You’ve likely already noticed that Wikipedia and Google have launched a protest against the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA) and the “Protect IP Act” (PIPA). Google has modified its logo on their search engine home page and Wikipedia has effectively shut down in protest to both SOPA and PIPA. And its not just Wikipedia and Google, but number of other internet heavy weights have tossed their names into the blackout protest hat including the Mozilla Corporation, Facebook, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Yahoo!, eBay, American Express, reddit, Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch, Uncyclopedia and many more personal and small business websites.
Think this protest is going unheeded by our Legislators? Think again. The Blackout is affecting decision makers on Capitol Hill as Jim Puzzanghera reports in the LA Times that,
“Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) withdrew as a co-sponsor of the Protect IP Act in the Senate, while Reps. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) and Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.) said they were pulling their names from the companion House bill, the Stop Online Piracy Act.”
Curious to see how your Senator’s and Representatives are weighing-in on these bills? Take a look at Propublica.org or for a more visual representation, try takeing a look at their SOPA Opera page and for a timeline of commentary by our Legislators, you can follow along here.
Image by ~C4Chaos via Flickr
Do you want to participate in the Blackout or protest? You can find a number of resources online that can show you how to “blackout” your site.
WordPress has created a plugin for WordPress based websites to easily participate in the blackout, and dozens of sites across the web have links urging viewers to contact their legislators and oppose the SOPA/PIPA bills.
Related articles
- What it SOPA & PIPA ? Why it is matter ? (ictreview.wordpress.com)
- Google Protests SOPA And PIPA By Censoring Logo, Offering Information And A Petition (inquisitr.com)
