Update: Wikipedia Is Dark, But Mobile Site/Apps Stay Bright In SOPA Protest
A small loophole for Wikipedia’s SOPA and PIPA protest, in which the English-language version of the site has gone dark for 24 hours: the mo… Read more at paidContent »
Brad Feld: Why SOPA and PIPA must be stopped
SOPA and PIPA bills, both in their substance and, significantly, the process by which they have moved along, fail this test. As such, they reveal a disturbing picture about the policy process in Washington and threaten to create significant and unintended consequences. Read more »
Google Finds Way To Get On SOPA Soap Box Without Going Dark
Instead of blacking out for the Jan. 18 SOPA protest, Google (NSDQ: GOOG) instead is using its power — and its most iconic communications t… Read more at paidContent »
Why I’m fighting SOPA: It’s hypocritical, onerous and dumb
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) may be shelved by the U.S. House of Representatives, but the Senate’s PROTECT-IP Act (PIPA) still looms and Joyent CTO Jason Hoffman just can’t believe the stupidity that got us all into this mess. Read more »
SOPA Rep Blasts Wikipedia Blackout, Says Law To Go Forward In Feb.
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tx), who is leading a push to pass a controversial anti-piracy bill, issued a statement today scolding Wikipedia over it… Read more at paidContent »
Taking SOPA/PIPA to the streets: Protests on for SF, NYC
The anti-SOPA and PIPA demonstrations don’t stop with site-wide blackouts planned for Wednesday by a number of web giants. People also have plans to meet up in real life and take the protest to the streets in cities such as San Francisco, New York and Seattle. Read more »
What the web is saying about SOPA & PIPA
In the wake of a weekend announcement that the White House wouldn’t support SOPA as written as well as the canceling of the DNS provisions in the bill, the web has shifted attention from the Stop Online Piracy Act to the Protect IP Act. Read more »
Tim O’Reilly: Why I’m fighting SOPA
The proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has drawn the ire of many tech industry leaders for its potential to squash innovation. GigaOM talked to O’Reilly Media founder Tim O’Reilly about why SOPA is wrong and what the tech industry can do to stop it. Read more »
A senator backtracks a bit and sites go dark in SOPA fight
As the Cheezburger network joins Reddit and sites such as Wikipedia are considering a blackout on Jan. 18 in protest of Congress’ attempts to pass legislation to stop piracy, it’s becoming clear site owners believe an end to their chatter might matter. Read more »
Tech gets its day in Congress as SOPA fight continues
Representative Darrell Issa has called a Jan. 18 hearing that will bring more voices from the technology industry to Washington D.C,. to discuss how legislation such as the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) would affect the Internet. Read more »
Louis C.K.’s lesson for marketers: Honesty is the best strategy
Much has been made of the success of Louis C.K.’s self-released video special, but Jessica Lee examines it as a social media marketing campaign, chalking his success up to one ingredient that’s often missing in marketing: trust. Read more »
How Spain’s version of SOPA is setting the web on fire
After much deliberation, Spain’s Sinde Law — an antipiracy initiative similar to America’s proposed SOPA legislation — has passed. But it is not entering the statute books without controversy over its reach, remit and the threats made by the U.S. government to force it through. Read more »
SOPA Opponents Gain Momentum Heading Into 2012
Not long ago the controversial law known as the Stop Online Piracy Act was poised to sail through Congress. But it lost traction at a Congre… Read more at paidContent »
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SOPA, OPEN and the fight for the Internet
New antipiracy legislation recently proposed in Congress and known as the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) could force YouTube and other “user-generated content” sites to take content down, even if that content has not been proven to be infringing. Experts in freedom of speech and creators ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Could SOPA fly if big media put skin in the game?
What if the answer to all the political theatre surrounding SOPA was an amendment forcing copyright holders to put their money where there mouths are? Some of SOPA’s terribly harsh penalties for infringement can stay, but making false allegations would cost accusers dearly. Read more »
Hate SOPA? 6 things you can do to stop it
Many of y’all are against the Stop Online Piracy Act, but it’s time for a bit of a reality check on working with Washington. While boycotting GoDaddy might feel good, here are six actions that will be more effective at changing politicians’ minds. Read more »
After Chinese hacks, how do we secure the Internet of Things?
