Google, Wikipedia And Craigslist Blacked Out In Protest Against Web Bills
This is a serious issue for the whole world – America wants to regulate the Internet and by doing this it will cause a huge influx and riff within the web.
We need everyone to speak out and protest against this idiocy. The bills that they are trying to pass will not help the fight against illegal downloads, watch movies, or sharing on the internet. It will kill the Internet, by breaking agreements, contracts and damaging many websites, who has a strong foundation of information, such as Wikipedia, Craigslist and Google.
Imagine not being able to read about you favorite scholar, poet, or just searching for information for school. Imagine NOT being able to describe something you are trying to sell on Craigslist or promoting your business online for free. Image an Internet where you no longer can post a funny video on YouTube, Vimeo or any website that has media without paying for it. Image the Internet NO LONGER BEING FREE!
If this bothers you then you NEED to speak out to your representative and Wikipedia is helping you with that today, just enter your zip code and the website gives you all the information you need to contact your representative to STOP THE WEB BILLS! [CLICK HERE] – get the deets on the flip…
According to MyFOXLA News, several prominent politicians voiced their opposition to controversial internet piracy bills in Congress Wednesday as Wikipedia and other popular sites went dark to protest the proposed legislation.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a previous co-sponsor of the Senate’s Protect IP Act (PIPA), said he was ending his support for the bill due to the backlash.
“I have decided to withdraw my support for the Protect IP Act,” Rubio said in a Facebook post.
“We’ve heard legitimate concerns about the impact the bill could have on access to the Internet and about a potentially unreasonable expansion of the federal government’s power to impact the Internet. Congress should listen and avoid rushing through a bill that could have many unintended consequences.”
We have just one week left to ACT AGAINST the Senate, because they are scheduled to vote for PIPA next week.
The primary private supporters of the bills are major media companies, including News Corp., which is the parent company of NewsCore.
PIPA in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House propose to give the Justice Department new powers to seek court orders that would force search engines and internet providers to block access to foreign websites displaying pirated material.
SOPA also strengthens existing criminal penalties for copyright infringement.
Websites such as Wikipedia, Google and Facebook say the proposed legislation would curb free speech by allowing the government to shut down sites that unknowingly host pirated material.
Wikipedia disabled nearly its entire online encyclopedia in opposition to the bills Wednesday and instead posted information about SOPA and the Protect IP Act.
Even President Obama is AGAINST the Web Bills because they are written WRONG!
Here is what The White House wrote in response to two petitions about legislative approaches to combat online piracy. In their response, Victoria Espinel, Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator at Office of Management and Budget, Aneesh Chopra, U.S. Chief Technology Officer, and Howard Schmidt, Special Assistant to the President and Cybersecurity Coordinator for National Security Staff stress that the important task of protecting intellectual property online must not threaten an open and innovative internet.
Thanks for taking the time to sign this petition. Both your words and actions illustrate the importance of maintaining an open and democratic Internet.Right now, Congress is debating a few pieces of legislation concerning the very real issue of online piracy, including the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), the PROTECT IP Act, and the Online Protection and Digital ENforcement Act (OPEN). We want to take this opportunity to tell you what the Administration will support—and what we will not support. Any effective legislation should reflect a wide range of stakeholders, including everyone from content creators to the engineers that build and maintain the infrastructure of the Internet.While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet. Reaad more here…
Today, The US has begun their protest against the US Web Bills in San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles.
MyFoxLA also reported, that protests over controversial anti-piracy legislation escalated Wednesday, as opponents planned demonstrations in New York and San Francisco, lawmakers took sides, and websites including Wikipedia staged a blackout.
A New York City technology group called NY Tech Meetup, which hosts monthly meetings for startups, scheduled a protest for 12:30pm in front of the midtown offices of US Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. Speakers will include social media intellectual Clay Shirkey and Electronic Frontier Foundation co-founder John Perry Barlow.
As of about noon, 1,500 people had indicated on NY Tech’s website that they would be attending the protest.
Here are the snapshots of the site protesting today:
Photo courtesy of FreddyO
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