Today, January 18, 2012, is the SOPA blackout protest.
The site here is clearly not blacked out. Call it laziness or anxiety that nobody would notice.
Instead of going dark, I thought I would reprint for posterity the Motion Picture Association of America’s press release regarding the SOPA blackout protest. (I like this picture, as it reminds you who the MPAA really are.)
So here we have the words of FORMER Senator Chris Dodd, the Chairman and CEO of the MPAA, who is clearly now into the final cash-in stage of his political career (looking at his profile, it appears he might have been cashing in early and often), the MPAA view on the blackout protest.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 17, 2012
WASHINGTON —The following is a statement by Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) on the so-called “Blackout Day” protesting anti-piracy legislation:
“Only days after the White House and chief sponsors of the legislation responded to the major concern expressed by opponents and then called for all parties to work cooperatively together, some technology business interests are resorting to stunts that punish their users or turn them into their corporate pawns, rather than coming to the table to find solutions to a problem that all now seem to agree is very real and damaging.
It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information and use their services. It is also an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today. It’s a dangerous and troubling development when the platforms that serve as gateways to information intentionally skew the facts to incite their users in order to further their corporate interests.
A so-called “blackout” is yet another gimmick, albeit a dangerous one, designed to punish elected and administration officials who are working diligently to protect American jobs from foreign criminals. It is our hope that the White House and the Congress will call on those who intend to stage this “blackout” to stop the hyperbole and PR stunts and engage in meaningful efforts to combat piracy.”
link to the original PDF here.
Such heavily loaded phraseology to use against internet sites that are, against interest (no ad revenues for a day), going to bring their sites down in order to protest this legislation. Hardly a dangerous gimmick, this is an act of protest, something steeped in the traditions of this country. These are not the rogue websites (a pretty loose term that could apply to a lot of places depending on your point of view) that the MPAA claims are the only target of the SOPA legislation, but sites that know and fear that once government regulation has a foot in the door, original intent is forgotten and whatever is in black and white gets used with a heavy hand.
If the above MPAA statement is “TL;DR” for you, Rupert Murdoch has provided a shortened form via Twitter.
https://twitter.com/#!/rupertmurdoch/status/159425611000057856
When you are with Rupert, you are clearly on the side of the angles. And when Rupert buys a politician, he expects them to stay bought!
(And the RIAA slimes its way onto the scene, showing its contempt for any who oppose it.)
And so it is that I salute the sites going dark in protest. Hopefully this will raise awareness and make a difference. Rupert seems to think it will.
We will see all these sites and more again on the 19th.
(Screen shots of some dark sites and sites with supportive messages after the break.)
The Ancient Gaming Noob 