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Author Topic: Join Internet Black-out to protest SOPA?  (Read 296 times)
phillipsjk
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« on: January 13, 2012, 03:18:10 AM »
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Around the begining of January, there was a rumor that some of the Internet's most popular sites would stage a coordinated black-out in order to protest the SOPA and Protect-IP acts working their way through Congress in the United States. I of course, started immediately planning how smaller sites can participate. The bills are aimed at shutting down websites facilitating Copyright and Trademark infringement, yet fall outside US jurisdiction. The bills are controversial because it is believed that they will erode the DNS system, which resolves human-readable domain names into IP addresses.

I came to the conclusion that encouraging people to contact their congress person is pointless for those living outside the United States. However, if critical mass is reached, having an international campaign of people calling their local representatives may result in diplomatic pressure on the United States. Smaller sites can serve an important role by making up the Long Tail of Internet usage. They provide a contingency plan for raising awarenes if the big players decide that a temporary black-out will cost them too much money.

On Wednesday, reddit set a date: January 18, 8am–8pm EST (1300–0100 UTC).

Unfortunately, this conflicts with the General Meeting on January 18, starting at 8pm EST. Since a new board is being elected, I feel that the forum should stay open so that the candidates' platforms can be read prior to the vote (for each the Political Board and Executive Board). Else, a notice should be (e-)mailed out to all members informing them of both the upcomming elections and black-out window.

I propose that the Pirate Party participate in at least a partial black-out. I may be able to write a white text on black background theme for the forum if it stays open.The board of another organization I am involved with has narrowly agreed to a complete black-out during the above time. They have not however authorized me to encourage people to contact their Member of Parliament (due to concerns over advocacy).

For my own website, I will be replacing the index pages with an anti-SOPA message, and changing the default style-sheet on my remaining pages to "inverted.css". It may stay that way for a week or more. By Tuesday of next week, I hope to have read the bill so that I can understand the implications for sites such as mine with a .CA domain name, hosted in Canada, but using an ARIN IP address (considered "domestic" by the bill). I also hope to understand the implications of sites such as the one I am involved with with a .CA domain name, but are hosted in the United States. One article suggests that The Pirate Bay, the presumed target of the bill, may be exempt by virtue of having a "domestic" domain name (such domains were granted exemptions so that the bill would only target foreign US-directed sites).

In addition to reddit, Wikipedia's SOPA initiative page may be a good resource for organizing the Internet-wide black-out.

Apparently LoLcats are being knocked off the Internet in protest as well.
« Last Edit: January 13, 2012, 03:31:49 AM by phillipsjk »

It has been said that I don't wipe my ass without reading the "Terms of Use" on the toilet paper.
Yehoshua
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« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2012, 05:47:46 AM »
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I strongly agree with this; not because I think PPCA has digital clout to make a difference, but because PPCA has a long staircase to climb, and proving that we are able to do something of this relative magnitude with five days' notice seems like a good way to advance to Step 2.

But yes, I think we should be standing up for the sovereignty of the internet; a sovereignty which is most definitely threatened by SOPA. And I think a digital blackout for 12 hours is "the least we can do".


We have a marketing team, but no cryptography team; half our members are more interested in getting elected than in ensuring digital sovereignty. The allure of being popular has distracted us from the goal of being free.
Shawn Gray
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« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2012, 01:04:43 PM »
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I will be taking down "Through the Eyes of A Pirate", my resume website, and my elections website (not fully active) for January 18th as a part of the black-out. I will also be disabling my "Northern Cyclist" wordpress (it's dormant anyways, but may as well). None of them are particularly high-traffic sites, but it's something I can do unilaterally to participate in the black-out.

As for pulling the PPCA site. This was brought up during the Political Board meeting lastnight, and was met with some concern, namely around the timing of the General Assembly. From the general idea, I don't think it will be going down, however a message will be posted to the front page concerning SOPA and the blackout.
« Last Edit: January 13, 2012, 01:18:38 PM by Shawn Gray »

-Shawn R. Gray, OCT
http://www.shawngray.ca

"Attempting to predict the future is folly. Instead one must work to build it."
Sean Hunt
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« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2012, 09:42:35 PM »
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I like the idea of blacking out the front page, but including a link to at least the chat so that it doesn't prejudice those who want to participate.

I am the President of the Party. This means I'm pretty familiar with the governance and rules of the Party. This does not mean that I speak for the Party. Any opinions expressed in my posts are my own.
Yehoshua
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« Reply #4 on: January 17, 2012, 05:07:03 PM »
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While we bickered and debated, we missed the chance to be listed among Canadian sites protesting PIPA and SOPA on the CBC and most Canadian newspapers (Canadian Press) today...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/01/17/wikipedia-dark-protest.html?cmp=rss

Identi.ca, Michael Geist and Tucows all deserved mention though.


We have a marketing team, but no cryptography team; half our members are more interested in getting elected than in ensuring digital sovereignty. The allure of being popular has distracted us from the goal of being free.
Sean Hunt
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Location: Waterloo
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« Reply #5 on: January 26, 2012, 01:42:22 PM »
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While we bickered and debated, we missed the chance to be listed among Canadian sites protesting PIPA and SOPA on the CBC and most Canadian newspapers (Canadian Press) today...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/01/17/wikipedia-dark-protest.html?cmp=rss

Identi.ca, Michael Geist and Tucows all deserved mention though.
We /did/ black out.

I am the President of the Party. This means I'm pretty familiar with the governance and rules of the Party. This does not mean that I speak for the Party. Any opinions expressed in my posts are my own.
Concerned Citizen
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« Reply #6 on: January 26, 2012, 01:57:54 PM »
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We /did/ black out.

Yeah I mentioned when it happened we're getting better in reaction time. The whole UBB thing we missed by almost two weeks. This time we only missed the deadline by a few hours Tongue

When the government fears the people, there is liberty.  When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.
-Thomas Jefferson

People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.
-V (From the movie V for Vendetta)
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