Join us on Wednesday, March 17th to hear the untold stories from people who were on the front lines. Special remarks from Senator Ron Wyden. Join EFF Lists. Electronic Frontier Foundation. The technical blocking of full websites by their Domain Name System DNS is argued by some to change the technical nature of internet operations and in effect censor certain websites from subscribers.
Examples like the one mentioned above were used as a lightning rod to mobilize content users and content distributors. The movement gained an enormous amount of traction; even the White House took a position stating that although they are in favour of increasing protection surrounding copyrighted content, they will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression.
Furthermore, industry heavyweights such as Google , Facebook , Yahoo! On January 18 th many commonly accessed websites including Wikipedia. Finally on January 20 th Lamar S. Smith, the congressman who introduced the bill, pulled the legislation off the table, citing that a revisiting of the issue was required in order to properly address the underlying problems.
As Canadians, one would likely not be worried about foreign legislation as the relative impact would be minimal. The two main focal points of discussion are the extra-jurisdictional reach afforded, and heavily used content services being altered.
In effect, any foreign website would be treated as a domestic one for purposes of enforcing tougher copyright enforcement provisions. The internet roared, and the politicians listened , reminiscent of the popular uprising against media consolidation in proposed by then Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell, the son of General Colin Powell.
Information is the currency of democracy, and people will not sit still as moneyed interests try to deny them access. When internet users visited the sixth-most popular website on the planet during the protest blackout, the English-language section of Wikipedia , they found this message:.
Right now, the US Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open internet. In a world with fresh, internet-fueled revolutions, it seems that US politicians are getting the message.
Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column. This article is more than 9 years old. Amy Goodman. An unprecedented wave of online opposition to the Sopa and Pipa bills before Congress shows the power of a free internet. This has proved a black day of the bills' supporters with some major defections from both sides of the political spectrum. Marco Rubio , the senator tipped as a potential vice presidential pick, has come down against the bills and other senior Republicans including Arkansas senator John Boozman , have joined him.
Open internet has always been vital to our goal of empowering individuals and communities through free access to global knowledge. While we recognize that copyright holders have legitimate concerns regarding their property rights, we do not believe that the solution should come on the backs of millions of innocent online users. Open Internet, like free speech, must always be protected.
It ain't over yet. PIPA is still up for a vote on January 24 and similar legislation is being pushed through in other countries. We will be keeping you informed as this story develops. My source in DC: "We just got word the whole House system is down Gathered inside a barricade pen, the demonstrators heard from an array of speakers, including a number of prominent figures in the tech industry.
Rasiej claimed the protest was essential to maintaining the vitality of New York City vibrant tech sector. Rasiej, and the string of speakers he introduced, called on senators Schumer and Gillibrand to pull their support for the controversial legislation. Many pointed out that the tech industry in New York city employs tens of thousands of individuals; including women and young people, who are often excluded from other industries. On top of that, the speakers added, the industry continues to grow.
Andrew McLaughlin, executive vice president of Tumblr, said a free and open internet empowers disenfranchised movements and people to have their voices heard. Meanwhile, Redditt's co-founder, Alexis Ohanian, said the struggle to combat the bills was, "a fight to save democracy.
As the speakers wrapped up, a pair of young men familiar to those who've covered New York City's ongoing Occupy Wall Street protests took to the podium. Using the familiar "people's mic" the two called for "nerd out" march to Time Square several blocks away. Approximately protesters made their way to the iconic stretch of Manhattan amid chants of "We want innovation, not stupid legislation," and "What is it we wanna get?
Freedom of the internet! Upon arrival to the square the protesters, including one young woman holding a sign that read "Give me lolcatz or give me death," continued to denounce both SOPA and PIPA as a small contingent of passers-by and police looked on. Why is that? At the weekend Obama officials made clear that they were against the legislation as it stands.
He said he was delighted with how today's protest has taken off. This pending US legislation does nothing but support the Hollywood studios, multinational record labels, and huge global publishers who are unable or unwilling to keep up with the future.
The proponents of this legislation fear the future, and the openness it promises. And so even as their old models are dying, Big Media is attempting to hold on to a false sense of hope without a care of how their actions would impact the rest of the Web.
If their efforts didn't pose such a threat to Internet security, free speech, and innovation, they would just seem pathetic. But as it stands, this legislation poses a very real and dangerous risk to the infrastructure of the Internet and our online freedom. Today, we're seeing an unprecedented mobilization across the Internet, enabled by an increasingly networked society, social media and a number of tech companies and website owners taking principled stands in support of freedom of expression and the Open Web.
I support the right of Internet companies and services to use their platforms -- much in the same way that I suppose freedom of expression online -- to educate their users about proposed legislation that would harm a free and open Internet, as we understand that term today. Given that SOPA and PIPA have received very little coverage on the broadcast television networks whose parent companies support them, these actions are quite important, in terms of alerting citizens to what's happening in Washington.
I believe that the "how" of these blackout is, in other words, an important consideration, along with the whether, why and when. My publisher, O'Reilly Media , has decided to 'go dark' today as well. In doing so, we hope that we both spread awareness of what's at stake, educate our community and give citizens the ability to learn more and take action. I was heartened to see that the Online News Association and the American Society of Newspaper Editors have come out against these bills. If you'd like to read my feature on these bills, you can view a cached version here :.
The 'blackout' by Wikipedia, Reddit or Boing Boing, along with many other blogs and Craigslist's prominent interstitial, are leading to greater awareness of both the content and ramifications of these bills.
From what I'm seeing and hearing here in DC, they're also leading to greater civic engagement between citizens and their representatives in Congress, I believe that would be a net benefit for both the communities of those services and the United States as a whole.
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