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| IB Times |
Yesterday, many popular websites participated in a blackout in order to spread awareness and gain opposition towards SOPA and PIPA. These acts sought to censure the information and media that Americans can, at the moment, freely access on the web. Their overall purpose is to stop piracy and copyright infringement. I found the blackout to be a great representation of rhetoric in our society. The most popular sites that I know of that took part in the "blackout" were Google, Wikipedia, and Reddit which are all highly trafficked sites.
If you had gone on Wikipedia yesterday, you would find a black screen with a message regarding Wikipedia's opposition to the bills as well as a box where you could enter your zip code in order to find your local representatives so you could contact them. This was a very strong sense of rhetoric in that Wikipedia formed an extremely blatant and definitive argument against SOPA and PIPA through something as simple as shutting down for 24 hours. I don't know about you, but Wikipedia is one of the few websites that I probably go on every day so their message got to me very quickly.
Wikipedia, along with the other participating websites, forced a majority of America to understand what SOPA and PIPA are going to inhibit if they are passed and by doing so, these websites were able to gain the support of many Americans. Status after status on Facebook was about the blackout or a link to sign a petition against the two bills. The blackout clearly had an impact on my Facebook friends, but did it have an impact on the Senators and Representatives that would ultimately vote on the legislation? After all, their votes are what truly matter in the grand scheme of things.
When all was said and done, the blackout was as successful as it could have possibly been. According to an article I read on Time's website (Time), the number of Senators in opposition of the bill increased from 5 to 35. It's pretty remarkable how strong of an argument the "blackout" made and I personally hope that neither SOPA nor PIPA are passed. Do you feel the same way?
From where I stand, the blackouts on Wednesday undoubtedly made a difference in how people viewed SOPA and PIPA. As someone who spends a lot of time online, I had been aware of these bills for a while, but I know that there were people who were completely oblivious to the potential effects of the bills until the blackout. What made it so effective was that it wasn't done independently, and it wasn't just one or two sites that did it. The blackout was coordinated amongst multiple sights, the most visible of which, I agree, was Wikipedia. If there was anyone who didn't know about the bill before, they certainly do now, and most everyone I know who is aware of the bill opposes its passage. This was probably the most effective thing that could have been done, and it worked incredibly well. Even the President has publicly stated that he will not support these bills in their current form. Both SOPA and PIPA are effectively stopped for the time being, so I'd say the blackout definitely succeeded.
ReplyDeleteI think it's more important to understand that piracy is the main problem and not censorship. However SOPA/PIPA are very vague pieces of legislation that would serve to change the way we know the internet.Hopefully the blackout did serve to raise more awareness, and it's pretty incredible that one day was all it took to change the minds of 30 Senators.
ReplyDeleteSOPA and PIPA have reportedly been withdrawn by Congress in an effort to be rewritten to make the Bill more favorable. How do you feel about the current state of the internet with regards to protection against copyright infringement? I think SOPA and PIPA granted gross amounts of power to the government, but I do think something should be done to protect the creative productions of many talented people.
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