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They come down pretty solid on the recording industry's side and they get lost as I try to tell them about the knock-on effects.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''
-- James Nicoll
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Wikipedia's gone black now.
At least, if you haven't disabled scripts running from wikipedia.org it is.
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Have you tried the airport security metaphor?
It goes something like this: "Take modern airport security. Then add a law saying that if, in addition to any current reasons for someone to be pulled aside and searched, they would also be pulled aside and searched if they said a 'danger word', if they were within five miles of the airport. And whenever someone is pulled aside to be searched, the entire airport is shut down. Indefinitely."
Edit:
You might also want to take a look at the single remaining Wikipedia article and its references for ideas on how to get the idea across to them.
Edit 2:
xkcd has some good links too.
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber." --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.
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Dresden Codak, Sluggy Freelance and xkcd are completely dark, including their archives.
Steve Jackson Games will be going dark at 8:00AM CST (roughly a half-hour from when I post this), until 5:00PM CST. That includes their forums.
Garfield Minus Garfield, Dork Tower, and Unshelved have commentary about SOPA/PIPA up today ( Unshelved's being the most verbose and the best thought-out of the three - no surprise, considering their core audience is librarians and library scientists), but are otherwise still up.
This forum is still up.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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It's made the national media: the blackout was the lead story on CBS radio news -- above the cruise ship and the blizzard in the NW -- for at least two broadcasts this morning as I drove in to work, and to my surprise the coverage was studiously neutral: "This is happening. This is why." And if it's on CBS Radio news, it's almost certainly going to get coverage on the TV side.
Also, they reported that the White House has made some kind of negative comment on the bills suggesting they have no friends in the Executive branch, but I haven't gone looking for any specifics on that yet.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
The Wanderer
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MS Paint Adventures appears to have gone dark, as well.
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tucows is dark.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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TVTropes has a "Stop SOPA" banner across the top of all its pages.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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Surprisingly, one of the largest collections of derivative works out there - fanfiction.net - is not dark. They've got quite a lot to lose if SOPA/PIPA passes; one would think they'd care...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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And now SJGames is down. Go look at their page.
Note the line at the bottom: "If you really want to see our site now, click here".
Go ahead – click on that link.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
The Wanderer
Unregistered
The sopastrike.com list linked to earlier includes a few individual FF.net authors, but that's all I've been able to find. (I can't even find any official "word from the FF.net staff" information at all, on any subject, except for the few News items on the front page.)
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robkelk Wrote:Surprisingly, one of the largest collections of derivative works out there - fanfiction.net - is not dark. They've got quite a lot to lose if SOPA/PIPA passes; one would think they'd care... It could also be that they're trying to avoid raising their profile in case SOPA does actually pass and get signed. Or they're trying to avoid the fallout in forums about taking a stand either way.
Either that, or they really haven't actually noticed.
As for fallout in forums, one thing that I've been doing over at DAZ3D is taking note of the Published Artists there in the forum that have actually come down in full favor of SOPA passing. Only one so far, but that one has basically ensured I won't buy his products anytime soon... Seriously. If you can't handle that piracy is happening, then you really shouldn't be in business selling digital content in the first place. Because there's no stopping it without making it impossible to DO business selling digital content in the first place.
--
"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor
Nevermind
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DEATH is Certain. The hour, Uncertain...
Nevermind
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DEATH is Certain. The hour, Uncertain...
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Bob Schroeck Wrote:Also, they reported that the White House has made some kind of negative comment on the bills suggesting they have no friends in the Executive branch, but I haven't gone looking for any specifics on that yet. .... If it comes down to Obama having to veto the bill on his desk, then I want the pen he uses to do it. I will then mount it on a plaque with an engraving on a brass plate that reads "Mightier Than the Sword" and hang it in my living room.
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robkelk Wrote:And now SJGames is down. Go look at their page.
Note the line at the bottom: "If you really want to see our site now, click here".
Go ahead – click on that link. Now THAT's what I'm talkin' about! 
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theoatmeal is down, and has a rather funny gif about SOPA.
![[Image: sopa.gif]](http://s3.amazonaws.com/theoatmeal-img/comics/sopa/sopa.gif)
Equestria Daily has black barred their banner, and has a big post about SOPA at the top of the blog.
