Stop SOPA
We at MAKE have made all of our sites dark today, from 8am to 8pm EST, to protest the SOPA and PIPA bills now before the House and Senate. We join all of O'Reilly Media and many other sites, like Wikipedia, Reddit, Boing Boing, Tucows, Twitpic, in this act. Even Google has joined in. They didn't go dark, but they've posted a message about the protest and are providing links to information about these troubling bills.
This isn't an action we take lightly. But we believe that SOPA, "Stop Online Piracy Act" (H.R. 3261), and PIPA, "PROTECT IP Act" (S. 968), are potentially poisonous to many of the things that we stand for at MAKE. Not only has the internet had a hugely positive impact on our economy, on innovation, on our culture, and greatly democratized the dissemination of media and information, but it has allowed people from all walks of life and all areas of concern to become publishers, media producers, journalists, educators, doers, makers. We think that legislation like that being proposed would have a chilling effect on all of this. The bills are allegedly designed to combat commercial piracy, but as we've seen in previous efforts to fight illegal content, the pirates always figure out an end-around and it's the everyday users (and in this case, likely every internet concern besides the big media companies) that would bear the brunt of these poorly crafted and overreaching bills.
So, we've gone dark. We hope you'll use this opportunity to educate yourself on the issue and the bills and to contact your elected officials and let them know what you think.
Here is CEO and Founder of O'Reilly Media, Tim O'Reilly's, statement:
We believe going dark is the principled action to take.
We’re in one of the greatest periods of social and business transformation since the Industrial Revolution, a transformation driven by the open architecture of the Internet. New technologies, new companies, and new business models appear every day, creating benefits to society and the economy. But now, fundamental elements of that Internet architecture are under attack.
These legislative attacks are not motivated by clear thinking about the future of the Internet or the global economy, but instead seek to protect entrenched companies with outdated business models. Rather than adapting and competing with new and better services, these organizations are asking Congress for cover.
Any forward-looking country must encourage its emerging industries, not protect its laggards. Yet, in a time when the American economy needs to catalyze domestic innovation to succeed in a hyper-competitive global marketplace, members of the United States Congress have advanced legislation that could damage the industries of the future.
Over the weekend, President Obama’s technology officials told the American people that they do not support SOPA or PROTECT IP as drafted. The White House’s response to a "We The People" e-petition included a strong rebuttal against the DNS provisions in the bills. While it is heartening to hear from the White House that it "will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet," we believe these bills must be abandoned, not amended.
We urge you to keep the pressure on today and in the weeks to come.
Here’s what you can do:
1) Learn if your U.S. Representative or Senators support SOPA or PROTECT IP through SOPAOpera.org.
2) Use the tools at AmericanCensorship.org, Engine Advocacy and POPVOX to tell Congress where you stand.
3) Participate in Better Activism Day, a free livestream of experts discussing ways to "improve your power in Washington from people who’ve been successful at moving it."
4) Call or meet with your representatives in Congress. The single most effective action any concerned citizen who wants to talk to Congress can take is to see your Senator or Representative in person. Failing that, call them. Write them a letter. Make sure your voice is heard.
– Tim O’Reilly, CEO and Founder of O’Reilly Media
800-889-8969 / 707-827-7019 / webmaster@makezine.com