on so they wouldn't care


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## Shima Tetsuo (Jan 4, 2012)

This kind of thing won't stop it, or even slow it down.

The big companies would only allow their profits to slip away for a short period of time, before returning to normal service.

And, if they didn't, smaller companies would be climbing over the top of each other to fill the gaps that would be left.

Governments don't care about this kind of petty posturing.


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## Ryuzaki (Jan 4, 2012)

I hate how this  down to the core. It's only real supporters are recording companies that aren't making money and thinking that piracy is taking it away is ludicrous.

Remember people these are the same people that think . That's more than the entire world GDP.


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## Zaru (Jan 4, 2012)

IT companies should just pay the politicians more than the content mafia does.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Jan 4, 2012)

"Blahblahblah I'm full of shit" wrote Richard Bennett


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## xenopyre (Jan 4, 2012)

A mob of angry-internet-deprived-teenageres/geeks is just what is needed to knock some common sense into those fucktards


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## soulnova (Jan 4, 2012)

If they pass it you can bet there will be shitstorm coming up. The internet denizens will crawl out in rage and kill/troll everything. It will be like Samara on The Ring.

I'm calling it.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Jan 4, 2012)

soulnova said:


> If they pass it you can bet there will be shitstorm coming up. The internet denizens will crawl out in rage and kill/troll everything. It will be like Samara on The Ring.
> 
> I'm calling it.



What teh mayans predicted.
"Million of hackers will ravage the land due to SOPA and cause a fallout ending all human life"
Tru story.


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## Shima Tetsuo (Jan 4, 2012)

Realistically, we will just use other websites.

Lately, Google's new search system is bordering on useless, anyway. You have to wrap quotes around almost every term, or they're simply substituted for other (supposedly) related words, which completely alter your results.

And good luck trying to exclude more than one specific term - it frequently includes any quote-wrapped exclusion after the first. 

Amazon use couriers who cheerfully leave your items sitting outside the front door of your house...

Facebook... Well, I was never sucked in to the Myspace mentality, so I can't really comment on its successors.

I genuinely don't see this becoming any great inconvenience to anyone who has ventured more than a few feet outside of Youtube.


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## Banhammer (Jan 4, 2012)

> *SOPA target*s foreign websites that sell* counterfeit drugs* and stolen copies of Hollywood movies



:biggestryomaever


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## Berserk (Jan 4, 2012)

Shima Tetsuo said:


> Realistically, we will just use other websites.
> 
> Lately, Google's new search system is bordering on useless, anyway. You have to wrap quotes around almost every term, or they're simply substituted for other (supposedly) related words, which completely alter your results.
> 
> ...





Keep telling yourself that.


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## Shima Tetsuo (Jan 4, 2012)

Berserk said:


> Keep telling yourself that.



Maybe you're thinking of the people who haven't?

Which is... Well, the opposite of what I said. Hmm.


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## rac585 (Jan 4, 2012)

Mintaka said:


> Hissyfit?
> 
> This is much more than a mere hissyfit.



not really, they just want to think people can't handle some web features shutting down when in reality i don't know about you but i'm sure i'd adapt just fine.


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## ninjaneko (Jan 4, 2012)

DO IT DO IT DO IT


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## Cardboard Tube Knight (Jan 4, 2012)

Shima Tetsuo said:


> This kind of thing won't stop it, or even slow it down.
> 
> The big companies would only allow their profits to slip away for a short period of time, before returning to normal service.
> 
> ...



You seriously think google and facebook are just that easily replaced? Alright then, don't let us stop you from talking your nonsense.

Any way let this be a lesson in missed the point 101. They're not going away, they're mounting a protest. And its one that would make more people see exactly what the government is doing.


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## deceptive (Jan 4, 2012)

Cardboard Tube Knight said:


> You seriously think google and facebook are just that easily replaced? Alright then, don't let us stop you from talking your nonsense.
> 
> Any way let this be a lesson in missed the point 101. They're not going away, they're mounting a protest. And its one that would make more people see exactly what the government is doing.



People think too much in terms of *me*. *I* can replace them. *I* can find an alternative. Kinda how people get shocked when they see that IE is still the most popular browser around.

They tend to ignore that most of the Internet users are average people with a relatively weak grasp on technology and services the Internet offers. They just want things simple and they want it to work. 

Even tho some will find and use alternatives, what's most important in this is to get attention and spread the word about the dangers of the bill. This will surely do it.


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## Roman (Jan 4, 2012)

Ryuzaki said:


> I hate how this  down to the core. It's only real supporters are recording companies that aren't making money and thinking that piracy is taking it away is ludicrous.
> 
> Remember people *these are the same people that think *. That's more than the entire world GDP.



These big corps have been targeting the inet for some time and failed in each attempt, beginning with ACTA as far as I recall. The problem is that this industry believes it's being undermined by websites that allow people to download movies, music and other forms of entertainment for free. What these big corps fail to realize is that it's actually exposing people to entertainment they normally wouldn't know about. What's more ridiculous is how these big corps have made their products so expensive people don't have a choice but to download.

Putting the discussion of illegal downloads aside, this act will also limit the amount of access to information the people have online. The inet is by far the greatest tool through which people can exercise their right of knowledge, something I consider a very basic human right, and corporations and governments would control that tool. This bill would prevent people from having access to information, knowledge and freedom, and destroy's people's privacy and anonymity altogether.


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## Cardboard Tube Knight (Jan 4, 2012)

They realize it, they just think they shouldn't get those things because they aren't paying for them. Art became less about the artist and art and more about the money a long, long time ago.


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## Ryuzaki (Jan 4, 2012)

Shima Tetsuo said:


> Realistically, we will just use other websites.
> 
> Lately, Google's new search system is bordering on useless, anyway. You have to wrap quotes around almost every term, or they're simply substituted for other (supposedly) related words, which completely alter your results.
> 
> ...


I disagree. 

The problem with your statement above is alongside Google, Yahoo and Bing have also agreed, that makes it  going offline at the same time. Generally, mail accounts for both would be inaccessible, meaning the 191 million people (number from 2010) actively using G-mail are screwed.

The aspect of online-shopping which is done primarily through PayPal (a subsidiary of eBay, which has also opposed SOPA) because it has proven itself to be one of the most safest havens for storing your credit card, bank account information goes offline, it will cause a huge draw back for the industry.

As for corporations, opponents of the bill include Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, DynDNS, AOL, LinkedIn, eBay, Mozilla Corporation, the Wikimedia Foundation, and human rights organizations such as Reporters Without Borders, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the ACLU, and Human Rights Watch (to name a few).

The economic repercussions would be greater in the short run than this bill manifesting any _probable_ arrests or blockages with regard to music infringement over the course of the next couple of years.





Yoko Takeo said:


> These big corps have been targeting the inet for some time and failed in each attempt, beginning with ACTA as far as I recall. The problem is that this industry believes it's being undermined by websites that allow people to download movies, music and other forms of entertainment for free. What these big corps fail to realize is that it's actually exposing people to entertainment they normally wouldn't know about. What's more ridiculous is how these big corps have made their products so expensive people don't have a choice but to download.
> 
> Putting the discussion of illegal downloads aside, this act will also limit the amount of access to information the people have online. The inet is by far the greatest tool through which people can exercise their right of knowledge, something I consider a very basic human right, and corporations and governments would control that tool. This bill would prevent people from having access to information, knowledge and freedom, and destroy's people's privacy and anonymity altogether.


Couldn't agree more. This bill is purely designed for the regulation and privatization of the internet, which is in of itself the most outlandish thing to do, because it goes against the very basic rights of having free knowledge.

The music industry is the biggest joke all together ever since they demanded Limewire pay more than the entire world GDP


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## Roman (Jan 4, 2012)

Cardboard Tube Knight said:


> They realize it, they just think they shouldn't get those things because they aren't paying for them. Art became less about the artist and art and more about the money a long, long time ago.



If they realize it, they should also realize that these "illegal" downloads can and are actually making them more money than they would without the exposure that they're getting thanks to the very inet they believe is undermining them.



Ryuzaki said:


> *Spoiler*: __
> 
> 
> 
> ...



What I don't get is why so many people are complaining about trying to find substitutes at all. I doubt they could handle a long-term blackout. It'll only last either until the govt and music industry understand that they can't go without these "illegal" websites or until they start to suffer from the drop in their profits from a long period of inactivity. I'm pretty sure that SOPA won't pass so long as there continues to be this war between the corps respectively representing the music industry and the inet.



Ryuzaki said:


> Couldn't agree more. This bill is purely designed for the regulation and privatization of the internet, which is in of itself the most outlandish thing to do, because it goes against the very basic rights of having free knowledge.
> 
> The music industry is the biggest joke all together ever since they demanded Limewire pay more than the entire world GDP



I couldn't help but laugh at the music industry when I first heard that they charged Limewire the entire world's wealth. I mean, I can understand if they're just being butthurt, but thinking that one company can afford to pay them the entire world's wealth is an act implying either a level of stupidity beyond imagining or pure greed. Maybe both just to be safe. I also like how they think they and the US govt think they can control the inet, which is something that everyone in the world has a right to. I didn't think anyone would be so concieted to think they could control the world. I always thought that was just fantasy.


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## Ryuzaki (Jan 4, 2012)

Yoko Takeo said:


> What I don't get is why so many people are complaining about trying to find substitutes at all. I doubt they could handle a long-term blackout. It'll only last either until the govt and music industry understand that they can't go without these "illegal" websites or until they start to suffer from the drop in their profits from a long period of inactivity. I'm pretty sure that SOPA won't pass so long as there continues to be this war between the corps respectively representing the music industry and the inet.


The congressmen don't have the slightest clue of how the internet really works, all they understand is the cash that's being thrown at them by the RIAA & Co. If they had the slightest clue of how ridiculous this bill is, they would definitely not be passing it.

If this bill passes, RIP Internet, you were great from 1997-2011. The golden years of the net. Even if this bill doesn't pass, they will find a method to regulate websites as they see fit, which is retarded.

