Internet blackout in SOPA protest

You're 100% right, Mike. Ya know, I've been speaking out for years on dangers in recent legislation. I've petitioned for impeachment, recalls, and a lot of things that most people just stuck their tongues out and raspberried me for. I was told I was a tinfoil nutcase paranoid. Well, a lot of eyes have been opened since then. Many too late on many issues that would have prevented situations from ever getting this far.

I understand that. I mean who in their right mind would actually have thought that we could lose habeas corpus and posse comentatus? To lose free speech on top of that is going to be a nightmare of proportions I don't even want to think about. I can say that freely now because it's been a long time since anyone thought I was paranoid. Too much water has gone under that bridge.

But people are still befuddled. They don't really know how to react to this stuff. And it might be the last chance we get to actually do anything online to make a statement that helps those still in a quandary figure out that they need to get involved - and fast.

Protest on its own may or may not achieve what we need to achieve - overt public reaction. It did in the Nam era - it didn't during the bailout. But one thing we can do is wake up those who still don't get it - and we can make people angry enough to actually get their fingers out of their noses, shut off the tv and actually DO something.

One thing we have in our favor is that corporations are willing to join this protest. Corporations have power. Can you imagine the chaos that Google blacking out for a day - and paypal will do to US commerce for that day? That's a taste of what our whole online life can be like if government takes over the Net. Some say it can't be done - but China hasn't got much of a problem with it. There is work right now creating a National Internet ID - and SOPA would make that furiously easy to implement. Do you realize that any entrepreneur on the net can, and probably will, be effected by that?

It's gone way too far already and we might not be able to stop it. But we might. So we have to try and that means pulling out all the stops and taking every action we can take to do so. The blackout is something that is a statement by businesses and corporations - it needs to be followed, as well as preceded, by every effort anyone can make personally. Boycotting the corporations responsible is a necessary act and we can hope that anyone dealing with those corporations will walk. We can hope that every citizen who learns of SOPA will write, email, or call their legislators. We can hope that people will be standing on the lawn of the WH the day the vote is to take place. And we can hope that if the vote doesn't go in our favor that people will recall every rep that has anything to do with it passing, because that will be the only way we have left to save our skins. People either "get it" now or we ALL lose. Period. Game over - State 1, People 0.

The fat lady is just about to start bellowing.

Just a couple of things...

> Paul mentioned "a kid using a copyrighted image as an avatar." If you watch that left column for any period of time, you'll see enough copyright infringements and trademark violations to make an ambulance chaser drool.

> It's not a simple matter of "awareness" - it's a matter of reeducation. Most people see the stuff the folks with the money and the media access want them to see.

Someone says "this is bad." Another goes to the source and says "so and so says this is bad." Media supporters say "of course they say that, they want to keep offending." Doesn't matter if it's true.

> Politicos have their own method of squashing protests. It's called the "never-ending fundraiser." Try writing to your Congressman or Senator. You end up on the "politically active" mailing list and get buried under mail, phone calls, etc. asking for your "support", which you can easily show by check or credit card.

I really hope this thing can be defeated, because I have infinite faith in our politicos' ability to screw things up.

I agree totally..

It is never what you see, its always what you dont see.. When I look at this I see tragedy on so many levels.. But I wonder what is going on in the left hand when they have us focused on their right hand.

As nature lady pointed out, the Patriot Act proved that.

Its true that many just sit back and say nothing.. But I for one hope the whole net goes down for the day, any short term losses I experience will be gained back.. I can only hope that someone big enough joins in.. if google joined in then the average person would see the truth..

lets look at it from another side:

I certainly don't want to have to explain to my grand children when they ask (who by the way are no yet born, my children dont have partners, and I certainly hope my daugher is no preganant .. what will you say if you grandchild asks, "grandpa what were you doing when they took away our freedom", how will you answer that one.. "I was sitting watching the TV".. For many that's the only response they will have...


mbc

You've obviously never been involved with a legal action involving a major corporation and a legal team commanding fees higher than the GDP of some countries.

You may run out of resources long before that day in court comes. Like when you ask for documentation, as is your right, and the corporation delivers print copies using a semi-trailer truck. Which gives them time to root around in the deep dark recesses of your closet looking for bone fragments.

I read once that the average wait to get that day in court was measured in years. And even if you do live long enough to win, you still have to collect.

If you want to join in the fight, but can't quite bring yourself to black out your site - I heard about this WordPress plugin which adds a minimal corner ribbon to your site (links through to the main American Censorship site for more info)

WordPress › Stop SOPA Ribbon « WordPress Plugins