Web Blacks Out, Senators Defect [UPDATE]
By Josh Levy, January 19, 2012
UPDATE 1/20/12: In the last 48 hours more than a dozen senators — including several co-sponsors — have jumped ship and come out against the Protect IP Act (PIPA), and today Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced he’s postponing next week’s vote on the bill. Meanwhile, Rep. Lamar Smith said that the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is also being shelved — for now.
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Yesterday was unbelievable. In an unprecedented show of strength, millions of Internet users rose up against the House’s Stop Online Piracy Act and the Senate’s Protect IP Act, with Wikipedia, reddit, Boing Boing, SavetheInternet.com and thousands of other sites going black to join in the protest (even Google hid its logo behind a black bar for the day). Millions sent letters to Congress, and tens of thousands picked up the phone to urge their senators to vote “no” on PIPA, which is scheduled for a Jan. 24 vote.
Free Press' Tim Karr spoke out against Web censorship at a rally in New York City.
In New York City, more than 2,000 people — including Free Press’ Tim Karr, who gave a rousing speech — attended a rally outside the offices of Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand (great pics here), and a smaller rally took place in San Francisco.
Mainstream media finally acknowledged the story, with most major TV news outlets covering the day’s events. Online news organizations had wall-to-wall coverage, and NPR devoted a couple of segments to it.
All of this energy had a palpable effect on Capitol Hill. In advance of the vote on PIPA, as many as 13 senators — including co-sponsors Roy Blunt, Orrin Hatch and Marco Rubio — came out in opposition to the bill. Other senators are expected to defect in the next few days.
Until Tuesday it’ll be an all-out push against PIPA; click here to find out where your senators stand and to urge them to vote no on this bill. Meanwhile, SOPA is very much alive in the House (we’re hearing it will be up for a subcommittee vote next month). The fight to protect the open Internet goes on.
Free Press is a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media. Free Press does not support or oppose any candidate for public office. Through education, organizing and advocacy, we promote diverse and independent media ownership, strong public media and universal access to communications.
Josh Levy
Josh is the Internet Campaign Director for Free Press and the Free Press Action Fund.
Read Josh's full bio »
Comments
Cant belive this has
Cant belive this has happened. The only thing left that was truley "free" and now the US is tyring to cencor it too. Don't they know it can't happen? Even if they take down 100 stes, 200 more will be up to replace them. They can't win.
TheGateKeeper (Muay Thai practitioner and Muay Thai Camps in Thailand owner)
It just gets worse and worse.
It just gets worse and worse. If this somehow passes it will be terrible.
sciatic nerve
HEY
we also should consider the freedom of speech, all of us have that. and we should not anyone take it away from us. We should give valuable comments because having this freedom is very important so we also should consider that.
Burton Snowboards
It would be nice if people
It would be nice if people were as concerned about the right to pray and worship God as they are about the freedom to write and say things that are detrimental to society. Sometimes freedom to provide things that are immoral may not be in everyone's best interest. It's sad to me that many are so concerned about offending people who don't have religious beliefs that Christians aren't given the freedom to pray or worship on public property, and they are just as concerned that they may lose the right to offend moral people by saying or writing whatever they want. If they should have freedom of speech for immoral purposes (porn, cursing, etc.) then I should have the freedom of speech to pray and have religious symbols (nativities, crosses) in public places, including schools and government buildings.
Anna, turn off the Fox News
Anna, turn off the Fox News and get with the program. No one is impeding on your right to talk to your invisible friends. We just don't want you to treat your arbitrary dogma as fact and get it put into textbooks. If we talk about Jesus at school, we have to talk about Vishnu, Buddah, Allah and the rest of the invisible friends you can't see, but others around the world would give their lives for. Wakey wakey sunshine!
WHAT?!?
There is no sort of oppression on praying and worship of God! If anything, those who don't believe are the ones who should be complaining! I'm from Texas, and I couldn't run for any sort of office because I'm atheist... yet I hear all the time that "it's not fair that we can't pray in public schools!". Well, you SHOULDN'T pray in public schools. Religion is a private affair, yet people want to force it on the public.
What is this ridiculous tosh?
What is this ridiculous tosh? Christians have the right to pray and worship however they please. What they do not have the right to do--which they may NEVER have the right to do--is proselytize in a public/state-owned venue to people who do not want to hear it. That goes for all religions--Islam, Buddhist, Hindu, etc. etc. Allowing ANY religion to be prominently displayed by a government/state affiliated institution is a danger to ALL religions. Freedom of religion means protecting the rights of all religions by not showing favoritism to any of them. Sorry, but you'll have to take your thinly veiled propaganda somewhere else. People who understand the important of a free internet are smart enough to understand the ignorance laced within your plea.
Stop Online Piracy Act
I signed Google's petition yesterday and so did my wife. If the politicians and big corporations have their way, this is the first step to a corporate dictatorship. Say hello to big brother!
Read what Senator Orrin Hatch
Read what Senator Orrin Hatch really thinks of the Internet:
http://www.dethronehatch.com/orrin-hatch-is-no-friend-of-the-internet/
Censor web? get us arrested
Censor web? get us arrested for downloading evan thtought we are not americans! just perfect and they call it FREEDOM, we already had some states whith this censor and they tell it is not freedom...
Do you need money find other way to earn it not from normal people who don´t have so much money... this idea is just ridiculous !