[YOUTUBE]3TeZGKTi_W0[/YOUTUBE]​


Yoko Takeo said:


> I couldn't help but laugh at the music industry when I first heard that they charged Limewire the entire world's wealth. I mean, I can understand if they're just being butthurt, but thinking that one company can afford to pay them the entire world's wealth is an act implying either a level of stupidity beyond imagining or pure greed. Maybe both just to be safe. I also like how they think they and the US govt think they can control the inet, which is something that everyone in the world has a right to. I didn't think anyone would be so concieted to think they could control the world. I always thought that was just fantasy.


Butt-hurt is an understatement, even if we, as an entire world society, handed them all the money in the world, they would still behave like children


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## Roman (Jan 4, 2012)

Ryuzaki said:


> The congressmen don't have the slightest clue of how the internet really works, all they understand is the cash that's being thrown at them by the RIAA & Co. If they had the slightest clue of how ridiculous this bill is, they would definitely not be passing it.
> 
> If this bill passes, RIP Internet, you were great from 1997-2011. The golden years of the net. Even if this bill doesn't pass, they will find a method to regulate websites as they see fit, which is retarded.



It's true that congressmen only care about how much money they have in their pockets. It's sad that they don't make use of the inet or they would know its benefits of open communication. It's this or the fact that they do know and feel threatened by it because the people are able to build an opinion other than the one they want them to have, one that is potentially unfavourable to them.

I feel that the govt and the media are threatened by the inet because it's an outlet that allows people to build an opinion that's not in line with the congressmen's ideals.



Ryuzaki said:


> Butt-hurt is an understatement, even if we, as an entire world society, handed them all the money in the world, they would still behave like children



Too true. There's no such thing as satisfying people with money. They'll only want more of it.


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## AppleChan (Jan 4, 2012)

I'm slightly confused. Black out meaning it'll be gone right? To stop things like illegal downloads of music, videos, and shit like that right? Wait, why twitter?  Ahh!!! Nuuuu!!! I hate this! >.>


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## Doge (Jan 4, 2012)

Ron Paul supports internet freedom.


Ron Paul 2012!


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## Xion (Jan 4, 2012)

All awesome pirate sites should move to .onion or other hidden domains and join the Darknet! Let's see them stop us all from using Tor and other anonymizing services. 

I mean there are already sites that let you buy and sell illegal drugs fairly anonymously without much hassle. So compared to that (greatness) pirate sites are like super-legal and mellow.


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## Thor (Jan 4, 2012)

Xion said:


> All awesome pirate sites should move to .onion or other hidden domains and join the Darknet! Let's see them stop us all from using Tor and other anonymizing services.
> 
> I mean there are *already sites that let you buy and sell illegal drugs fairly anonymously* without much hassle. So compared to that (greatness) pirate sites are like super-legal and mellow.



Inbox me. **


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## Black Wraith (Jan 4, 2012)

Please be true, please be true.

Let's be honest here, only Facebook needs to black out even for a bit and there's going to be the biggest internet shitstorm in history.

Add in Google, Amazon and eBay and that's pretty much 'the internet' for most people and the livelihood of a lot of people.

I sure as hell hope that they have what it takes to do it, even if they did it for a short time the aggressive response will definitely be something to fear.


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## On and On (Jan 4, 2012)

Good for them. I'm down with the black-out.


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## Bleachedberry (Jan 5, 2012)

Wow, this is surprising. I really hope that this does happen, it seems to be just the kind of thing that would jolt your average person into taking action. And if not, then at least for the massive shitstorm that would ensue (although I bet it would pale in comparison to the shitstorm that would occur if SOPA actually passed).


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## Ennoea (Jan 5, 2012)

If Facebook goes black the world will end

They need to stop this Bill, you need to stop this Bill.


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## Distance (Jan 5, 2012)

Very interesting. Can't wait to see how this progresses.


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## Banhammer (Jan 5, 2012)

Facebook? But the annoying bitches! What will they do? WILL ANYONE THINK OF THE BITCHES?


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## Griever (Jan 6, 2012)

I hope they do. I hate SOPA with a passion, and this would get a very large response, do it.


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## Butō Rengoob (Jan 6, 2012)

This absolutely must happen.


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## Yachiru (Jan 6, 2012)

2012 - the year of change.


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## Shima Tetsuo (Jan 6, 2012)

Cardboard Tube Knight said:


> You seriously think google and facebook are just that easily replaced? Alright then, don't let us stop you from talking your nonsense.
> 
> Any way let this be a lesson in missed the point 101. They're not going away, they're mounting a protest. And its one that would make more people see exactly what the government is doing.





deceptive said:


> People think too much in terms of *me*. *I* can replace them. *I* can find an alternative. Kinda how people get shocked when they see that IE is still the most popular browser around.
> 
> They tend to ignore that most of the Internet users are average people with a relatively weak grasp on technology and services the Internet offers. They just want things simple and they want it to work.
> 
> Even tho some will find and use alternatives, what's most important in this is to get attention and spread the word about the dangers of the bill. This will surely do it.



I love how people just read what they want to read, regardless of what a post actually says.

I was talking specifically about the people who _don't_ just sit derping on Facebook all day, people who use _the internet_ as opposed to simply using Google.

I said as much in my post. Feel free to rant away, though, shadowboxing with imaginary opponents who have perspectives which don't exist.


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## TheFlash (Jan 7, 2012)

People seem to forget that Google, Amazon and Facebook are also giant faceless corporations with a lot to spend.

Sometimes, corporate involvement in politics isn't all bad.


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## neko-sennin (Jan 7, 2012)

Bukhara Burnes said:


> People seem to forget that Google, Amazon and Facebook are also giant faceless corporations with a lot to spend.
> 
> Sometimes, corporate involvement in politics isn't all bad.



Until we can find more effective ways to reign in corporate graft (which is where the entirety of the Big 5 and Hollywood's "support" in Congress is coming from), when fighting juggernauts we may as well work with any allies whose direction is at all aligned with the Users'.

I align myself with actions, not with factions.


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## Eevihl (Jan 9, 2012)

neko-sennin said:


> Until we can find more effective ways to reign in corporate graft (which is where the entirety of the Big 5 and Hollywood's "support" in Congress is coming from), when fighting juggernauts we may as well work with any allies whose direction is at all aligned with the Users'.
> 
> I align myself with actions, not with factions.



This is basically war and we're the soldiers.


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## vegitabo (Jan 9, 2012)

The only reason those companies are fighting against SOPA is that it would threaten their profitability. They don't give a damn about us as also SOPA really don't care who infringed copyright as to which site the copyright was infringed on.


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## Ryuzaki (Jan 9, 2012)

SOPA is probably not going to pass because it violates net neutrality and well, other business > entertainment industry, just saying. 

I think this video explains it better than anyone else, it gets really good in the last 2 minutes and explains why SOPA was really created:

[YOUTUBE]eNQh56czKgc[/YOUTUBE]​
We've all been fooled.


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## Narcissus (Jan 9, 2012)

SOPA's details are far too vague and restricting to be allowed to pass. It's easy to see why such powerful internet corporations are strongly opposing this, even to the point where they would blackout for an entire day.

It's pretty ignorant to say that such an action wouldn't accomplish anything. It would make a great deal of people aware of SOPA, considering how many use Google, Amazon, Facebook each day.

I doubt SOPA will pass already, even with the support it does have. But an act like this letting as many people as possible aware of its threat would give me much more confidence.


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## The Space Cowboy (Jan 9, 2012)

the opponents of SOPA are up against.  His name is Lamar Smith, and he does not give a damn.  There are members of my party whom I really do not like, and this Texan is one of them.


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## Brotha Yasuji (Jan 9, 2012)

Good, fuck SOPA.


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## TSC (Jan 10, 2012)

The Space Cowboy said:


> the opponents of SOPA are up against.  His name is Lamar Smith, and he does not give a damn.  There are members of my party whom I really do not like, and this Texan is one of them.



Funny how Texans are always the ones who bring in the stupidity to our country.

Bush, Rick Perry, this guy etc.


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## Riley (Jan 10, 2012)

Do it! Do it!


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## Daenerys Stormborn (Jan 10, 2012)

BTW, from opencongress.org, here is a list of companies/interest groups that *support* the bill:

    AFL-CIO
    Motion Picture Association of America
    Independent Film & Television Alliance
    National Association of Theatre Owners
    Deluxe Entertainment Services Group Inc.,
    National Music Publishers' Association
    American Federation of Musicians
    Directors Guild of America
    International Brotherhood of Teamsters
    Screen Actors Guild
    National Cable & Telecommunications Association
    Recording Industry Association of America
    Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies
    Comcast
    NBC Universal
    Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
    National Association of Manufacturers
    Concerned Women for America
    Viacom
    National Criminal Justice Association
    National District Attorneys Association
    Council of State Governments
    International Trademark Association
    International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
    International Association of Fire Fighters
    U. S. Chamber of Commerce
    Americans for Tax Reform
    Let Freedom Ring
    Outdoor Industry Association
    National Electrical Manufacturers Association
    Ford Motor Company
    Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association
    Underwriters Laboratories Inc.
    Society of Plastics Industry
    Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council
    Software & Information Industry Association
    Entertainment Software Association
    American Association of Independent Music
    Eli Lilly and Company
    Merck
    Specialty Equipment Market Association
    Universal Music Group Inc.
    Pfizer
    Association of American Publishers
    News Corporation
    Xerox Corporation
    Walmart
    Dow Chemical
    Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
    National Confectioners Association
    Estee Lauder Companies
    Sony Pictures Entertainment
    CBS Corporation
    National Basketball Association
    Greeting Card Association
    Advanced Medical Technology Association
    Beam Global Spirits &Wine
    Sony Music Entertainment
    Adidas America
    Acushnet Company
    ABRO Industries, Inc.
    1-800-PetMeds
    1-800 Contacts, Inc.
    Blue Sky Studios, Inc.
    Bose Corporation
    Warner Music Group
    Major League Baseball
    Burberry
    Electronic Components Industry Association
    HarperCollins Publishers
    Kekepana International Services
    LVMH Mo?t Hennessy Louis Vuitton
    Nike, Inc.
    Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Timberland Company
    Time Warner
    Sporting Goods Manufacturer's Association
    3M Company
    National Retail Federation
    Retail Industry Leaders Association
    Viacom
    Philip Morris International
    National Association of Broadcasters
    Disney
    MacMillan
    Center for Individual Freedom
    National Governors Association
    National Football League
    International Union of Police Associations
    Graphic Artists Guild
    International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition
    United States Tennis Association
    Associated Builders and Contractors
    Christian Music Trade Association
    National Narcotics Officer's Associations' Coalition
    Elsevier
    Ultimate Fighting Championship
    United States Conference of Mayors
    Church Music Publishers Association
    Major County Sheriffs Association
    Visa
    Copyright Alliance
    American Federation of Television & Radio Artists
    International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees
    National Songwriters Association
    Minor League Baseball
    Coalition Against Online Video Piracy
    Letter of Council
    Capitol Records Nashville
    Church Music Trade Association
    American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers
    Country Music Association
    Country Music Television
    EMI Christian Music Group
    Lost Highway Records
    Gospel Music Association
    MCA Records
    Mercury Nashville
    Provident Music Group
    Republic Nashville
    Showdog Universal
    Sony Music Nashville
    UMG Publishing Group
    Warner Music Nashville
    Word Entertainment
    BMG Chrysalis
    BMI
    Cengage Learning
    EMI Music Publishing
    L'Oreal
    Hachette Book Group
    Publishers Worldwide, Inc.
    Hyperion
    McGraw-Hill Education
    MPA - The Association of Magazine Media
    Pearson Education
    Penguin Group
    Perseus Books Group
    Random House
    Scholastic, Inc.
    W.W. Norton Company
    Wolers Kluwer Health
    True Religion Brand Jeans
    National Sheriff's Association
    COTY, Inc.
    Major City Chiefs
    National Troopers Coalition
    National Center for Victims of Crime
    National Domestic Preparedness Coalition
    Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies
    National Association of Fusion Center Directors
    National Association of Prosecutor Coordinators
    National Association of State Chief Information Officers
    Association of Talent Agents
    Council of the Better Business Bureau
    State International Development Organizations
    Beachbody LLC
    Tiffany & Company


