Today there's one gigantic mass of SOPA and PIPA protests across the web, most of them taking the form of a total blackout of the sites participating - what Google has done to assist in these sites rankings within the search results of their site is to slow down their web crawlers. What this does for you, the blackout protestor, is to affect your page ranking in Google enough that you don't have to worry about having to climb your way back up into the results tomorrow when the blackout is done. Those of you that rely on Google for hits should rejoice and be glad.
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‘SOPA’ Stories
Google assists SOPA Blackout sites with slowed web crawlers
SOPA and PIPA are the Wrong Way to Tackle Piracy
Anti-SOPA and anti-PIPA protests have begun in force today, with sites like Wikipedia giving the internet a taste of a web without freedom of speech, as censorship and piracy take center stage for lawmakers, content-owners and users alike. The proposed acts are, we believe, a heavy-handed and naive approach toward the legitimate issue of content theft. Being against the proposed acts isn’t the same as being “pro-piracy”; that’s why we here at SlashGear (and R3 Media, the company behind SlashGear), as avid content-creators and content-consumers, believe SOPA and PIPA are the wrong way to tackle piracy online.
Wikipedia anti-SOPA blackout underway
Wikipedia has entered a twenty-four hour blackout in protest of SOPA and PIPA, the US anti-piracy acts currently giving free-internet advocates headaches. Visit any English-language Wikipedia page and instead of a crowd-sourced entry you’ll be prompted to “Imagine a world without free knowledge” as well as offered links to spread the message. Meanwhile, Google has opened up some of its historically whitespace homepage for an anti-SOPA call to arms, while other sites prepare to go dark.
SOPA to be resurrected after blackout protests
With growing opposition against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), an imminent blackout protest to kick off tomorrow, and a postponed vote on the legislation, it seemed as though SOPA was close to being dead. But that's not the case, reminds the legislation's creator and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith. In a press release today, Smith said he expects the committee to continue marking up the bill in February.
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SlashGear 101: SOPA and PIPA explained in plain English
If you’ve not heard of either SOPA or PIPA in the last few weeks and months in your journeys through the internet, now’s the time to get educated, and quick. While the most recent news has been that the White House reaction to the SOPA bill specifically has effectively curbed it, there’s no reason why it can’t pop up again with a different name or a couple of simple changes that allow it to pass silently. These two bills, SOPA and PIPA, are amongst the most dangerous pieces of legislature ever to be written up for passage by the United States government in regards to innovation and the free market on a global scale today: this post will tell you why.
Wikipedia blackout a “broad global message” about SOPA/PIPA peril says Wales
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has defended the online encyclopedia's decision to stage a global blackout in protest of SOPA and PIPA this week, arguing "US law, as it impacts the internet, can affect everyone." Wales hopes the blackout - which will see the English-language version of Wikipedia replaced with an open letter encouraging US citizens to contact their Representatives and voice their concerns with the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect Intellectual Property Act - will prompt even those outside of the US to contact friends and family living there and encourage them to speak up on the proposed legislation, he told the Telegraph, as "a broad global message" about censorship.
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Wikipedia joining Wednesday’s anti-SOPA blackout
Wikipedia has decided to join the protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act by shutting down its English site for 24 hours on Wednesday, January 18. It will be joining companies like Reddit, which had announced last week that it would go offline for 12 hours on Wednesday. Both sites will temporarily shutdown and display only a message urging against the SOPA and PIPA legislation.
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SOPA shelved after Obama announcement
Opponent of the Stop Online Piracy Act, California congressman Darrell Issa noted today that he’d been told by House majority leader Eric Cantor that there would be no vote on SOPA “unless there is consensus on the bill,” this essentially shelving the project until further notice. This move “effectively scuppers” SOPA, as the Guardian notes, and puts pressure on the next most notorious bill regarding these matters, the e-Parasite act, as it comes to a vote on January 24th. This is the victory we’ve been waiting for, folks, unless you’re a big media company that hoped to mis-use the bill, of course.
Murdoch blasts Google as “Piracy leader”
Outspoken News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch has launched a renewed attack on Google, calling it the "piracy leader" of the internet and accusing it apposing SOPA as it makes money off adverts shown around illegal content. Murdoch turned to Twitter for his rant, seemingly triggered by the Obama Administration's comments this weekend that it had concerns over the controls implicit in the Stop Online Piracy Act.
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Obama’s geeks speak out on SOPA
The US government has responded to the internet uproar over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), promising that any acts challenging piracy will not go to the House of Representatives without consensus being found first. "While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response," President Obama's IP, technology and cybersecurity chiefs wrote today, "we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet."
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NVIDIA opposes SOPA publicly
There's been a bit of controversy happening over the past month or two, ramping up especially here in the last few weeks, centering in on companies and big names who have not necessarily said they support the internet censorship bill known as SOPA, but haven't opposed it either. At the start of this week, attention was turned to NVIDIA who, up until this week, had not come out in support or opposition to SOPA (otherwise known as Stop Online Piracy Act). Earlier today, NVIDIA's Bob Sherbin posted specifically SOPA is not something they support.
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Anonymous joins anti-SOPA blackout as Wikipedia mulls support
Loosely-gathered hack collective Anonymous has announced it too will be joining reddit's anti-SOPA blackout on January 18, with Wikipedia apparently considering to participate in the online protest as well. "On Jan 18th you will see no tweets from this account between 8a and 8p EST in support of #SOPAblackout!" the group's AnonymousIRC account tweeted, referring to the user-curated site's decision to go offline to raise awareness of the pending act. Meanwhile, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said he was "all in favor" of the blackout, and that it would be great if [Wikipedia] could act quickly to coordinate with Reddit."
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