While Consumerist was outside in the chilly, sunshiney streets of NYC with anti-SOPA/PIPA protestors gathered outside the offices of Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, we made some friends! David Moore had one of our favorite signs, and a lot to say, while Emily is an English teacher who wants kids to be able to use the Internet. Then there was a guy with a beard hat. Let’s meet them! [More]
Anti-SOPA Movement Unites Trent Reznor, Opera Singers
By 1.18.12
While SOPA and PIPA have the support of every major record label, the unions representing performing artists, and the organizations that manage licensing for musicians, some performers, writers and artists have stood up against the bills, including MGMT, OK Go, Trent Reznor and the members of OPERA America. (And Neil Gaiman, too!) [More]
NYC's Tech Industry Protests SOPA & PIPA Outside Offices Of Senators Schumer And Gillibrand
By 1.18.12
This afternoon, Consumerist headed over to check out an emergency NYC Tech Meetup protest outside the offices of Sen. Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, both co-sponsors of anti-piracy legislation. Crowds gathered to hear speakers from the tech industry raise the cry against SOPA and PIPA. [More]
Mark Zuckerberg: We Need Political Leaders Who Are Pro-Internet
By 1.18.12
The folks at Facebook have made no secret of their objection to the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act. And while it would have been a huge statement for Facebook to shut down, even for a few hours, you can’t fault the company for not wanting to turn off the money machine. Regardless, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg just took to his personal page to quickly voice his opinion on these pieces of legislation. [More]
Regretsy Founder: SOPA Focuses On Things It Shouldn't
By 1.18.12
Like a number of people we’ve spoken to today about the impact of the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act, Regretsy.com’s Helen Killer (not her real name, in case you hadn’t guessed) tells Consumerist that she doesn’t oppose the idea of fighting online piracy. It’s just that SOPA goes too far and focuses on things it shouldn’t. [More]
Two Senators Change Tune On Online Piracy Legislation
By 1.18.12
As you may have noticed, the Internet isn’t happy with proposed anti-piracy legislation before Congress and the Senate that could have a huge impact on everything from e-commerce to your 13-year-old niece’s Glee fan blog. And as the voices continue to grow louder in opposition to the SOPA and PIPA bills, some law makers are already switching sides. [More]
Micah Sifry: SOPA Part Of "Larger Struggle Over How Expression And Creation Will Be Supported"
By 1.18.12
Micah Sifry, head of Personal Democracy Media and an expert on the intersection of technology and politics, sees the battle over SOPA and PIPA as part of the ongoing changes affecting the content and entertainment industries in the Internet era: “They’re trying to use the law to artificially protect business models and slow down new ways of doing things that are disrupting that business model,” he told The Consumerist. [More]
Mozilla Blacks Out Against SOPA & PIPA Without Leaving Firefox Users In The Lurch
By 1.18.12
Mozilla is making its stance against SOPA and PIPA clear today, by joining the list of sites featuring a blackout page and a call to action to protest the anti-piracy acts. But while they take a stand, users seeking technical support for Mozilla products like Firefox will still be able to access that site and get security updates. [More]
SOPA Sponsor Accuses Wikipedia Of Spreading Misinformation
By 1.18.12
Texas Congressman Lamar Smith, sponsor of the Stop Online Piracy Act that has moved a number of sites, including Craigslist and Reddit to shut down for the day, accuses the biggest name involved in the blackouts, Wikipedia, of doing a disservice to its users by inciting outrage over the piece of legislation. [More]
Fark Shows Its Support Of SOPA & PIPA With White-Out
By 1.18.12
While all the other sites on the Internet are dimming the lights in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act, the link lovers at Fark.com have gone bright white to show their support of the controversial bills — because they are just sick and tired of having to do their jobs every day. [More]
XKCD Creator: I Wouldn't Be Able To Do My Job Without A Free Internet
By 1.18.12
We here at Consumerist have been posting links to Randall Munroe’s online comic xkcd for more than five years. So we weren’t shocked to see that today’s xkcd dealt directly with the topic of the day — the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act. [More]
Cheezburger CEO Ben Huh: Bipartisan Support Of SOPA & PIPA Smacks Of Money
By 1.18.12
We’ve already heard the rallying cry against SOPA/PIPA, urging us not to let the LOLcats die, so we thought we’d ask the king of the LOLcats himself, Cheezburger CEO Ben Huh, to weigh in on SOPA. He explains why his sites are standing against SOPA today and how these potential laws would threaten the Internet as we know it. [More]
Reddit's Alexis Ohanion: Piracy Can Be A Great Opportunity
By 1.18.12
Reddit is set to black out for 12 hours starting at 8 a.m. ET this morning. But in advance of that temporary shutdown, the site’s co-founder Alexis Ohanion has been making the media rounds to speak out against the Stop Online Piracy Act. [More]
MPAA Calls Anti-SOPA Blackouts A "Gimmick" To Punish Politicians & Turn Us All Into "Corporate Pawns"
By 1.18.12
The Motion Picture Association of America cares about you. It doesn’t want children to see boobs or hear curse words (though rampant bloodshed is cool) and it doesn’t want you to turn into a pawn of the big corporations that it says are really behind today’s blackouts at sites like Craiglist and Wikipedia, which everyone knows are both monstrous examples of corporate greed. [More]
Pirate Bay Joins SOPA Protest By Sort Of Blacking Out For The Day
By 1.18.12
For years, BitTorrent tracker site thePirateBay.org has been one of, if not the biggest target in the music, movie, software and video game industries’ anti-piracy efforts. So it might come as no surprise that, along with many, many other sites, the folks at Pirate Bay decided to shutter for the day today… well, sort of. [More]
Google's Matt Cutts On Why SOPA Is Bad For Everyone
By 1.18.12
As the Stop Internet Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act have inched their way into the headlines, a number of people — even some who make their living on this here Internet — have shrugged and said things like, “I don’t download any pirated movies, so why should this bother me?” So we spoke to Matt Cutts, Principal Engineer at Google, who gave his feelings on why we should all be concerned. [More]
Anti-SOPA Protests Planned Around The Country Today
By 1.18.12
Even though the House Judiciary Committee has moved its planned hearing on the Stop Internet Piracy Act from today until February — perhaps hoping that we’ll all be too hungover from Super Bowl beer and wings to care — that’s not going to stop people who are peeved about SOPA and its Senate counterpart, the Protect IP Act, from taking to the streets to have their say. [More]
Google Breaks Down SOPA Opposition By The Numbers
By 1.18.12
As you probably already know, a number of websites have gone silent today in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act currently being considered by Congress and the Senate’s similarly controversial Protect IP Act. And while Google, which has previously voiced its opposition to both pieces of legislation, didn’t shut down for the day, it is making its feelings known to the public. [More]