...And a list of companies/interest groups that *oppose* it:
    Creators’ Freedom Project
    Engine Advocacy
    4chan
    Boing Boing
    Creative Commons
    Daily Kos
    Disqus
    Grooveshark
    Hype Machine
    Kickstarter
    MetaFilter
    O'Reilly Radar
    Techdirt
    Torrentfreak
    Go Daddy
    NetCoalition
    Consumer Electronics Association
    Computer and Communications Industry Association
    Public Knowledge
    Electronic Frontier Foundation
    EDUCAUSE
    Open Internet Coalition
    Bloomberg
    Google
    Yahoo
    Center for Democracy & Technology
    Business Software Alliance
    Twitter
    Zynga
    Facebook
    AOL
    Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape and Andreessen Horowitz
    Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google
    Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter and Square
    Caterina Fake, co-founder of Flickr and Hunch
    David Filo, co-founder of Yahoo!
    Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn
    Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post
    Chad Hurley, co-founder of YouTube
    Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive and co-founder of Alexa Internet
    Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal
    Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist
    Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay
    Biz Stone, co-founder of Obvious and Twitter
    Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation
    Evan Williams, co-founder of Blogger and Twitter
    Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo!
    Progressive Change Campaign Committee
    Tumblr
    Mozilla
    Union Square Ventures
    MoveOn
    Wikimedia Foundation
    eBay
    Reddit
    American Civil Liberties Union
    Consumers Union
    American Library Association
    Computer & Communications Industry Association
    Human Rights First
    Consumer Federation of America
    Human Rights Watch
    Microsoft
    United States Student Association
    Irregular Times
    TechNet
    Information Technology Industry Council
    Association of Research Libraries
    Entertainment Consumers Assocation
    Writers Guild of America, West
    Reporters Without Borders
    Freedom House
    Association of College and Research Libraries
    Competitive Enterprise Institute
    TechAmerica
    TechFreedom
    Demand Progress
    U.S. Public Interest Group
    Internews
    New America Foundation’s Open Technology Initiative
    Center for Media Justice
    Center for Rural Strategies
    Brookings Institute
    American Society of News Editors
    Benetech
    Rackspace
    OpenDNS


Lemme see if I can manage to edit instead of quote this time...
Rep. Paul Ryan, the chair of the House Budget Committee, has apparently come out against SOPA due to pressure from his constituents, and Mitt Romney says he disagrees with the general theory behind the bill after being asked about it by a small-business owner at one of his rallies.


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## Talon. (Jan 10, 2012)

Akatsuki no Tenshi said:


> BTW, from opencongress.org, here is a list of companies/interest groups that *support* the bill:
> 
> AFL-CIO
> Motion Picture Association of America
> ...



(you had viacom on there twice, fixed it.)
You can pretty much tell where the lobbyists come from on the supporter side. Seriously. I bolded the ones that stand out the most.

they either have lobbyists, or whoever made that list for the opencongress site is bullshitting.


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## Miss Fortune (Jan 10, 2012)

Where will the media get their news if there's no Google?!

Some things shouldn't be regulated. The Internet is one of them.


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## Mizura (Jan 10, 2012)

Nearly every industry in the past 2 decade has had to cope with massive changes. I'm just so bemused by how stagnant the music industry is:

Technology is cheaper and more available than ever. I can get that in the past, recordings needed expensive recording equipment and such, but surely they're not that unaffordable anymore. Even kids in their basements nowadays can produce something that sounds decent. Don't try to convince me that the quality needed by studios is that much higher, because most CDs don't sound that good at all.
 Advertising can be cheaper and more efficient than ever. Ok, I get that the Biggest cost in the music industry is advertisement. But now you have viral advertising which can be done for just about free! As long as your product is good. Why should we pay for their reluctance to stop relying on expensive and decreasingly efficient TV etc. advertisement?
 The new age should make it easier than ever to discover local talents. Okay, so the music industry would rather just concentrate on a few fat cows instead of giving more variety. Why should We pay for the fact that they're lazy? :\
 Travel is easy and cheap enough. Go do your tours.

I'm quite willing to pay $20 or even $30 for a quality full-orchestral CD recording of my favourite classic tunes (someone has to pay those dozens of people for the quality performance), and have done in the past (after carefully listening to several at the store to find the one I think sounds best), but I'm not shelling out that sum for most of the generic stuff that's coming out nowadays. Who was it that I was watching on TV recently, only to think: damn, Michael Jackson was much better than this. What happened to the music industry?


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## insanetrolllogic (Jan 11, 2012)

This video is more disturbing then any horror ever made.


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## Xion (Jan 11, 2012)

There's a good chance this will now pass. Welcome to the China of the West that allows indefinite detention of civilians and censors the Internet, but only this time it's likely to affect the whole world not just our own country (when does anything we do affect just us)?

If you haven't sent a mildly threatening letter to your Congresscritter after a cordial one appealing to logic (and got a form letter in reply). If you haven't posted SOPA news to your Twitter or Facebook. Then you are simply not doing nearly enough to stop this piece of trash from clearing both chambers due to its massive corporate backing.

If you actually support this legislation, then you are an ignorant twat who probably should go hang oneself.

Logic is the one word unknown to politicians.

Also, if there isn't a blackout by the major tech companies then they clearly aren't doing enough. In fact the money is so disproportionately pro-entertainment industry, that even when Google and companies have more money than them, it's bemusing why they don't use that money.


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## Roman (Jan 11, 2012)

Mizura said:


> Technology is cheaper and more available than ever. I can get that in the past, recordings needed expensive recording equipment and such, but surely they're not that unaffordable anymore. Even kids in their basements nowadays can produce something that sounds decent. Don't try to convince me that the quality needed by studios is that much higher, because most CDs don't sound that good at all.



This is very true. I've done amateur voice acting a while back and I was using the same kind of microphone that professionals use, or comparable at least. Also, if anyone pays attention to either Freddie Wong or   on utube, you'll see that they're capable of creating special effects in their videos that in some cases (a lot actually) can give Hollywood a run for their money. The latter even made work similar to those in the links . The technology used for making movies and music isn't as expensive as people would make it out to be, especially considering since a pair of college graduates can do it just as well.




Mizura said:


> Advertising can be cheaper and more efficient than ever. Ok, I get that the Biggest cost in the music industry is advertisement. But now you have viral advertising which can be done for just about free! As long as your product is good. Why should we pay for their reluctance to stop relying on expensive and decreasingly efficient TV etc. advertisement?



Another thing that the industry doesn't realize is that the "illegal" download sites actually serve as an excellent medium of advertising. As I said before, it's exposing people to forms of entertainment that they otherwise would never know about. They're not losing any money out of them as they would like you to believe.



Mizura said:


> I'm quite willing to pay $20 or even $30 for a quality full-orchestral CD recording of my favourite classic tunes (someone has to pay those dozens of people for the quality performance), and have done in the past (after carefully listening to several at the store to find the one I think sounds best), but I'm not shelling out that sum for most of the generic stuff that's coming out nowadays. Who was it that I was watching on TV recently, only to think: damn, Michael Jackson was much better than this. What happened to the music industry?



I think this is why the music industry doesn't like free download sites or utube, because you have incredible talents on there who're doing their own work, work I would hate to see modified by editors and producers because of their ideas of what makes money and what doesn't. It would cause the talents' work to become something apart from their own. Someone like Michael Jackson was making his own music, his own style, that's what made him so brilliant. Artists today are making what I call commercial music because it's catchy, but there's no spirit or personality behind it.


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## Ciupy (Jan 11, 2012)

Xion said:


> There's a good chance this will now pass. Welcome to the China of the West that allows indefinite detention of civilians and censors the Internet, but only this time it's likely to affect the whole world not just our own country (when does anything we do affect just us)?
> 
> If you haven't sent a mildly threatening letter to your Congresscritter after a cordial one appealing to logic (and got a form letter in reply). If you haven't posted SOPA news to your Twitter or Facebook. Then you are simply not doing nearly enough to stop this piece of trash from clearing both chambers due to its massive corporate backing.
> 
> ...



Do you seriously think this has a chance to pass?

A day without Google,Wikipedia,YouTube,Twitter,Facebook and Amazon would pretty much cause such a shitstorm that even those boneheads would be forced to listen.


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## Daenerys Stormborn (Jan 11, 2012)

So, Reddit has scheduled a  for January 18, and the guy in charge of  has said that he would support Wikipedia doing the same thing.  And some of the people on Reddit are .


