Will Reddit’s Boycotts Against SOPA Supporters Spread?
After GoDaddy announced their support for SOPA, Reddit users organized a massive boycott against GoDaddy, dubbing December 29 “move your domain day” and paving the way for other boycotts. Which company, on the list of supporters, do you think Reddit users will target next? Or do you think they will continue their efforts to pick off senators that support SOPA?
Read more about the GoDaddy Boycott:
It’s Official, GoDaddy Now Opposes SOPA
A rumor roaming the Internet is that the largest Internet and technology companies such as Google, Facebook, Mozilla, Wikipedia, Yahoo! and others, are planning to temporarily blackout the internet and spread anti-SOPA messages. These internet and technology giants form the NetCoalition which “seeks to preserve the vitality of the Internet that exists today.” The theory behind blacking-out the Internet is that the more people who know about SOPA and the more obvious the turmoil the bill can create, the more likely the bill will fail and Congress will have to find another way to fight piracy.
“Blacking out” is not the worst idea. The NetCoalition will definitely make an impact and help spread the word! If they do decide to blackout the internet, it will probably look something like this:
On a slightly different note, SOPA is a perfect example to show the generation gap between internet users and non-internet users (typically the older generation and the younger one). Unfortunately, most of our lawmakers — not all, I do not want to offend — fall into the non-internet user category and expect to pass quality laws to patrol the Internet. It’s just not a good idea.
“According to Yancey Stickler, one of the founders of Kickstarter, a Web site that helps raise funds for creative projects, and a critic of SOPA… It’s people who grew up on the Web versus people who still don’t use it. In Washington, they simply don’t see the way that the Web has completely reconfigured society across classes, education and race. The Internet isn’t real to them yet.”
Although SOPA is incredibly unpopular and contains quite a bit of flaws, SOPA is still likely to pass, especially with it’s strong list of deep-pocket supporters. If SOPA passes as written, the ominous threats that 2012 will be the end of the world may become reality, at the very least, it may be the end of the Internet world as we know it.
What are your thoughts? Do you think SOPA will stand a chance if passed along to the House for a full vote?
Read more about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA):
As We Ring in the New Year, SOPA Still Hasn’t Gone Away
Hopefully we will get some answers about the outcome of SOPA early this year! The senate will hear SOPA’s comrade internet censorship Act, Protect IP, on January 24.
Note: My roommate is from China and she said that one of that amazing things about this country is that we can use any social networking site as well as watch any show on whatever tv channel we want! She continued to say something like this, “Here, in America, you don’t have to worry about the government blocking access to Facebook or shutting down your satellite tv; oh, I miss my satellite tv back in China.” With SOPA looming over our heads, I finally understand what she means.
Image Credits: aidenmourn.wordpress.com, owenmundy.com
Amanda Ciccone
We all interact with technology every day, even first year law students like me! I believe the law is an invigorating field of study and the relationship the law shares with the latest cutting-edge technologies is fascinating. Through TheTechUpload, I will share some of my thoughts about the various ways the tech and legal worlds interact.
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