Reading about hackers hitting the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, I was struck by the hackers accessing a thermostat, and the tone of resignation around preventing such attacks. So how will we secure the Internet of things, and do we give up on perimeter-based security? Read more »
Is Google Really Getting Rich Off Piracy?
A prominent Republican this week blamed Google (NSDQ: GOOG) for blocking a new anti-piracy law, saying the company profits from “rogue” webs… Read more at paidContent »
The Latest From The SOPA Soap Opera
The debate about controversial anti-piracy legislation is more fevered than ever with both sides slinging rapid-fire press releases decrying… Read more at paidContent »
The Internet erases borders, SOPA puts them back
Just like the iPhone brought smartphones to the mainstream, widespread streaming, YouTube and online pharmacies have brought SOPA to Congress. But the fundamental issue isn’t about SOPA, it’s about protecting business models that rely on a fragmented world, as the web makes fragmentation less relevant. Read more »
Can OPEN help Congress make peace with the Internet?
photo: Flickr user Stefan
A bi-partisan group of senators and congressmen is proposing an alternative to the widely-criticized Stop Online Piracy Act. The new bill, known as OPEN, has already won some support from opponents of SOPA, who say OPEN’s approach to piracy is much less damaging to the web. Read more »
Taking The Shrill Out Of The SOPA Piracy Debate
Recent talk of an internet piracy plan has reached such a pitch that an outsider could be forgiven for thinking participants were discussing… Read more at paidContent »
Tech firms fight SOPA by talking job creation
The latest attack on the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) shows that the tech industry is getting smarter about talking to Washington. Industry groups are now stressing how crucial the Internet is to job creation, a hot topic in the current political climate. Read more »
Hide DNS requests from friends, foes and the feds
The folks at OpenDNS, which provides a domain name server for individuals that aims to be faster and more secure than those provided by your ISP, on Tuesday launched DNSCrypt a new product aimed at making DNS look up more secure and private. Read more »
New Node.js blocked by Great Firewall of China
The Great Firewall of China is preventing local programmers from downloading the latest Node.js programming framework. The problem is that the version number corresponds to the June 4, 1989 government crackdown on Tiananmen Square demonstrators. Read more »
Europe’s love-hate relationship with anti-piracy laws
Europe’s top officials have regularly moved to strike down punitive anti-piracy laws and protect ISPs from litigation — but recent news from France and Spain show that the debate is far from over at the national level. Read more »
SOPA Supporters Push Back Against Antipiracy Alternative
photo: Wikimedia / Kmccoy
Opponents of the Stop Online Piracy Act this week proposed an anti-piracy bill of their own that they claim will address counterfeiting issu… Read more at paidContent »
How Europe is giving the U.S. a lesson in Internet due process
Last week, a European court struck down a rule forcing a Belgian ISP to monitor traffic for copyright infringement. Experts believe the decision could help rein in the spread of SOPA-like laws throughout Europe. So why is the U.S. rushing headling into deeply flawed legislation? Read more »
With friends like the DMCA, who needs SOPA?
The proposed Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, garners a lot of hatred from commentators and the Internet industry as whole, but it’s only the next logical step after the problematic Digital Millenium Copyright Act, the safe harbor of which is more like a plea bargain. Read more »
Power To The People: ISPs, Media, Users Face Off In EU Legal Triple-Whammy
Consumers in Europe may be feeling the smarting bite of the economic winter settling in around us, but when it comes to internet and mobile… Read more at paidContent »
Why Is Lawrence Lessig MIA In The Great SOPA Piracy Debate?
photo: Corbis
This week saw the largest uproar over copyright in a decade as Silicon Valley and Hollywood clashed at a Washington hearing over the Stop On… Read more at paidContent »
What the web is saying about SOPA
No matter how you categorize the Stop Online Privacy Act, or SOPA, the technology industry has unified against this issue in a way that I have not seen before — even during the network neutrality debates. We take a look at what the web is saying. Read more »
While hacktivism secures the web, SOPA could expose it
According to one expert, hacktivism gets a bad rap when it comes to web security, but those sites generate a lot of attack data to feed security systems. However, the proposed SOPA antipiracy legislation could end up playing right into hackers’ hands. Read more »
The Internet isn’t just pipes; it’s a belief system
photo: Flickr user Ryan Franklin
New laws such as the Stop Online Piracy Act threaten to give new powers to Congress and to content companies, and have serious implications for the web — they make it clear that content companies are in many ways fundamentally opposed to the way the internet works. Read more »