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## Mist Puppet (Jan 11, 2012)

Wikipedia blacking out 

Shit is about to get real


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## ninjaneko (Jan 11, 2012)

Kudos to Reddit for stepping up and setting a firm blackout date.


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## Jesus (Jan 11, 2012)

Akatsuki no Tenshi said:


> So, Reddit has scheduled a  for January 18, and the guy in charge of  has said that he would support Wikipedia doing the same thing.  And some of the people on Reddit are .


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## Yachiru (Jan 11, 2012)

Now if we get Anon to join as well..


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## Utopia Realm (Jan 11, 2012)

Well, on January 18, could be some lulz to be had. Will bookmark this thread for future shit.


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## Bungee Gum (Jan 11, 2012)

i hope SOPA is passed. No, I'm not joking. 

If it's passed a whole bunch of stuff will happen, ordinary people will become activists and with that I think we can get a lot of shit done. It will take away a lot of how people get their voice across, there will no longer be an internet, yes, then everyone will do something for a change instead of behave apathetically against it on the internet. 

Also, the lulz i will have watching chaos run through the world. And I am always in favor of chaos, and am obsessed with the end of the world, and I think something like this could definitely affect the world in such a substantial way that it may trigger events that shake the world. Oh that would be fucking awesome, Go SOPA!


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## Enigma (Jan 11, 2012)

Oh Nova, not surprising


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## neko-sennin (Jan 12, 2012)

I, for one, will be disappointed if they don't do the blackout.



Akatsuki no Tenshi said:


> BTW, from opencongress.org, here is a list of companies/interest groups that *support* the bill:
> 
> ...
> Americans for Tax Reform
> ...



Irony much? 

Especially the two I bolded, the first of whom either isn't really _real_ indy music, or else fails to grasp that the internet is their biggest ally against the Big 5 and Payola Radio in spreading greater musical variety. The second of whom probably doesn't grasp how many indy musicians, producers and DJ's there are buying "electronic components" than there are Major Label studios.

The rest just have very Orwellian names.


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## Daenerys Stormborn (Jan 12, 2012)

neko-sennin said:


> Especially the two I bolded, the first of whom either isn't really _real_ indy music, or else fails to grasp that the internet is their biggest ally against the Big 5 and Payola Radio in spreading greater musical variety. The second of whom probably doesn't grasp how many indy musicians, producers and DJ's there are buying "electronic components" than there are Major Label studios.



The one that kind of surprised me was Americans for Tax Reform, because IIRC they're a very conservative interest group, and a fair number of other super-conservatives (the Heritage Foundation, some Tea Partiers, etc.) have been vehement opponents of the bill.  (And believe me, the fact that I agree with the Tea Party on something just about gave me a heart attack...)



So, there's been some very good news on this issue recently: the main sponsor of the PROTECT-IP Act (the Senate version of SOPA) just  that he's going to introduce an amendment that would eliminate the "blacklist" provision of the bill (the one that would let the government require ISPs to block the domain names of supposedly infringing sites).  The article also states that "DNS blocking remains in the House version of the bill, called SOPA, though rumors suggest it too could be altered soon."

Also, Jon Stewart briefly  SOPA on his show.


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## emROARS (Jan 12, 2012)

Goova said:


> i hope SOPA is passed. No, I'm not joking.
> 
> If it's passed a whole bunch of stuff will happen, ordinary people will become activists and with that I think we can get a lot of shit done. It will take away a lot of how people get their voice across, there will no longer be an internet, yes, then everyone will do something for a change instead of behave apathetically against it on the internet.
> 
> Also, the lulz i will have watching chaos run through the world. And I am always in favor of chaos, and am obsessed with the end of the world, and I think something like this could definitely affect the world in such a substantial way that it may trigger events that shake the world. Oh that would be fucking awesome, Go SOPA!



I sorta agree.

Although tbh I think they'll pass it regardless.


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## HolyDemon (Jan 13, 2012)

Goova said:


> i hope SOPA is passed. No, I'm not joking.
> 
> If it's passed a whole bunch of stuff will happen, ordinary people will become activists and with that I think we can get a lot of shit done. It will take away a lot of how people get their voice across, there will no longer be an internet, yes, then everyone will do something for a change instead of behave apathetically against it on the internet.
> 
> Also, the lulz i will have watching chaos run through the world. And I am always in favor of chaos, and am obsessed with the end of the world, and I think something like this could definitely affect the world in such a substantial way that it may trigger events that shake the world. Oh that would be fucking awesome, Go SOPA!



If you like the thrill of chaos so much, just go to any third-world country. 

And stop obsessing over some fictitious chaos when you're sitting comfortably in front of a computer, and possibly in an air-conditioned room. It's unsightly.


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## Cardboard Tube Knight (Jan 13, 2012)

Goova said:


> i hope SOPA is passed. No, I'm not joking.
> 
> If it's passed a whole bunch of stuff will happen, ordinary people will become activists and with that I think we can get a lot of shit done. It will take away a lot of how people get their voice across, there will no longer be an internet, yes, then everyone will do something for a change instead of behave apathetically against it on the internet.
> 
> Also, the lulz i will have watching chaos run through the world. And I am always in favor of chaos, and am obsessed with the end of the world, and I think something like this could definitely affect the world in such a substantial way that it may trigger events that shake the world. Oh that would be fucking awesome, Go SOPA!



And I hope you catch fire. I mean hopefully you'll roll it out. But the damage will be done by that time. 

That's about how fucking stupid what you're saying sounds.

If you think revolution is so exciting and romantic, move to fucking Syria. 



emROARS said:


> I sorta agree.
> 
> Although tbh I think they'll pass it regardless.


They're actually having a very hard time passing it. Plus it hurts national security.


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## felixng2008 (Jan 13, 2012)

HolyDemon said:


> If you like the thrill of chaos so much, just go to any third-world country.
> 
> And stop obsessing over some fictitious chaos when you're sitting comfortably in front of a computer, and possibly in an air-conditioned room. It's unsightly.



Couldn't have said it better myself.


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## emROARS (Jan 13, 2012)

Cardboard Tube Knight said:


> They're actually having a very hard time passing it. Plus it hurts national security.



I know it damages national security, although tbh with how the NDAA passed and how PIPA and ACTA will pass I won't be surprised if this was done the same way.


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## Little Neko (Jan 13, 2012)

Goova said:


> i hope SOPA is passed. No, I'm not joking.
> 
> If it's passed a whole bunch of stuff will happen, ordinary people will become activists and with that I think we can get a lot of shit done. It will take away a lot of how people get their voice across, there will no longer be an internet, yes, then everyone will do something for a change instead of behave apathetically against it on the internet.
> 
> Also, the lulz i will have watching chaos run through the world. And I am always in favor of chaos, and am obsessed with the end of the world, and I think something like this could definitely affect the world in such a substantial way that it may trigger events that shake the world. Oh that would be fucking awesome, Go SOPA!



The Internet is pretty much the only kind of freedom we have left. A revolution never happens without bloodshed and the chances of succeeding a revolution are slim at times when military power has evolved to the point where we might no longer defend ourselves against such violence.



Everyone, please take the time to sign the petition located in my signature if you want to stop this madness.


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## Violence (Jan 13, 2012)

Good for them


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## Yachiru (Jan 13, 2012)

Anyone who has read 1984 knows that this shit must not pass.


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## Cardboard Tube Knight (Jan 14, 2012)

emROARS said:


> I know it damages national security, although tbh with how the NDAA passed and how PIPA and ACTA will pass I won't be surprised if this was done the same way.


That's a different beast all together, it granted the power to do certain things that were needed. It was a move for executive power...this really isn't.


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## Terra Branford (Jan 14, 2012)

Good, hopefully they can help end this. I actually had Rand Paul email me saying the bill is intellectual and even talked of some sites being unfairly shut down. Not only that, but sites that talk about, link to or even slight promotes what this bill is against, will be shut down.

Supposedly EA Electronics is considering not to support this, or so I was emailed.


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## Cardboard Tube Knight (Jan 14, 2012)

A lot of the game companies have publicly not supported it while supporting it behind the scenes.


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## Daenerys Stormborn (Jan 14, 2012)

So, it looks like the DNS-blocking provisions are going to be  from SOPA. 

Also, the Obama administration has released a statement saying that any anti-piracy legislation must , and that any provisions that would require intermediaries like payment processors or ad networks to stop dealing with infringing sites must be "transparent".


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## Xion (Jan 14, 2012)

Cardboard Tube Knight said:


> A lot of the game companies have publicly not supported it while supporting it behind the scenes.



Pretty much. It's really bad for their main client base to support it, but likely industry interests and lobbying money decide much of their "true" stances on such issues. Although a few companies have publicly decried such actions and that of their commercial interests body, the ESA.


----------



## Cornbreesha (Jan 14, 2012)

Even if I hang myself because I can't get on ebay or Amazon. I think they should do it.


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## Daenerys Stormborn (Jan 16, 2012)

Wikipedia has  that they'll be blacking out all their English-language pages for the entirety of Wednesday.  

Reddit will be blacking out for 12 hours, as will Mozilla, Imgur, BoingBoing, the Cheezburger Network (which includes such meme sites as the original Lolcats and FailBlog), and various others.


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## Deleted member 84471 (Jan 17, 2012)

Just saw this on Wikipedia.


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## Riley (Jan 17, 2012)

Since youtube is linked to Google does that mean they're also going to black out?


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## Cardboard Tube Knight (Jan 17, 2012)

Gmail should stay active though, that's really fucking important because my stuff is all through there. Work notices and the like.


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## Narcissus (Jan 17, 2012)

Riley said:


> Since youtube is linked to Google does that mean they're also going to black out?



There is a good possibility of that. The whole point is to make more people aware through this protest, and since YouTube is one of the most visted sites, blacking it out alongside the other big names is sure to spread the news.


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## Riley (Jan 17, 2012)

Google being shut down is a big no for me since that's how I got most of my comic books, and other good shit. Bing is not a good search engine for me when it comes to doing work. As soon as Amazon is shut down the gloves are off. I'm off to torment every site that endorses this full course shit meal the government is serving me.


