Blacking out the Web, Blacking out SOPA

As many of you may have heard, Wednesday the 18th was the Blackout day. Hundreds of websites participating in blacking out, censoring, or raising awareness about the ongoing struggle against the SOPA and PIPA bills. Sites such as Wikipedia, Reddit, Tumbler, Wired, BoingBoing, and many many more censored their websites and linked to information about the bills. Millions of people signed the online petition and millions more were affected and learned more about the destructive potential of these bills. It was absolutely thrilling throughout the day to keep updated with all that was going on. Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian testified in congress against the bill with many other experts and physical protests also took place in New York City:




All of this came together throughout the day into something that has never really been done before. An internet blackout was achieved and it was successful in raising awareness. Millions of average citizens learned about the bill and came out against it, as did many congressmen and women.

The power of one day without a small portion of the internet. 

As the day wore on you could tell things were looking up. The number of representatives and senators dropping support grew every hour and soon coverage of the day began to grow on mainstream news sources. In fact it was pretty funny the way some of them covered it, as many had no coverage of the bills beforehand. This sudden interest in the movement was pretty transparent as an exploitation of a popular topic, but it was satisfying nonetheless. Public awareness is these types of bills worst enemy. Large networks like CNN, MSNBC, FOX, and others had coverage of it, many finally giving out the basic information on the bills to the millions that would be affected by it. But behind it all was an eerie sense of this-isn't-quite-right. These major news corporations have their hands in the pockets of congressmen and women throughout the government. Large corporations give out huge campaign contributions in order to lobby their own ideals. The fact that these corporations covered this phenomenon lends to the fact that this was a HUGE deal. They can't just ignore something if it gets too big, people would wonder where their priorities are, what their real agenda is. So when it gets to the point where they HAVE to report on it, you know that we've made progress. And fortunately we have thanks to this blackout!

Since the blackout both PIPA and SOPA have been shelved indefinitely and Lamar Smith has withdrawn them from the committee. This was a major blow to corporate and bureaucratic interests as the internet has flexed its muscles for the first time. No longer is the internet a place for simple, annoying DDOS attacks or meaningless petitions. Now the internet is a place for action, a weapon against censorship and corruption as well as a meeting place for those who want to make a difference. The future has many more obstacles in the way of free speech and only time will tell whether or not the internet can rise up against to create such a level of awareness.

Something Extra:



One of my favorite reports on the blackout today, Rachel Maddow covers the blackout and the impact on SOPA/PIPA, as well as the hypocrisy plaguing the supporters. Entertaining to watch as well as detailing events of the day, this segment was definitely a cool highlight of the blackout for me, and ended the day well. But remember people, the internet is just a big series of tubes.