[Imc-web] Q: should we blacken our homepage t in protest of SOPA tomorrow?

Wed Jan 18 10:08:14 CST 2012

WRFU is circulating on Facebook that they are off the air due to support of
blackout. But News-Gazette had something up on their web site that the WRFU
transmitter was out, quoting someone from WRFU. Don't know who to believe...

BD

On Wed, Jan 18, 2012 at 9:45 AM, Chris Ritzo <chris.ritzo at gmail.com> wrote:

> The blackout is in effect now. If someone wants to draft a message to go
> with it, I'll put it up.
>
> On Wed, Jan 18, 2012 at 9:16 AM, Mike Lehman <rebelmike at earthlink.net>wrote:
>
>>  Since there wasn't any announcement prior to this, there should be
>> something posted after the fact to explain what we did. The blackout
>> without any explanation is confusing, although some readers will guess why.
>> Mike
>>
>>
>> On 1/17/2012 11:33 PM, Danielle Chynoweth wrote:
>>
>> Should we black out our ucimc.org site tomorrow? Wikipedia, Reddit and
>> many of our allies in media justice have already gone dark with messages
>> about the dangers of SOPA. Thoughts? - Danielle
>>    Momentum Builds Against SOPA and PIPA Tomorrow you might be wondering
>> who turned out the lights. Don’t worry — it will simply be one of the
>> biggest days in the history of the open Internet.
>>
>> Thousands of websites — including Wikipedia, reddit, BoingBoing,
>> FreePress.net and SavetheInternet.com — will go dark<http://sopastrike.com/>to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA),
>> bills in the House and Senate that could open the door to widespread
>> censorship online.
>>
>> Meanwhile, hundreds of supporters of the open Internet will gather
>> outside the Manhattan offices of New York Senators Chuck Schumer and
>> Kirsten Gillibrand to urge them — both are sponsors of PIPA — to change
>> course and oppose this legislation.
>>
>> Millions of Internet users have succeeded in slowing down the
>> Hollywood-funded momentum of these bills. A House vote on SOPA has now been indefinitely
>> postponed<http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/204167-sopa-shelved-until-consensus-is-found>.
>> And the mainstream media, which had largely failed to cover<http://www.savetheinternet.com/blog/12/01/17/blog/12/01/09/news-networks-sopa-blackout>what is arguably the biggest tech story of the year, are finally waking up.
>> Last weekend, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes devoted an entire segment<http://upwithchrishayes.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/15/10161056-debating-sopa>to a debate on the legislation. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry
>> Reid defended PIPA <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/> on *Meet the
>> Press* last Sunday (hey, at least it got covered!).
>>
>> Just in time for tomorrow’s blackout, the White House has announced its
>> opposition<https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petition-tool/response/combating-online-piracy-while-protecting-open-and-innovative-internet>to provisions in both bills that pose a threat to free speech. And even
>> Google is altering its valuable homepage<http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-57360223-261/google-will-protest-sopa-using-popular-home-page/>to include a note protesting SOPA and PIPA.
>>
>> A casual observer of all this activity — Wikipedia is really going dark?
>> Google is really changing up its homepage? — might wonder what all the fuss
>> is about. Here, in a nutshell, is why tech companies, individual Internet
>> users, members of Congress and the White House have all expressed grave
>> concerns about legislation that could usher in a new wave of online
>> censorship.
>>
>> Supporters claim that SOPA and PIPA are the only way to effectively fight
>> online piracy. But while the rights of content holders need to be
>> protected, these bills are the wrong way to address this issue. If they are
>> passed, corporations (with the help of the courts) will become the arbiters
>> of what is and isn’t lawful online activity, with millions of Internet
>> users swept in their nets as collateral damage.
>>
>> Both bills are said to target only foreign websites that are explicitly
>> in the business of promoting copyright-infringing content. But they would do
>> much to harm the global Internet<https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/how-pipa-and-sopa-violate-white-house-principles-supporting-free-speech>,
>> and a provision in both bills would allow tampering with the Internet’s
>> technical infrastructure in a way that Internet engineers agree would harm
>> online security<http://boingboing.net/2011/12/15/internet-engineers-to-congress.html>
>> .
>>
>> Another provision would empower private companies to go after any website
>> — lawful or otherwise — they accuse of infringing on their copyright. Those
>> companies could work with service providers and financial institutions to
>> shut off access to the potentially offending sites, with no repercussions
>> at all if the accused site is later judged to be lawful. Meanwhile, a
>> falsely accused site could go belly up from all of the legal fees needed to
>> defend itself.
>>
>> Innocent until proven guilty, anyone?
>>
>>
>>         --
>> Josh Levy
>> Internet Campaign Director
>> Free Press :: www.freepress.net
>> 413.585.1533 x208 <413.585.1533%20x208>
>> Twitter: @levjoy
>> *
>> reform media. transform democracy.*
>> *
>> *
>> *
>> *
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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