Guys, an informal movement is coalescing to stop SOPA from ripping apart the foundations of the Internet. A site like VideoSift could be severely damaged or even destroyed by some of the provisions in the bill. Beyond our own self-interest as a community, if implemented, this bill could endanger the egalitarian, free nature of the web itself.
Make no mistake, although they hide behind political action committes and lobbying groups like the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, this fight is about the old big end of town protecting and increasing profits in the face of disruptive new technology. I know what side of this battle the Sift is on.
In coordination with our brethren over at Reddit, Wikipedia and other community sites, our protest will be on January 18th from 8am–8pm EST (1300–0100 UTC).
During this period, you can still visit VideoSift but the following changes will be in place:
All videos will be censored
It's going to be dark baby
In place of videos we'll be directing people here for a discussion of the problem and coordinating the effort.
No advertising of course
For this post, what we need is a good set of links that people can use to get informed and take some action. Can Sifters who are more engaged in the movement than me - I know I've communicated with some of you- put together a list or relevent links and I'll edit it into this post? Due to the high influx of "casual" video viewers, I think we've got a strong opportunity to inform and direct traffic to help in this effort.
Update: Links provided by @critical_d:
Some links:
Wikipedia Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act
Direct Link to the Text of the Bill: http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/112%20HR%203261.pdf
Open Congress (Easy way to contact your Congressperson): http://www.opencongress.org/
Update 2: SOPA has been indefinitely delayed, but victory is not ours. PIPA still lives in the senate and we need to ensure that SOPA does not get another go, rejiggered, and renamed the "Don't Hurt Puppies Act" as congress is wont to do. VideoSift still goes dark at the afore mentioned time.
Update 3: The above Wikipedia article won't work obviously during the blackout. I've been looking around - and so far the best, most impacting and informative page is done by craigslist. If you go to one page about the movement, make it this one: http://eugene.craigslist.org/
Here's an alternate Wikipedia page that works: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn_more
Make no mistake, although they hide behind political action committes and lobbying groups like the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, this fight is about the old big end of town protecting and increasing profits in the face of disruptive new technology. I know what side of this battle the Sift is on.
In coordination with our brethren over at Reddit, Wikipedia and other community sites, our protest will be on January 18th from 8am–8pm EST (1300–0100 UTC).
During this period, you can still visit VideoSift but the following changes will be in place:
For this post, what we need is a good set of links that people can use to get informed and take some action. Can Sifters who are more engaged in the movement than me - I know I've communicated with some of you- put together a list or relevent links and I'll edit it into this post? Due to the high influx of "casual" video viewers, I think we've got a strong opportunity to inform and direct traffic to help in this effort.
Update: Links provided by @critical_d:
Some links:
Wikipedia Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act
Direct Link to the Text of the Bill: http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/112%20HR%203261.pdf
Open Congress (Easy way to contact your Congressperson): http://www.opencongress.org/
Update 2: SOPA has been indefinitely delayed, but victory is not ours. PIPA still lives in the senate and we need to ensure that SOPA does not get another go, rejiggered, and renamed the "Don't Hurt Puppies Act" as congress is wont to do. VideoSift still goes dark at the afore mentioned time.
Update 3: The above Wikipedia article won't work obviously during the blackout. I've been looking around - and so far the best, most impacting and informative page is done by craigslist. If you go to one page about the movement, make it this one: http://eugene.craigslist.org/
Here's an alternate Wikipedia page that works: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn_more
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