Mega Dittos to Graybeard!

[irishman]

Thank you Bill for taking the stand (blackout), against the liberal attack on our Liberties. Seemed to have great effect today, hopefully, stalling any attempt to control Black Powder Cannon and Mortar.
 
                                            Michael
                                    Home of the 'Golden Gun'

[BoomLover]

Hear, Hear!

[GGaskill]

It certainly made moderating easy for one day.     On the other hand, allowing unlimited posting of copyrighted material can only lead to less new material being produced for the public.  The idea that everything should be free on the internet is absurd; most people pay for access (unless they freeload off their employers or schools or the government.)  Perhaps the latest round of copyright enhancement has gone too far with terms exceeding 90 years in most cases, frequently 89 years longer than most work is relevant, but authors should be legally supported if they don't want to give away their products.

[yellowtail3]

Thank you Bill for taking the stand (blackout), against the liberal attack on our Liberties.

'liberal attack' doesn't fit SOPA,which isn't a librul bill. Check out who the supporters are, and Who Benefits.


Sometimes - shock! - you'll find you have common ground with people you think are The Enemy; keep yer eyes open.

[seacoastartillery]

     Good for you, Bill.      Mike and I called and emailed our representatives today and they were NOT confused as to which side we came down on!!  Freedom is certainly not free.  You must persuade, cajole, harass and sometimes fight to keep it and fortunately most people who view these forums understand that fact.

Mike and Tracy   Seacoast Artillery Company  Proud Sponsor

[keith44]

     Good for you, Bill.      Mike and I called and emailed our representatives today and they were NOT confused as to which side we came down on!!  Freedom is certainly not free.  You must persuade, cajole, harass and sometimes fight to keep it and fortunately most people who view these forums understand that fact.

Mike and Tracy   Seacoast Artillery Company  Proud Sponsor

Ditto

[Soot]

I was quite surprised that GBO took a stand.
 

[Matt]

I was quite surprised that GBO took a stand.

why is that?

[Cat Whisperer]

I was quite surprised that GBO took a stand.

Not me.  He's a man of principles.

It certainly made moderating easy for one day.    
...

Hmmmm,
might have to doc your pay for the day.

[The Jeff]

On the other hand, allowing unlimited posting of copyrighted material can only lead to less new material being produced for the public.

I don't think many people would argue that posting other people's copyrighted material is a good thing. The main issue I have with SOPA/PIPA is the unintended consequences. The way I understand it is, if someone posted a picture of mine to GBO, I could have the entire website shut down at the DNS server. That's a bit like killing flies with a sledgehammer.

[irishman]

This 'BLACKOUT' has proven itself to be a very effective tool. I think that it can also be used to stop our freefall into Socialism by forcing the government to comply to the will of the People and the Constitution.
 
We are to be proud to be a part of this.
 
This, from fightforthefuture.org
 
Today was nuts, right?

Google launched a petition.  Wikipedia  to shut itself off.  Senators' websites  just from the sheer surge of voters trying to write them.   NYC and SF geeks had protests that

You made history today: nothing like this has ever happened before.  Tech companies and users teamed up.  Tens of millions of people who make the internet what it is joined together to defend their freedoms.  The free network defended itself.  Whatever you call it, the bottom line is clear: from today forward, it will be much harder to mess up the internet.
The really crazy part?  We might even win.

Approaching Monday's crucial Senate vote there are now 35 Senators publicly opposing PIPA.  Last week there were 5.   And it just takes just 41 solid "no" votes to permanently stall PIPA (and SOPA) in the Senate.  What seemed like miles away a few weeks ago is now within reach.
But don't trust predictions.  The forces behind SOPA & PIPA (mostly movie companies) can make small changes to these bills until they know they have the votes to pass.  Members of Congress know SOPA & PIPA are unpopular, but they don't understand why--so they're easily duped by superficial changes.  The Senate returns next week, and the next few days are critical.  Here are two things to think about:

1. Plan on calling your Senator every day next week.  Pick up the phone each morning and call your Senators' offices, until they vote "no" on cloture.  If your site participated today, consider running a "Call the Senate" link all next week. 

2. Tomorrow, drop in at your Senators' district offices.  We don't have a cool map widget to show you the offices nearest you (we're too exhausted! any takers?).  So do it the old fashioned way: use Google, or the phonebook to find the address, and just walk in, say you oppose PIPA, and urge the Senator to vote "no" on cloture.  These drop-in visits make our spectacular online protests more tangible and credible. 

That's it for now. Be proud and stay on it!

--Holmes, Tiffiniy, and the whole Fight for the Future team.

___

P.S. Huge credit goes to participants in the 11/16 American Censorship Day protest: Mozilla, 4chan, BoingBoing, Tumblr, TGWTG, and thousands of others.  That's what got this ball rolling!  Reddit, both the community and the team behind it, you're amazing.  And of course, thanks to the Wikimedians whose patient and inexorable pursuit of the right answer brought them to take world-changing action. Thanks to David S, David K, Cory D, and E Stark for bold action at critical times.

P.P.S. If you haven't already, show this video to as many people as you can. It works!
 

 

[shred]

On the other hand, allowing unlimited posting of copyrighted material can only lead to less new material being produced for the public.

I don't think many people would argue that posting other people's copyrighted material is a good thing. The main issue I have with SOPA/PIPA is the unintended consequences. The way I understand it is, if someone posted a picture of mine to GBO, I could have the entire website shut down at the DNS server. That's a bit like killing flies with a sledgehammer.

Same here.  The intentional pirates should be punished, but to shut down an entire site or domain because, say, somebody thinks somebody else's avatar is a copyrighted image (and with SOPA, hard proof was not required) is ridiculous.