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## Riley (Jan 17, 2012)

Narcissus said:


> There is a good possibility of that. The whole point is to make more people aware through this protest, and since YouTube is one of the most visted sites, blacking it out alongside the other big names is sure to spread the news.




[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufsf_-a_H9Q&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]


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## Cardboard Tube Knight (Jan 17, 2012)

Tumblr needs to black out for a week, that place is insane.


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## Riley (Jan 17, 2012)

Cardboard Tube Knight said:


> Tumblr needs to black out for a week, that place is insane.



Agreed. That'll definitely help rally supporters in protest to this absurd shits ville bill.


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## Ra (Jan 17, 2012)

12 Hours? 24 hours? Try a week.

That'll spark Armageddon.


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## Riley (Jan 17, 2012)

Ra said:


> 12 Hours? 24 hours? Try a week.
> 
> That'll spark Armageddon.



A week without Amazon.com, wikipedia, and Google will create a ridiculous amount of anger in me.


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## Ra (Jan 17, 2012)

Riley said:


> A week without Amazon.com, wikipedia, and Google will create a ridiculous amount of anger in me.



That's the point. Maybe then the people will go to the white house personally and burn the papers in their face


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## Riley (Jan 17, 2012)

Ra said:


> That's the point. Maybe then the people will go to the white house personally and burn the papers in their face



Gooood...goood


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## Wilykat (Jan 17, 2012)

Riley said:


> A week without Amazon.com, wikipedia, and Google will create a ridiculous amount of anger in me.



Without eBay as well, it'll cripple used market for everything.

Now if only all email services were blacked out, those stuffed up bag of hot wind would be screaming in the DC and the dumb bill will be killed, shredded, pissed on, and torched.


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## Rima (Jan 17, 2012)

No Google or Wikipedia?! 

Well, at least I still have YT.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Jan 17, 2012)

Rima said:


> No Google or Wikipedia?!
> 
> Well, at least I still have YT.



Google owns YT...


----------



## Mintaka (Jan 17, 2012)

I agree with this needing to be longer, but at the same time that would be one hell of a loooooooooooooooong week.


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## Vladimir Lenin (Jan 17, 2012)

Unlosing Ranger said:


> Google owns YT...



Apparently the american government even has some hooks in Youtube. There was a supposed agreement made in 2009 to let them take whatever they disliked off of the site.


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## Robotkiller (Jan 17, 2012)

I'm proud of wikipedia and I'm definitely going to be donating a little something in the near future to show my supports. Still, more big companies need to get behind this so it can gain some political steam. Google? Facebook? These are absolute vital services that would turn the country on it's head for a day and really get some people asking _Why?_ and what they can do to stop things like this from occurring in the future. The more inconvenient these blackouts become for the average person the better anti-antipiracy law safeguards we'll have in the future.


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## Cardboard Tube Knight (Jan 17, 2012)

Robotkiller said:


> I'm proud of wikipedia and I'm definitely going to be donating a little something in the near future to show my supports. Still, more big companies need to get behind this so it can gain some political steam. Google? Facebook? These are absolute vital services that would turn the country on it's head for a day and really get some people asking _Why?_ and what they can do to stop things like this from occurring in the future. The more inconvenient these blackouts become for the average person the better anti-antipiracy law safeguards we'll have in the future.


Holy shit? Is that a ghost? 

No its Robotkiller. 

And yeah I agree. You Tube, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, Tumblr, all of you need to go down. I think smaller sites too, Deviant Art and the like. Myspace (which no one uses) will not be doing it because I think they're owned by newscorp now, right? Who cares anyway.


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## SuperSaiyaMan12 (Jan 17, 2012)

Is there a list of all the sites that ARE blacking out? Would this affect Google Chrome if Google blacked out?


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## Cardboard Tube Knight (Jan 17, 2012)

SuperSaiyaMan12 said:


> Is there a list of all the sites that ARE blacking out? Would this affect Google Chrome if Google blacked out?


. Google chrome is a program you download, so no. 

I think what would be fucking epic is if all iPhones blacked out for a hour or two and put a text out saying why. Only allow the phones to call 911.


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## SuperSaiyaMan12 (Jan 17, 2012)

Cardboard Tube Knight said:


> . Google chrome is a program you download, so no.
> 
> I think what would be fucking epic is if all iPhones blacked out for a hour or two and put a text out saying why. Only allow the phones to call 911.


Just had to be sure. Sorry, little nervous dude.


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## Roman (Jan 17, 2012)

Cardboard Tube Knight said:


> . Google chrome is a program you download, so no.
> 
> I think what would be fucking epic is if all iPhones blacked out for a hour or two and put a text out saying why. Only allow the phones to call 911.



That would be a brilliant idea. A lot of people seem to underestimate the effects that the proposed anti-piracy laws. Blacking out iPhones, which nearly everyone uses nowadays, would be great way to do it.

Still, I think blacking out all the major websites mentioned would make plenty of people aware even through word of mouth. If Facebook and Twitter were to go out especially, considering professionals and regular people alike use them both, it would have a pretty big effect even on the major corporations pushing for the anti-piracy laws. They don't realize how much benefit they're getting from things like FB, Twitter and utube where a lot of these copywrighted material are available to people who can't afford them for various reasons.


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## Soul (Jan 17, 2012)

Glad Wikipedia is actually taking this shit seriously.
Perhaps some regulations would be needed in the future, but this is going too far.



SuperSaiyaMan12 said:


> Would this affect Google Chrome if Google blacked out?



Seriously?


----------



## Golden Circle (Jan 17, 2012)

SuperSaiyaMan12 said:


> Would this affect Google Chrome if Google blacked out?


Yes because Chrome uses Google's search API to do searches from its url bar. I imagine that (the search API) would go down too. Can't close the front door and leave the back door open.


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## Xion (Jan 17, 2012)

While Twitter CEO blasts Wikipedia's decision to do this as foolish (well, just doing it for them, so he claims), Whales was actively promoting anti-SOPA messages in Washington D.C. and has been a proponent of a blackout ever since the beginning.

Shows you which tech companies really give a shit.


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## Cardboard Tube Knight (Jan 17, 2012)

I heard Steve Job's ghost was coming back to get in on the action.


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## Xion (Jan 17, 2012)

Cardboard Tube Knight said:


> I heard Steve Job's ghost was coming back to get in on the action.



He's probably defend SOPA. Steve Jobs was pretty much as selfish and dickish a man as one who single-handedly redefined consumer electronics could get.


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## Agmaster (Jan 17, 2012)

Do it.  I know where I go anyways, and there are better search engines.  If this really causes people to take notice, I'd go offline myself for a day.  I don't mean notice of the protestors so that you dissect them either, but of what they are against.


----------



## Roman (Jan 17, 2012)

Xion said:


> He's probably defend SOPA. Steve Jobs was pretty much as selfish and dickish a man as one who single-handedly redefined consumer electronics could get.



It's also noteworthy to remember that Apple and Google were at odds with each other quite recently. It would make sense that he'd ally with his enemy's enemy too.


----------



## Krombacher (Jan 17, 2012)

Mojang, the group that created Minecraft, joins the SOPA protests:


----------



## Little Neko (Jan 17, 2012)

SuperSaiyaMan12 said:


> Is there a list of all the sites that ARE blacking out? Would this affect Google Chrome if Google blacked out?







> *Confirmed Participants:*
> 
> Wikipedia (announcement)
> reddit - (announcement)
> ...



and many more unconfirmed sites


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Jan 17, 2012)

Man I sure hope NF does this. (hint hint)


----------



## Cardboard Tube Knight (Jan 17, 2012)

Damn there goes my blog. I guess I better throw an announcement up.


----------



## neko-sennin (Jan 17, 2012)

Unlosing Ranger said:


> Man I sure hope NF does this. (hint hint)



Don't know about shutting down the entire forum on everyone, but I, for one, plan to boycott the internet tomorrow, in solidarity with the anti-SOPA movement.

I apologize to any Tradewinds readers, as SOPA is a matter of grave concern for indy authors like myself.


----------



## Riley (Jan 17, 2012)

Hopefully, this gay bill lasts a week due to our protesting. 

Also China and Russia for this  bill?


----------



## Ryuzaki (Jan 17, 2012)

I'm taken down all sites on my domains as well.


----------



## Mintaka (Jan 17, 2012)

Lets just say I have a far more annoying idea in mind as protest on this forum and another I go to.


----------



## Ae (Jan 17, 2012)

I'm all for ending piracy but the bill is just so flawed


----------



## Riley (Jan 17, 2012)

I wish SOPA would just say that they're doing this to get rid of sites like piratebay and sites where we view manga for free. IIRC the manga company did this type of campaign two years ago and it didn't jack squat. We still had dozens of more websites as back up.


----------



## jetwaterluffy1 (Jan 17, 2012)

Unlosing Ranger said:


> Man I sure hope NF does this. (hint hint)


I think it would have more of an impact if we shut down the forum except this thread. That way people will see that and take notice to what is going on.


----------



## Bender (Jan 17, 2012)

What the fuck? I'm back online after a 3 month absence and the whole internet is going to hell in a handbasket.


----------



## Subarashii (Jan 17, 2012)

How will the Senators be able to look up all their facts on Wikipedia then!? 

I can see Congress dissolving into chaos for 24 hours


----------



## Daenerys Stormborn (Jan 17, 2012)

Google has said that they'll be  on their homepage.  Scribd and Wordpress will be doing some form of protest as well.


----------



## Bender (Jan 17, 2012)

If this fucks over my research while I'm in my psychology class. I will send a long-ass worded letter to the dicks responsible for the inception of SOPA. Fuck you pricks responsible for this shit being handed to me.


----------



## reaperunique (Jan 17, 2012)

> "SOPA targets foreign websites that sell counterfeit drugs and stolen copies of Hollywood movies -- not such American Web sites as YouTube or your favorite blog,"



But he doesn't say that they target them by using techniques that become available because of SOPA and that those new techniques can also be used for other stuff like shutting down sites that are just fair competition etc.

I'd say, DO EAAAAAAAT FAGGGGOT!


----------



## Mider T (Jan 17, 2012)

Do any of the online crusaders actually have any plans to protest SOPA by contacting their congressmen?


