Websites you likely visit are shutting on January 18th

You know, to protest SOPA. Websites like the one I just linked you to are, like the great Captain Price, "Going off/then back on the grid."

I truly don't see how this does much of anything besides inconvenience people who use the internet a lot (that's you), but they're doin' it anyway, bitch.

http://techland.time.com/2012/01/12/sopa-reddit-confirms-january-18-blackout-wikipedia-and-others-may-follow/?iid=tl-main-mostpop1

http://www.destructoid.com/destructoid-joins-pipa-sopa-blackout-protest-on-18th-219591.phtml

http://blog.reddit.com/2012/01/stopped-they-must-be-on-this-all.html

If you know of any other websites that are doing this please feel free to post them. Unless it's your personal cooking blog. Nobody cares if that's shutting down.

Edit: I forgot the down part. :(

I had to laugh. I wrote my Senator and he responded with an email saying he thought it was an important issue that he would felt would infringe on people's rights.

Then he supported it.

What exactly does this accomplish though? Is it to promote awareness? It won't directly hurt any of the moronic legislators that are backing this proposal because I doubt they use many of these sites, or even know how to use the internet. I hope it does effect change though. Get Google and other major sites to join the blackout and it would catch way more attention.

There are some higher ups that will feel an impact because of this. It was explained on youtube somewhere. Like a news thing or something.  
 
Wasn't Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Twitter etc gonna do this exact same thing on the 24th? 
 
 
On a related note:  Lamar Smith is funny

I severely hope Wikipedia goes down. Seriously. Probably the strongest message that can be sent.

I guess I'm seeing it from my perspective as a person who just visits the sites but...

How does keeping visitors from visiting your site help? I get the meaning (if the bill passes these sites could fold) BUT the end result is that viewers can't view their website. It could really come back to bite them in the ass.

Just convince a lot of people it will also block porn sites. THEN the anger will start. 

@TooWalrus said:

I severely hope Wikipedia goes down. Seriously. Probably the strongest message that can be sent.

Facebook and Google also need to join the fight. If Google goes down for a day with just a message saying call your congressman, pack it up boys, war's over. I like the idea of reddit going black, but basically every day the top link is SOPA related, so I don't know if there are that many frequenters who aren't aware.

I have a quick (and possibly stupid) question: Could consumers effectively boycott SOPA by refusing to buy/rent/use merchandise and services that are sold by SOPA supporters?

@TooWalrus said:

I severely hope Wikipedia goes down. Seriously. Probably the strongest message that can be sent.

Yes. Wikipedia is the epicenter of information on the internet for a lot of different topics. Imagine if Google shuttered for that day?

This bill is very dangerous, so I am in support of any cause to help bring awareness to the issue.

I think this is really dumb. SOPA has no chance of being passed so what is the point?

I applaud people doing things in support of things, even if what they are doing isn't likely to help.

@Subjugation said:

What exactly does this accomplish though? Is it to promote awareness? It won't directly hurt any of the moronic legislators that are backing this proposal because I doubt they use many of these sites, or even know how to use the internet. I hope it does effect change though. Get Google and other major sites to join the blackout and it would catch way more attention.

Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Reddit, Destructoid, and many others are either committing to the blackouts or threatening to blackout if SOPA passes until the time it is repealed.

All I know...is this is getting interesting.

As long as YouTube doesn't shut down, I'm fine.

@jakob187 said:

@Subjugation said:

What exactly does this accomplish though? Is it to promote awareness? It won't directly hurt any of the moronic legislators that are backing this proposal because I doubt they use many of these sites, or even know how to use the internet. I hope it does effect change though. Get Google and other major sites to join the blackout and it would catch way more attention.

Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Reddit, Destructoid, and many others are either committing to the blackouts or threatening to blackout if SOPA passes until the time it is repealed.

All I know...is this is getting interesting.

So the internet could actually die for a few days? Damn.

@TooWalrus said:

I severely hope Wikipedia goes down. Seriously. Probably the strongest message that can be sent.

WHY? You Nazi.

Please, oh please, don't let desperatemilfs.com go down on the 18th.

I think this is a great way to continue to spread SOPA awareness. Think about it people, its one day of no Wikipedia to try to prevent a FOREVER of no Wikipedia.

@Barrock said:

I had to laugh. I wrote my Senator and he responded with an email saying he thought it was an important issue that he would felt would infringe on people's rights.

Then he supported it.

Hahaha your Senator is an asshole.

