SOPA PIPA blackouts

[Barry the Nomad]

No no, we're not soaping up Kate Middleton's sister Pippa. However...  ;D

Uh, so what do you all think about this blackout thing?

Any writer has already heard me moaning in the secret writers forum. I'm against SOPA/PIPA, but am also not for this form of protest. I mean, I get big name sites like Wikipedia shutting down for a day to catch the attention of a wide range of people. Wikipedia is a site used by a vast range of users.

However, fan sites like Retro, TSS and internet video review sites... it's sort of pointless. Who frequents these sites? People who are already well acquainted with the bill and are most likely already against it. So what does the blackout do in those instances? Cut off access from the site from people already against the bill? Pointless in my opinion. Better to replace the front page with a "contact your representative" and have a temporary topic/forum to discuss the effects of SOPA and PIPA. Use the site as a way to spread the message and promote dialogue, not restrict it for 12-24 hours.

For readers who are wondering, the black bar over the logo is as far as SEGAbits is going today. So read the articles and browse the forums at your leisure but remember how awesome the internet is as you're doing so, and how much it would suck if either act (or an act like them) were passed.   

[SOUP]

I think those smaller sites blocking things out was more a sign of solidarity, and make sure even their readers are informed about the issue than a way to piss off anyone. It was only for a day, so it didn't really bug me much.
I used the cache feature on google to check out wikipedia .

[Barry the Nomad]

I simply pressed "escape" on the keyboard as soon as Wikipedia loaded up the normal page before redirecting to the SOPA message. It was surprisingly easy to do.

[Sharky]

I've pretty much been ignoring the whole thing. I'll start to worry when my freedom of infomation has been compromised... Like it was yesterday, by Wikipedia and Reddit and other sites protesting!

At the moment I don't like the IDEA of the bill but to be honest I really doubt they are going to go as far as to blocking news sites, youtube and so on... When they do, then I'll make a stink but I really suspect the whole thing has been a bit overblown.

Then again, I am not living in Ameirca so I also don't really feel like it's going to have much effect on me.

[SOUP]

It's not so much that it's intended to block out news sites, so much as that the wording in the bill could be interpereted in future case law in ways that could have some very adverse effects.

It's unfortunate, but so many sites are based in the United States, that any laws that affect them are guaranteed to have some pretty widespread results. (Google, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, Youtube, etc....)

[Aki-at]

Even if the bill did pass, the chance of it surviving is more than likely minimal, its only the entertainment industry is supporting this, whilst content providers, internet provides etc would rather not have to police the web, they gain nothing whilst the entertainment industry assumes that their profits would boost massively.

A similar law actually exists in English law (Brought in in 2010) however appeals and judicial reviews have ensured that it is yet (And more than likely, ever) to be enforced.

[crackdude]

Most the US sites have branches in other countries. I remember reading about how Facebook was having troubles with their Irish based servers.

They could simply outsource right?

[SOUP]

I'm not too sure how far the jurisdiction goes, or if outsourcing would really matter.
If the company's based in the United States, I don't know what their options would be.