----------



## Mikaveli (Jan 17, 2012)

Wikipedia is blacking out right now


----------



## Golden Circle (Jan 17, 2012)

I was looking up a page on it to make sure I had my definitions correct, saw a flash of the page and then it was gone.


----------



## First Tsurugi (Jan 18, 2012)

Wikipedia is blacked out, Google is blacked out, 4chan is blacked out.


----------



## KidTony (Jan 18, 2012)

google isn't blacked out, but wiki is. I was just looking up some stuff on wiki, saw the page for about a second and the cut to a black screen with an anti sopa warning.

kind of pissed me off lol, i didn't realise how much i realy on wiki and how annoying it is not to have it available. Imagine if sites like facebook, twiter, amazon, yahoo and google followed suit. In a world where people want instant gratification and hate waiting, heads would roll and some congressmen might reconsider their positons mighty quickly.


----------



## Pimp of Pimps (Jan 18, 2012)

KidTony said:


> google isn't blacked out, but wiki is. I was just looking up some stuff on wiki, saw the page for about a second and the cut to a black screen with an anti sopa warning.
> 
> kind of pissed me off lol, i didn't realise how much i realy on wiki and how annoying it is not to have it available. Imagine if sites like facebook, twiter, amazon, yahoo and google followed suit. In a world where people want instant gratification and hate waiting, heads would roll and some congressmen might reconsider their positons mighty quickly.




*If you really need to use Wikipedia, use a phone or disable javascript. *


----------



## neko-sennin (Jan 18, 2012)

I'm all set to go: 24-hour internet boycott, starting at midnight. I've even modified my sigs and updates to explain my absence.


----------



## Cardboard Tube Knight (Jan 18, 2012)

Simple Wiki still works.


----------



## Enigma (Jan 18, 2012)

Riley said:


> I wish SOPA would just say that they're doing this to get rid of sites like piratebay and sites where we view manga for free.



Congress doesn't give a darn about manga.


----------



## Lord Genome (Jan 18, 2012)

everyones doing it


----------



## Bioness (Jan 18, 2012)

Here is another list of more websites doing ti.

I kinda feel like NarutoForums should of done it for a day


----------



## Bender (Jan 18, 2012)

Mider T said:


> Do any of the online crusaders actually have any plans to protest SOPA by contacting their congressmen?



DUDE. Remember that thread I posted some time ago about Judy Biggert in the Konoha plaza? If she's as much of a retarded bitch when it comes to Islamist putting mosque in my neighborhood I'm sure she'll feel the same way about SOPA.


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Jan 18, 2012)

[YOUTUBE]pHOZcHkvkvs[/YOUTUBE]


----------



## quizmasterG (Jan 18, 2012)

this blackout rules!!!! everything is off! time to go outside


----------



## Cardboard Tube Knight (Jan 18, 2012)




----------



## Little Neko (Jan 18, 2012)

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGEUhCfQ464[/YOUTUBE]


----------



## Al-Yasa (Jan 18, 2012)

at least more people will go to the libary


----------



## Cardboard Tube Knight (Jan 18, 2012)

Al-Yasa said:


> at least more people will go to the libary


This might be one of the stupidest fucking things in this thread, especially considering that you spelled the word library wrong. 

What does it matter if people go to some arbitrary place? If we could put the library in every home with a computer, why waste the gas and effort driving to some place to fight over a finite number of books when there's a nearly limitless supply online and no late fees to be dealt with? 

People need to let go of archaic ideas just because that's how things used to be done. 

"No one gives a shit how you used to mail your bill in, grandpa. If you paid online we'd still have lights and cable right now."


----------



## DisgustingIdiot (Jan 18, 2012)

Just in case this hasn't been posted on every page yet, if you want to use wikipedia disable javascript and you're good to go.


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Jan 18, 2012)

Cardboard Tube Knight said:


> This might be one of the stupidest fucking things in this thread, especially considering that you spelled the word library wrong.
> 
> What does it matter if people go to some arbitrary place? If we could put the library in every home with a computer, why waste the gas and effort driving to some place to fight over a finite number of books when there's a nearly limitless supply online and no late fees to be dealt with?
> 
> ...



Old systems tend to want to stay in place even if it everyone doesn't want it.


----------



## Dariustwinblade (Jan 18, 2012)

Why would anyone support this.


----------



## Roman (Jan 18, 2012)

Dariustwinblade said:


> Why would anyone support this.



1. They're stupid.
2. They're paid by the entertainment industry to do so.
3. Maybe both, just to be safe.


----------



## Bleach (Jan 18, 2012)

Speaking of libraries: I miss them .


Onward to my local library!


----------



## Lina Inverse (Jan 18, 2012)

well

at least I get to use my encylopedias now


----------



## The Space Cowboy (Jan 18, 2012)

I contacted my reps.  What have you done?


----------



## dream (Jan 18, 2012)

The Space Cowboy said:


> I contacted my reps.  What have you done?



I've played videogames instead of contacting my reps.


----------



## Bleach (Jan 18, 2012)

Eternal Goob said:


> I've played videogames instead of contacting my reps.



I watched YouTube.


----------



## CrazyMoronX (Jan 18, 2012)

Figures Google chickens out.


----------



## Roman (Jan 18, 2012)

The Space Cowboy said:


> I contacted my reps.  What have you done?



I signed a petition :ho


----------



## Ennoea (Jan 18, 2012)

Since it's exam time in the UK for college kids, alot of the kids were freaking out that they couldn't access Wiki today


----------



## Stalin (Jan 18, 2012)

The Space Cowboy said:


> I contacted my reps.  What have you done?



I contacted my reps. and my senators.


----------



## Little Neko (Jan 18, 2012)

I wish I could help, but I don't live in the US


----------



## Shima Tetsuo (Jan 18, 2012)

Eternal Goob said:


> I've played videogames instead of contacting my reps.



I've just played video games. 

It'd feel cheap to say "instead", having never considered doing otherwise.


----------



## Stalin (Jan 18, 2012)

Cardboard Tube Knight said:


> This might be one of the stupidest fucking things in this thread, especially considering that you spelled the word library wrong.
> 
> What does it matter if people go to some arbitrary place? If we could put the library in every home with a computer, why waste the gas and effort driving to some place to fight over a finite number of books when there's a nearly limitless supply online and no late fees to be dealt with?
> 
> ...


You can't find every book on the internet.


----------



## Mintaka (Jan 18, 2012)

I've contacted my reps.


----------



## Ice Princess (Jan 18, 2012)

I honestly wish death to America because of this. Arrogant fucking bastards the lot of them! Who are they to decide what the rest of the world does and doesn't do on the Internet?


----------



## Mist Puppet (Jan 18, 2012)

I repped my contacts.


----------



## Little Neko (Jan 18, 2012)

Ice Princess said:


> I honestly wish death to America because of this. Arrogant fucking bastards the lot of them! Who are they to decide what the rest of the world does and doesn't do on the Internet?



It's not just the US. Actually any government is a potential danger to our last freedom.


----------



## Blackfeather Dragon (Jan 18, 2012)

Zaru said:


> I hope this piece of shit legislation is stopped. It pains me that I can't do much about it as a non-American citizen, but would still feel the negative results.


now I wish you were american 



Draxo said:


> They need to stop talking about it and do it.
> 
> Do it i advance.  Put a big message on the screen when you visit the site, with links to a page of info and a page of what you can do about it.
> 
> ...


they do



AppleChan said:


> I'm slightly confused. Black out meaning it'll be gone right? To stop things like illegal downloads of music, videos, and shit like that right? Wait, why twitter?  Ahh!!! Nuuuu!!! I hate this! >.>


twitter 



Ra said:


> 12 Hours? 24 hours? Try a week.
> 
> That'll spark Armageddon.


it will



The Space Cowboy said:


> I contacted my reps.  What have you done?


I did so to, in fact I called, since you know, this guys apparently don't have any idea of what the internet is, I of course pointed that out  

also:

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvXo4sGB7zM[/YOUTUBE]


----------



## makeoutparadise (Jan 18, 2012)

Miss Goobette said:


> I repped my contacts.



Mine almost went under my I lid just now


----------



## Ciupy (Jan 18, 2012)

Well,at least Wikipedia blacking out gave us a few laughs!



And scared the shit out of a couple of senators basically killing PIPA!



And this is just because Wikipedia (almost) shut down!

If Google,Twitter and Facebook would have done so..

Edit:

I hope SOPA is next.


----------



## jetwaterluffy1 (Jan 18, 2012)

Someone told me the bill will only affect people with an IP address in america. If this true?


----------



## Goobhunter (Jan 18, 2012)

Cardboard Tube Knight said:


> This might be one of the stupidest fucking things in this thread, especially considering that you spelled the word library wrong.
> 
> What does it matter if people go to some arbitrary place? If we could put the library in every home with a computer, why waste the gas and effort driving to some place to fight over a finite number of books when there's a nearly limitless supply online and no late fees to be dealt with?
> 
> People need to let go of archaic ideas just because that's how things used to be done.



Wow. Get off your high horse. 

Who are you to call someone's belief "fucking stupid" and then (in the exact same post) state your beliefs as fact? Just because you hate printed media doesn't mean everyone hates it.

SOPA/PIPA won't pass anyway.


----------



## Mikaveli (Jan 18, 2012)

jetwaterluffy1 said:


> Someone told me the bill will only affect people with an IP address in america. If this true?



It affects everyone.


----------



## jetwaterluffy1 (Jan 18, 2012)

Super Goob said:


> It affects everyone.



I didn't think it would be true, but it would've been nice if it was. Oh well.


----------



## Mikaveli (Jan 18, 2012)

The bill wouldn't "block" the sites in question, they would be completely shut down. Which is pretty stupid, hence the uproar.


----------



## jetwaterluffy1 (Jan 18, 2012)

Super Goob said:


> The bill wouldn't "block" the sites in question, they would be completely shut down. Which is pretty stupid, hence the uproar.


 Again, that's what I thought. But I had to check, because someone recently told me otherwise.


----------



## Doge (Jan 18, 2012)

Wikipedia's blackout is half assed.


If you press "stop loading this page" (the "X" on google chrome) before it finishes loading the article, you can still look at the page.


----------



## Cardboard Tube Knight (Jan 18, 2012)

lvl80elitetaurenchieftain said:


> Wikipedia's blackout is half assed.
> 
> 
> If you press "stop loading this page" (the "X" on google chrome) before it finishes loading the article, you can still look at the page.


