Won't somebody PLEASE think of the children?

What are you.. waiting for?

Do it.



DOOOO IIIIIIIT!

@luxury_pie
Sry, I thought I was thinking of them when I stole the trademark sift icon and combined it with the reddit icon into one image for my own personal gain.

Would it be fair to vote NO just to be able in the long run to watch the U.S.A go from worse to worst and dwindle slowly into the pages of crappy history?

>> ^G-bar:

Would it be fair to vote NO just to be able in the long run to watch the U.S.A go from worse to worst and dwindle slowly into the pages of crappy history?




It would be fair to vote NO if you think SOPA is a good bill that should exist and isn't worth fighting against.

Yes. Without question.

The sites that so do dark in support of Stop SOPA should do so for a week. Now THAT would be a statement. I know that this isn't practical but neither is SOPA.

Imo, it's a no brainer. But i also think ant has already said words to the effect that if big sites do it, the sift would too.

Yes. As a show of support, absolutely...

... but how much effect will VideoSift going dark actually have? Not being harsh, but we aren't exactly getting Facebook/Twitter/Reddit/YouTube viewings. I think it's far more important that key sites that everyone use (including those tweeting policy makers etc...) blackout.

Seriously, C'mon...DO IT!

@Hybrid every little bit helps

I know, and being a video site SOPA could end up affecting VideoSift considerably. So I do agree with a blackout of VS from a moral standpoint. I just question the actual effectiveness of such an action in the bigger picture, that's all.>> ^JiggaJonson:

@Hybrid every little bit helps

>> ^Hybrid:

I know, and being a video site SOPA could end up affecting VideoSift considerably. So I do agree with a blackout of VS from a moral standpoint. I just question the actual effectiveness of such an action in the bigger picture, that's all.>> ^JiggaJonson:
@Hybrid every little bit helps



Well, if videosift/bluesnews/cracked/reddit all went black with nothing but info/links about how to contact their representatives/why it's important, I know I would and people (in general) probably would have a lot of extra time on their hands if for no other reason than they wouldn't be distrac-- ...OHKITTYVIDEOMUSTCLICK!!!

See also: http://www.pedestrian.tv/entertainment/news/anti-piracy-movie-ads-caught-using-pirated-music/60075.htm

"if they can't even look after their own ads, how can they expect anybody else to abide by the law?"

Thanks @Lann for the link

I'm all for it.

Yes, as an individual site, Videosift's participation in the protest won't make much difference, but as part of a larger coordinated effort across the Internet, we're throwing what weight we have behind a cause we care about, making the protest just that much stronger.

So...do it!

Does the porn industry support SOPA?
Imagine those sites going black a day... Instant panic and looting?

edit:
lol: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/270085/20111220/internet-porn-sopa-supporters-awkward-situation.htm

just do it.
oops, just infringed on nike.
fuck that bullshit

^What they said.

Do it.

¡Si!

I remember Nostalgia Critic had a big video that was a gag video about the horrors of SOPA, as well as an ad before all current videos, it seemed really effective. And, if every site on the net starts broadcasting these alerts and fake blackouts, discourse will be encouraged.

I dont know much about how videos are stored on these big video sites so bare with me.

But if say half the video providers VS uses goes dark would that not effect VS anyway?

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/oco15/iama_attorney_for_riot_games_directing_our/

Old link but it seems like Google/facebook/Amazon/twitter talked about blacking out a little earlier last week: http://www.infowars.com/will-google-amazon-and-facebook-black-out-the-net/

Personally I don't see VS going down affecting much of anything beyond those of us who practically live here. Even so OWS was only a few people at some point and even 1 more person makes a larger crowd than before even if nobody notices them and all they do is add to the size of the group and thus the size of the message. So as much as I will miss this bastion of sanity and fun I call VS.... DO IT! It's one day now vs the distinct possibility of every day and always later on.

>> ^RadHazG:

Personally I don't see VS going down affecting much of anything beyond those of us who practically live here. Even so OWS was only a few people at some point and even 1 more person makes a larger crowd than before even if nobody notices them and all they do is add to the size of the group and thus the size of the message. So as much as I will miss this bastion of sanity and fun I call VS.... DO IT! It's one day now vs the distinct possibility of every day and always later on.


I was thinking, though, that perhaps going offline instead of providing some "education" or "food for thought" interaction misses out on an opportunity. For instance, a sit in only works because you are visible, yet passive. Turning yourself off, with no real educational factor, just looks like downtime or some technical fault. Like, for instance, when the Amazon server cloud "failed" causing massive startup level net stuff to go offline. And while it affected huge portions of the web, to the lay person, it just seemed like a few of the sites they visited weren't working. In other words, a black out or whatever it decided on happening needs to be something that talks to the layperson on his level, not our level.

What do you think @dag, would we be shooting ourselves in the foot with something like this? Like blowing up Yavin base ourselves in protest of the deathstar?

I think the idea was (unless I am very much mistaken) to do what Reddit is doing. Take down the site proper, but leave up a page with links to educate the public and visitors about why the site is down, what SOPA/PIPA are and why they are so incredibly dangerous.

>> ^RadHazG:

I think the idea was (unless I am very much mistaken) to do what Reddit is doing. Take down the site proper, but leave up a page with links to educate the public and visitors about why the site is down, what SOPA/PIPA are and why they are so incredibly dangerous.


That's a good option.

Agreed, take it down but leave something informative AND entertaining in it's place.

Everyone on facebook should also black out their profile pics BTW...

In the growing battle for the future of the Web, some of the biggest sites online -- Google, Facebook, and other tech stalwarts -- are considering a coordinated blackout of their sites, some of the web’s most popular destinations.

No Google searches. No Facebook updates. No Tweets. No Amazon.com shopping. Nothing.

On November 15, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Zynga, eBay, Mozilla, Yahoo, AOL, and LinkedIn wrote a letter to Washington warning of SOPA's dangers. "We are concerned that these measures pose a serious risk to our industry's continued track record of innovation and job-creation, as well as to our Nation's cybersecurity," the letter argued

Google co-founder Sergey Brin himself has loudly denounced the bill. “While I support their goal of reducing copyright infringement (which I don't believe these acts would accomplish), I am shocked that our lawmakers would contemplate such measures that would put us on a par with the most oppressive nations in the world,” Brin wrote on Google+ social networking site earlier this month.

More: Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/12/30/will-google-amazon-and-facebook-blackout-net/#ixzz1jNPe7gdV

The polarizing movement has many critics but also equally strong and diverse support, including most major media companies as well as businesses like 3M, Adidas, Burberry, CVS and more. News Corp., the parent company of FoxNews.com, also supports the law.

"SOPA targets foreign websites that sell counterfeit drugs and stolen copies of Hollywood movies -- not such American Web sites as YouTube or your favorite blog," wrote Richard Bennett, senior research fellow at the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, in an editorial in the New York Post.

The opposition to SOPA preys on ignorance and fear. Most Internet users don’t understand the details of DNS or the methods used by Internet search engines. It’s easy for the apologists for the Internet status quo to convince the less well informed that the Internet is too big and complicated to improve. But they’re wrong. It’s hard for our slow-moving Congress to stay abreast of all the changes that take place on the Internet at breakneck speed.
More: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/protecting_americans_from_web_scams_lvOOEKJEqzpjGIAW43mIXP

Voting for this poll ended with the majority of users voting Yes.