docs.google.com/document/d/1xji … edit?pli=1
electronista.com/articles/11 … sopa.bill/
I really hope SOPA fails. We might as well say goodbye to most of the fun on the internet because if it passes, it will be gone. I am happy to hear a lot of people hate it and some have stepped down from it. The less suppoters the better. I’ll be surprised if this does pass, I don’t think people are this stupid, if it does, we some people are more stupid then I thought. It will only cause more trouble id it passes. So I’m against it.
If it passes, I’m never logging onto a computer again. And that’s really hard for me to say because most of my free time is spent on the computer.
I’m listening to the Megaupload song as I’m reading this. The story behind it is even more remarkable.
SOPA was brought to my attention by one of my geek friends, and I have to agree with the majority of online users that it is a self-defeating, futile, and ultimately oppressive piece of legislation. I believe in Internet Democracy, and although there’s lots of social ills that go with it (online piracy, child pornography, hate sites), I don’t participate in them (well, with the exception of the first, but that’s because they don’t provide the means for me to support them or that I already did through legitimate means). The Internet Democracy I believe in is shared information, reconstituted parody (ie Youtube Poops, memes, non-for-profit spoofs) and humanitarian/environmental projects.
SOPA is like zero-tolerance enforcement for the majority of non-for-profit entertainers like you and I, who make fan sigs, arts, and videos for the sheer heck of it (and maybe Internet notoriety). And really, a lot of content producers and businesses will suffer because we will never get to discover their works in the first place. I wouldn’t have discovered MLP FIM had there not been free episodes on Youtube, and now I’m a proud supporter of their merchandise and perhaps in the future, if they ever made their way to these shores, their DVDs too.
SOPA is for Saps. Really.
Like the rest of us free-roaming internet enjoyers I’m pretty terrified of this bill, and agree that it defeats its own purpose. They can put restrictions here and there and worsen them with time, but will it stop people from trying? Of course not. History repeats itself. If Youtube restricts the streaming of copywritten material, someone will find a way to do it on another site. It will ultimately do more harm than good and it could have a potentially strong effect on online businesses and small-time artists who take commissions.
If it weren’t for Youtube, I wouldn’t have started listening to music. But I didn’t just circulate Youtube to listen, I’ve spent a good deal of money on actual CDs— Youtube merely helped introduce me to a lot of it.
It’s interesting to see just how many supporters there are for SOPA, though. Even Disney and Nintendo. Not sure about Disney, but Nintendo recently dropped from the list of supporters—wonder why? Maybe because they’re finally realizing how much more bad than good this could do for them as well.
What should we think of the companies that do support? Are they evil?
What really annoys me about SOPA is that some of its main supporters in congress openly admit they have no idea how the internet works. Lamar Smith (the main guy behind it) has pretty much denied it will be the worst thing to hit the internet and that its protesters have no evidence that it will do what we all know it will do.
The freaking founders of the internet wrote a letter protesting against it. I’m pretty sure that the people who actually created what we’re all using right now would know more about the process of internet censorship than a middle-aged conservative congressman from Texas.
It’s kind of a relief to see all these companies backing down from supporting the bill. GoDaddy, a web hosting service recently came out in support of it and lost almost 40,000 domains within two days.
I’d also like to point out that the major entertainment companies that are pushing for SOPA are the same ones that protested against VCRs and portable music players because they would ‘destroy the business’. DVD’s and digital music are now two of the biggest money makers for these companies. 
(another point here) It’s ridiculously ironic that the congresspeople who are fighting to protect the (in my opinion) completely redundant and stupid second amendment are also fighting hard to overrule the first one.
Anyone know the compaies that support SOPA?
I heard that some people that are against SOPA have been getting some pretty nasty viruses. Doug Walker got one not too long after his site announced that it was anti-SOPA.
Are you kidding me?!? Is this kind of law actually being considered to be passed?!?Major corps Disney, Time Warner, Viacom, News Corp, Blue Sky, ect. are supporting this?!?
I got a virus yesterday.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, WHAT?! I did not hear about this. Ok, now I’m even more scared. 
What will this mean for Tumblr, which has gone to great lengths to propagate its anti-SOPA stance??
Nostalgia Critic didn’t post his episode yesterday or today. Wonder if thet our messing with his compulter.
Thank you Phileas for PP’s CENSORED image, and for your post on SOPA. You worded it excellently.
This day will be going down in history for sure.
I honestly have no words to describe how incredible it is that branches of the internet, big and small, are all banding together to protect the web from SOPA and PIPA.
I honestly have nothing to say about today other than this: “We’re not going down without a fight!”
Wow, imagine my surprise to see a huge redact on the site logo! Yes, go ahead and click it folks, Phileas wrote a great explanation on two destructive US bills that will affect your freedom of expression on the Internet.
In honour of January 18th, the day the Internet shut down, I will be wearing my current ‘STOP SOPA’ avatar and link to Phileas’ piece in my sig until January 24th, when Congress will vote on a decision. Here’s fingers crossed that they make the right one…
I’m surprised Youtube isn’t in this like Wikipedia and other sites. If they shut down for a day that would tick a lot of people off, thus create less supporters for the bill.
Pixarfan91: YouTube and Google are doing a silent protest, more or less, to SOPA. If you’ve seen Google’s logo, well, actually, you can’t. But they’re still up and running. Hence why YouTube is still active. But I agree, that would have a major impact, since it is a major source of entertainment.
What is their silent protest?