You act as if the average user (whom this is meant for) could figure that out).


----------



## Shima Tetsuo (Jan 18, 2012)

lvl80elitetaurenchieftain said:


> Wikipedia's blackout is half assed.
> 
> 
> If you press "stop loading this page" (the "X" on google chrome) before it finishes loading the article, you can still look at the page.



You can just press Esc.


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Jan 18, 2012)

Cardboard Tube Knight said:


> You act as if the average user (whom this is meant for) could figure that out).



all that matters is that it's in the way and that's all it needs to be.


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Jan 18, 2012)

Ciupy said:


> Well,at least Wikipedia blacking out gave us a few laughs!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


INB4 it was actually money that did it.


----------



## Xion (Jan 18, 2012)

Cardboard Tube Knight said:


> You act as if the average user (whom this is meant for) could figure that out).



Given the Twitter reactions from many "students," it seems we as a society have a long way to go.


----------



## Cardboard Tube Knight (Jan 18, 2012)

I actually called Ron Paul just now, the guy who picked up was nice.


----------



## Doge (Jan 18, 2012)

Xion said:


> Given the Twitter reactions from many "students," it seems we as a society have a long way to go.



You guys do remember the whole "OMG WHITE COKE CANS???? BUT DAT'S DIET COKE!!!!" ordeal?

Same thing here.  People are dumber than you think.  Even some kids I consider dumb at school are amazing compared to some of the trash I've seen on the internet or around town.


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Jan 18, 2012)

Xion said:


> Given the Twitter reactions from many "*students,*" it seems we as a society have a long way to go.




Are people this stupid really this stupid? They best be trolling.


----------



## makeoutparadise (Jan 18, 2012)

Danm I went to wikipedia 3 times today everytime forgeting about the strike lol


----------



## DisgustingIdiot (Jan 18, 2012)

makeoutparadise said:


> Danm I went to wikipedia 3 times today everytime forgeting about the strike lol



Disable javascript and wikipedia will work fine.


----------



## Huey Freeman (Jan 18, 2012)

[YOUTUBE]1w6GtwOvnWM[/YOUTUBE]

/10char.....


----------



## Mikaveli (Jan 18, 2012)

Unlosing Ranger said:


> Are people this stupid really this stupid? They best be trolling.



You think people are stupid because they can't get around the block?

It's not that big of a deal. Most people don't care enough to get around it. But if it makes you feel superior or whatever continue the bashing.


----------



## Mider T (Jan 18, 2012)

Black Titan said:


> DUDE. Remember that thread I posted some time ago about Judy Biggert in the Konoha plaza? If she's as much of a retarded bitch when it comes to Islamist putting mosque in my neighborhood I'm sure she'll feel the same way about SOPA.



Except that didn't answer my question at all.


----------



## Bleach (Jan 18, 2012)

Any numbers on how many people have signed petitions so far?


----------



## Cardboard Tube Knight (Jan 18, 2012)

I made some calls, didn't sign anything yet though.


----------



## Daenerys Stormborn (Jan 18, 2012)

Mider T said:


> Do any of the online crusaders actually have any plans to protest SOPA by contacting their congressmen?



I've already contacted my Representative, and I'm going to be emailing my Senators later tonight.  (One of them has already come out against SOPA/PIPA, so my letter to him will be more of a "thank you.")



jetwaterluffy1 said:


> Someone told me the bill will only affect people with an IP address in america. If this true?



Nope.  The bills would allow the US government to force payment processors (like PayPal, VISA, etc) and ad networks to stop doing business with supposedly infringing sites.  This would cut off those sites' funding and thus most likely shut them down.  Obviously, that would affect everyone who likes those sites, regardless of what country you live in.



Rob said:


> Disable javascript and wikipedia will work fine.



I actually had the opposite problem--I have NoScript installed, so when I went to Wikipedia, the site came up just fine.  At first, I was pissed because I thought Wikipedia had chickened out, but then I was like, "Hmm, I wonder if it's because of NoScript?"  Sure enough, allowing JavaScript brought up the blackout page.


Also,  an article about the protests, showing the special pages/banners various websites have put up.


----------



## Soca (Jan 18, 2012)

everyone should just shrink this and put it in their signatures


----------



## Daenerys Stormborn (Jan 18, 2012)

And, to do my own little part (well, aside from starting this thread), I've made a post on my  about the various reasons why SOPA/PIPA are horrible, with links to "Contact Your Senator" and "Contact Your Representative" pages at the bottom.


----------



## Enigma (Jan 18, 2012)

Bleach said:


> Any numbers on how many people have signed petitions so far?



4.5 million,


----------



## Sixx Paths Of Pain (Jan 18, 2012)

this site has a list  of all sites that are participating  in the black out


----------



## Sixx Paths Of Pain (Jan 18, 2012)

on other site there are more as well


----------



## Enigma (Jan 18, 2012)

This is an interesting thing I just read.



> It's not a waiting game, it's a game of poker. Lamar Smith has a royal flush and few people know it.
> SOPA may pass. It may not. He doesn't care, and it doesn't matter. The MPAA and RIAA started working on their legislative strategy to pass a new anti-piracy bill in late 2010. SOPA was designed to raise the noise. Everyone is playing right into the entertainment industries hand. The lobbyists are laughing manically at the ignorance of the mob. Even Wikipedia and reddit have played into it.
> 
> What people don't know about is the ace: H.R.1981, the Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011 which is lying in wait. It's not complete. You see, PCIP is not contestable because it's about protecting children. They can, and very well might, copy and paste the full text of SOPA to the end of PCIP. That's the backup. That's the deal that was struck with entertainment industry lobbyists. We will try to push this anti-piracy bill. It probably won't work. Don't worry, we can pass it under an anti-child pornography bill.
> ...



And who's backing this PCIP bill? Oh look, it's 

By the way, this is all just speculation at the moment.


----------



## The Space Cowboy (Jan 18, 2012)

In the face of a massive public opinion swell, my Senator (Coburn) just rescinded his support.  Representative Government bitches, how does it work?


----------



## kyochi (Jan 18, 2012)

> *"SOPA targets foreign websites that sell counterfeit drugs and stolen copies of Hollywood movies -- not such American Web sites as YouTube or your favorite blog,"* wrote Richard Bennett, senior research fellow at the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, in an editorial in the New York Post.



How can I even trust these people.  I just can't. 



> “People take the Internet very personally," Erickson told FoxNews.com. “It’s a very important part of their lives."



IT'S LIKE A PART OF ME WILL DIE.


----------



## Sixx Paths Of Pain (Jan 18, 2012)

here is some pic of the sites that is protesting


----------



## Sixx Paths Of Pain (Jan 18, 2012)

something interesting 


> Members of the Senate are rushing for the exits in the wake of the Internet's unprecedented protest of the Protect IP Act (PIPA). At least 13 members of the upper chamber announced their opposition on Wednesday. In a particularly severe blow from Hollywood, at least five of the newly-opposed Senators were previously sponsors of the Protect IP Act.
> 
> The newly-opposed Senators are skewed strongly to the Republican side of the aisle. An Ars Technica survey of Senators' positions on PIPA turned up only two Democrats, Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), who announced their opposition on Wednesday. The other 11 Senators who announced their opposition on Wednesday were all Republicans. These 13 join a handful of others, including Jerry Moran (R-KS), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR), who have already announced their opposition.
> 
> ...


  Here is the link


----------



## Violent-nin (Jan 18, 2012)

Love some of those reactions on Twitter.


----------



## Karasu444 (Jan 18, 2012)

I can't use wikipedia.... That sucks...


----------



## Mider T (Jan 18, 2012)

Akatsuki no Tenshi said:


> I've already contacted my Representative, and I'm going to be emailing my Senators later tonight.  (One of them has already come out against SOPA/PIPA, so my letter to him will be more of a "thank you.")



I'm glad, challenging NF does produce desired results.  One of my Senators has rescinded his former support of the bill, though I suspect an ulterior motive other than popular opinion.


----------



## Bleach (Jan 18, 2012)

Mider T said:


> I'm glad, challenging NF does produce desired results.  One of my Senators has rescinded his former support of the bill, though I suspect an ulterior motive other than popular opinion.



DEATH THREATS?


----------



## Little Neko (Jan 19, 2012)

The final blow! One last effort to get rid of internet censorship. 
Convince president Obama to veto these bills! Sign the petition .​


----------



## makeoutparadise (Jan 19, 2012)

Now is google going to just black out it's name or is it really going to shunt down like Wikipedia on the 23rd?


----------



## Hwon (Jan 19, 2012)

I don't think politicians understand the situation at all.  While the media/copyright battle isn't new the integration of the internet and social media into nearly every facet of life makes any threat to it a big no no.  If something like SOPA was ever to pass and have the effect that people feared there would be so much political backlash it would end political careers.


----------



## Terra Branford (Jan 19, 2012)

makeoutparadise said:


> Now is google going to just black out it's name or is it really going to shunt down like Wikipedia on the 23rd?



Probably black out its name. They are afraid, or something.


----------



## makeoutparadise (Jan 19, 2012)

Terra Branford said:


> Probably black out its name. They are afraid, or something.



Cowards!!!!


----------



## Candy (Jan 19, 2012)

I fully support any blackouts that take place in protest in SOPA and PIPA. And I have also sent out emails to my state representatives about he matter. 

Honestly I dont mind websites being taken down for a few days in comparison to them being taken down or crippled indefinitely.


----------



## Terra Branford (Jan 19, 2012)

My state representatives basically told me to sit down, shut and accept it as it was an "intellectual" bill.


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Jan 19, 2012)

Super Goob said:


> You think people are stupid because they can't get around the block?
> 
> It's not that big of a deal. Most people don't care enough to get around it. But if it makes you feel superior or whatever continue the bashing.



No,that's not it.
I think they are stupid for not figuring out WHY there is a block when it's in front of their faces.


----------



## SuperSaiyaMan12 (Jan 19, 2012)

Ugh the Boston Herald...

Also this:

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzS5rSvZXe8&feature=g-all-u&context=G2eff3bbFAAAAAAAACAA[/YOUTUBE]


----------



## Candy (Jan 19, 2012)

Terra Branford said:


> My state representatives basically told me to sit down, shut and accept it as it was an "intellectual" bill.