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber." --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.
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I haven't done anything with the webspaces I work with, sadly.
However, I will add to my earlier missive about DAZ3D artists. I'd already decided to add supporters, even by proxy, to my "don't give money" list. So I'm not interested in television, movies, or even video games. Yes, I know many video game makers have come out against, but the Entertainment Software Association is for it, and a goodly many of the makers are part of that, so it's still supported by proxy if nothing else. And it's important enough to me that the list additions are permanent. "No second chances," to quote the Tenth Doctor.
Ultimately, if I have to go find new hobbies and entertainment options as a result, so be it.
(Note that this will not effect my involvement with Fenspace in any way.)
--
"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor
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And to make a note, fanfic site http://www.usstamerlane.com has also gone black in protest. As has http://www.gamepolitics.com.
--
"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor
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Wow, this is very impressive! This is an incredibly effective protest/awareness raising action. It's the lead story on several major news sites. (Maybe all of them, I'm still checking.) And now I'm listening to the local radio news and it's popping up prominently.
I bet the sponsors of this bill and the congress-critters who were going to vote for it are sweating BUCKETS right now. They were hoping for all of this to go "under the radar" and pass without anyone really noticing. Certainly the mainstream media wouldn't have called them on it on their own.
Well now the spotlight is metaphorically burning their retinas out. By the end of the day, I don't think there's going to be ANYBODY who doesn't know about this.
-Logan
--------------------
Damn sure more effective than a bunch of bums
taking over a public park, that's for sure.
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Did I saw wow? I meant WOW HOLY SHIT!!!
Quote:Freshman Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, a rising Republican star, was first out of the starting gate Wednesday morning with his announcement that he would no longer back anti-Internet piracy legislation he had co-sponsored. Senator John Cornyn, the Texas Republican who heads the campaign operation for his party, quickly followed suit and urged Congress take more time to study the measure that had been set for a test vote next week.
Mr. Cornyn, just before 9 a.m, posted on his Facebook page that it was “better to get this done right rather than fast and wrong. Stealing content is theft, plain and simple, but concerns about unintended damage to the internet and innovation in the tech sector require a more thoughtful balance, which will take more time.”
Their decisions came after swathes of the Internet were shut down Wednesday to protest two separate bills, the Stop On-line Piracy Act in the House, written by Representative Lamar Smith, the Texas Republican who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, and the Protect Intellectual Property Act, drafted by Senator Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Whole story at the link at the top.
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Your money quote for the day -
Quote:The Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, was not written by people who fundamentally misunderstand how the web works. They understand all too well, and want to change it forever.
Read the whole article.
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Good point, Logan. I was about to respond to this Quote:Because there's no stopping it without making it impossible to DO business selling digital content in the first place.
by pointing out exactly what that article says in far more detail and far more eloquently: that this indeed is the actual goal, and these laws are designed to give the media (and other) companies back the monopolies they used to have. And the more I think about it, the more I think that quote from Jonathon Lamy that I posted above isn't a propagandist's fabrication.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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Exactly this. The internet does what no technological advance prior has managed - changing the entire way content can be delivered, for the internet was conceived as a method to deliver information, which is all entertainment content is. It literally threatens their business model down to its foundations, and is competition on top of it.
Anything else they've fought against have always enabled home creators to distribute on a local level for less, if only because it enabled the duplication on an as-needed basis (audio cassettes, VCR, CD burners). And those they were able to get levies put on so you always had to give them something for your production, and even then, you were still limited to local sales for the most part. With the internet, one can be completely independent of Big Media in what they do, and yet have international reach, and no limits to the number of sales one can make outside of site bandwidth costs.
Piracy is merely the "legitimate issue strawman". Yes, piracy is a problem, but it's not the only reason they want the legislation. It's merely the convenient reason.
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"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor
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Heinlein had something to say on this too.
Quote:. Before we leave this matter I wish to comment on the theory implied by you, Mr. Weems, when you claimed damage to your client. There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion that because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary to public interest. This strange doctrine is not supported by statute nor common law. Neither individuals nor corporations have any right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back."
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