Freakin unacceptable, they wouldn't even have power if we weren't around.


----------



## Bender (Jan 19, 2012)

Terra Branford said:


> My state representatives basically told me to sit down, shut and accept it as it was an "intellectual" bill.



Seriously? What a fucking tool. If they told me that I would tell them they are the biggest air headed fuck in the history of the world. Tomorrow I'm calling my state rep Judy Biggert and if she so much as gives me a BS answer as that I'm going to go like *cough* *cough* *cough* okay stupid bitch *cough* *cough*.


----------



## urca (Jan 19, 2012)

Terra Branford said:


> My state representatives basically told me to sit down, shut and accept it as it was an "intellectual" bill.



Really?
You should've said to him:Well screw you and your intellectual bill,i'm spreading this on the internet .


----------



## Butō Rengoob (Jan 19, 2012)

Terra Branford said:


> My state representatives basically told me to sit down, shut and accept it as it was an "intellectual" bill.


Fucking lol, i would have told him to get his head out of his ass along with other expletives


----------



## abcd (Jan 19, 2012)

Terra Branford said:


> My state representatives basically told me to sit down, shut and accept it as it was an "intellectual" bill.



Spread the name of the representative with the response ... That should help .


----------



## Huey Freeman (Jan 19, 2012)

I dont want to be that guy to spread this but your government wont stop their bsing until someone just get fed up and send a bullet across their temple . The funny thing about greed and trying to control people eventually they will reach a point that they have nothing to lose and that is when shit will get real.


----------



## Golden Circle (Jan 19, 2012)

Huey Freeman said:


> I dont want to be that guy to spread this but your government wont stop their bsing until someone just get fed up and send a bullet across their temple . The funny thing about greed and trying to control people eventually they will reach a point that they have nothing to lose and that is when shit will get real.


If only people were as willing to take to arms as they were 100 years ago.


----------



## jetwaterluffy1 (Jan 19, 2012)

Marcelle.B said:


> everyone should just shrink this and put it in their signatures


If I knew how to shrink images, I might actually do this.


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Jan 19, 2012)

jetwaterluffy1 said:


> If I knew how to shrink images, I might actually do this.



Save that img go to tiny pic and they will make it smaller for you.


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## The Space Cowboy (Jan 19, 2012)

Terra Branford said:


> My state representatives basically told me to sit down, shut and accept it as it was an "intellectual" bill.



Work to elect someone else.  Do you have a record of the response?  

"When contacted by a constitutuent expressing their concern about a bill that would stifle freedom, representative Jerkass told her to 'sit down, shut up, and accept it.'  Congressfuck so-and-so doesn't care about what you think, and doesn't want to listen to you."


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## emROARS (Jan 19, 2012)

jetwaterluffy1 said:


> If I knew how to shrink images, I might actually do this.



here's a smaller one


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## ninjaneko (Jan 19, 2012)

Dinelle said:


> something interesting
> *Spoiler*: __
> 
> 
> ...


Hallelujah! One of mine changed his position! One down, two to go...


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## jetwaterluffy1 (Jan 19, 2012)

emROARS said:


> here's a smaller one



Thank you!


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## Sixx Paths Of Pain (Jan 19, 2012)

That shit for brains still says he is moving on with the bill


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## Cardboard Tube Knight (Jan 19, 2012)

The one who started it? Yeah its pretty much a show of the fact that this country doesn't have a government that even partially represents what they want.


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## Mider T (Jan 19, 2012)

Huey Freeman said:


> I dont want to be that guy to spread this but your government wont stop their bsing until someone just get fed up and send a bullet across their temple . The funny thing about greed and trying to control people eventually they will reach a point that they have nothing to lose and that is when shit will get real.



What are you advocating here?  If its what I think it is I won't hesitate to report you to the authorities.


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## jetwaterluffy1 (Jan 19, 2012)

Mider T said:


> What are you advocating here?  If its what I think it is I won't hesitate to report you to the authorities.



I don't think he is planning on doing anything himself. I think what he is saying is that _if_ this trend continues, eventually someone is going to do something crazy like that.


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## Bender (Jan 19, 2012)

It's the moment of truth I'm about to call my congressman Judy Biggert.


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## Huey Freeman (Jan 19, 2012)

Mider T said:


> What are you advocating here?  If its what I think it is I won't hesitate to report you to the authorities.



I see your lacking in the reading comprehension area, where did I say I will do this? Highlight in the context . Who exactly I am threatening by your implications?  FYI i am not american so what you telling authorities are on, "someone from another country showing their disgust against our government officials" oh the irony of the situation.
falsely accusing someone and taking things out of context you need to learn about this pronto . 

Secondly since your comprehension incline I said that your government is shitting on its people with out a single damn cared. So eventually the american citizens will see that peaceful protesting (coming from a country where you can even protest peacefully in a public park without getting mace in the face) is not doing shit and what you think will happen they will rebel violently and then when each congress man get a few close encounters they will change their tone. You the same shit that happens in third world countries with governments that dictate its citizens right.

edit: I dont mean to be insulting but generally I do not like threats .


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## Sayaka (Jan 19, 2012)




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## Cthulhu-versailles (Jan 19, 2012)

how does this effect me in canada who doesn't need to use google anymore, and who hates all social networking sites.


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## Cardboard Tube Knight (Jan 20, 2012)

We need to actually make a joint SOPA thread.


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## Terra Branford (Jan 20, 2012)

Candy said:


> Freakin unacceptable, they wouldn't even have power if we weren't around.





Bender said:


> Seriously? What a fucking tool. If they told me that I would tell them they are the biggest air headed fuck in the history of the world. Tomorrow I'm calling my state rep Judy Biggert and if she so much as gives me a BS answer as that I'm going to go like *cough* *cough* *cough* okay stupid bitch *cough* *cough*.





Butō Rengoob said:


> Fucking lol, i would have told him to get his head out of his ass along with other expletives





urca said:


> Really?
> You should've said to him:Well screw you and your intellectual bill,i'm spreading this on the internet .





abcd said:


> Spread the name of the representative with the response ... That should help .



Sorry, didn't know anyone was interested: Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell and Danny Ford are the ones that thus far replied back to my emails with letters. My mother's dealt with Mitch McConnell on many occasions -- the man's an idiot.

When I read it, I seriously laughed until my sides hurt. And then I put the letter in a new envelope and sent it back.


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## Blue (Jan 20, 2012)

For the record, I wrote Marco Rubio, and he did later change his position. The chances of a congressman reading your particular letter are low, but his or her staff do read them and keep track of how many come in about what subject, and for every person who cares enough to write, it is assumed there are several who agree but don't feel as strongly.

It works.


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## Terra Branford (Jan 20, 2012)

Mitch and Rand, my state representatives, say they write the letter themselves, might be not the emails, but actual letters. At least that's what they said on phone calls.  Why recently I sent another email concerning the free game massacre of wolves and Rand Paul wrote again.  He put nearly everything that I wrote about of my concerns in quotes as if I was crazy and it wasn't happening. 

"Since their removal from the "endangered" species list, many environmentalist groups have filed petitions and law suits attempting to reinstate the wolves' "endangered" status. "

No matter what, when it comes down to it, they could care less what you think or worry about.


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## PikaCheeka (Jan 20, 2012)

How exactly do you go about sounding intelligent/sophisticated in one such letter though?

I have a feeling I'll just come across as a pissed off nerd.

If anyone has any tips, do tell. 


On Topic: I was kind of disappointed in the Google and Amazon blackouts. If they weren't going down entirely, they should have made their protest a bit more obvious. I barely even noticed it on Amazon and Google's protest comment was only on the main page. Once I did an actual search, I didn't see it anymore. Seeing as I have Safari and Google is in my taskbar, I wouldn't have seen it at all had I not already known about it and looked.

I guess I understand Google not wanting to go down entirely because they do have an email service, but there's no real reason why Amazon couldn't have at least barred people from buying anything for 12 hours.


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## hcheng02 (Jan 20, 2012)

Terra Branford said:


> Mitch and Rand, my state representatives, say they write the letter themselves, might be not the emails, but actual letters. At least that's what they said on phone calls.  Why recently I sent another email concerning the free game massacre of wolves and Rand Paul wrote again.  He put nearly everything that I wrote about of my concerns in quotes as if I was crazy and it wasn't happening.
> 
> "Since their removal from the "endangered" species list, many environmentalist groups have filed petitions and law suits attempting to reinstate the wolves' "endangered" status. "
> 
> No matter what, when it comes down to it, they could care less what you think or worry about.



Are you talking about Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell? It says in this website that they both oppose the PIPA bill. 



Which representative was the one who told you that they support the bill?


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## Little Neko (Jan 20, 2012)

> *Hi everyone!
> 
> A big hurrah to you!!!!! We’ve won for now -- SOPA and PIPA were dropped by Congress today -- the votes we’ve been scrambling to mobilize against have been cancelled.
> 
> ...


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## Huey Freeman (Jan 20, 2012)

source link?


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## Little Neko (Jan 20, 2012)

Huey Freeman said:


> source link?



*Got it via email*
_Tiffiniy Cheng info@fightforthefuture.org via bounce.bluestatedigital.com 

David Segal info@demandprogress.org_



> Wow.  We just won.
> 
> From the Associated Press:
> 
> ...


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## GRIMMM (Jan 20, 2012)

Postponing.

Surely they aren't just going to drop it.


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## Huey Freeman (Jan 20, 2012)

vote them out all of them or refuse to vote .


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## Terra Branford (Jan 20, 2012)

So....we won? For now? How long until we see this come back with a new name?



> Are you talking about Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell? It says in this website that they both oppose the PIPA bill.
> 
> 
> 
> Which representative was the one who told you that they support the bill?



Yea, I am. This is not what they told me in the letters. :amazed They must have changed their views like the others. I talked to Mitch about it thrice, and he said each time he would just work to make it so it doesn't hurt innocent sites (because I told him that innocent sites were being destroyed). My parents even emailed him about it, and received a similar response. 

@PikaCheeka:
He just said "it was an intellectual bill designed for the intellectual to understand" and that this bill would help protect movie companies etc etc.


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