@BraveToaster said:

I have a quick (and possibly stupid) question: Could consumers effectively boycott SOPA by refusing to buy/rent/use merchandise and services that are sold by SOPA supporters?

That's basically what happened with GoDaddy. When they stepped up in support of the bill, so many websites dropped them that they immediately recanted. I don't know if they ever really recovered.

If it can bring awareness then im all for it. SOPA passing in it's current state would be much worse for those sites and their visitors then them being down for a day. Like somebody said, google shutting down would be the best, even these legislators who obviously dont know much about the internet would be somewhat affected by it.

@Beforet said:

@BraveToaster said:

I have a quick (and possibly stupid) question: Could consumers effectively boycott SOPA by refusing to buy/rent/use merchandise and services that are sold by SOPA supporters?

That's basically what happened with GoDaddy. When they stepped up in support of the bill, so many websites dropped them that they immediately recanted. I don't know if they ever really recovered.

Maybe the users of this community can start a boycott. All we would have to do is spread the word and refuse to buy any movies, games and such.

@Subjugation said:

What exactly does this accomplish though? Is it to promote awareness? It won't directly hurt any of the moronic legislators that are backing this proposal because I doubt they use many of these sites, or even know how to use the internet. I hope it does effect change though. Get Google and other major sites to join the blackout and it would catch way more attention.

Like others have said, its to promote awareness of the bill. The majority of the public has no idea SOPA exists or what the consequences will be if it is passed and that is what the media companies and Congress wants. They want to quietly pass the bill before the general public realizes what it is. If the most popular sites shut down for a day to make a point and bring this issue to the general public, the public will wise up and force Congress to not pass the bill.

@BraveToaster said:

@Beforet said:

@BraveToaster said:

I have a quick (and possibly stupid) question: Could consumers effectively boycott SOPA by refusing to buy/rent/use merchandise and services that are sold by SOPA supporters?

That's basically what happened with GoDaddy. When they stepped up in support of the bill, so many websites dropped them that they immediately recanted. I don't know if they ever really recovered.

Maybe the users of this community can start a boycott. All we would have to do is spread the word and refuse to buy any movies, games and such.

I don't know about film enthusiasts, but consider the gamer, who needs convincing to not pay $60 three months before the product becomes available for use and play. Trying to get a boycott going for us would be an exercise in futility.

This whole thing is super lame. You just feel like you don't have any influence at all as a regular citizen.

@Beforet said:

@BraveToaster said:

I have a quick (and possibly stupid) question: Could consumers effectively boycott SOPA by refusing to buy/rent/use merchandise and services that are sold by SOPA supporters?

That's basically what happened with GoDaddy. When they stepped up in support of the bill, so many websites dropped them that they immediately recanted. I don't know if they ever really recovered.

GoDaddy is a shit web host as is. I will never touch it again.

It doesn't seem as though any websites I visit appear on that list.

I hope that Google, Wikipedia, Youtube, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, etc all do it. I can live without the staples of the internet for one day. The shitstorm that this would create would hopefully wake people the fuck up and would hurt hypocritical businesses that support SOPA but still use these sites for advertising.

@Subjugation said:

What exactly does this accomplish though? Is it to promote awareness? It won't directly hurt any of the moronic legislators that are backing this proposal because I doubt they use many of these sites, or even know how to use the internet. I hope it does effect change though. Get Google and other major sites to join the blackout and it would catch way more attention.

The idea is it would ruin the day globally and outrage people.

If the senators are going to be moronic and say the bill only stops piracy, Google and the rest are going to say that it shuts down the internet to get an outrage.

@TheWholeDamnShow: for the greater good thats why. do want people deciding what you can and cant see on the internet? its to bring awareness to this issue

I had to look up SOPA to get a general knowledge of it. If this becomes law, it will be the lobbyist that get it passed. So, who's paying them? Does this really benefit anyone? It seems like wasted money. Kind of like the war on drugs in the States.

well good for the protest. i surely hope that it doesn't get passed. it would suck if websites get blocked. internet is great thing.

I hope every major/significant site on the web joins this protest, otherwise this is going to turn out like one of those stupid "everyone don't buy gas this Friday!" protests that never accomplishes anything.

I think a lot of people are overreacting to SOPA. I mean look at how long sites like Rlslog have stayed up

Sopa could make it possible for sites to be shutdown for no reason. 
So to protested it sites are shutting down. Doesn't that sound dumb?

Sopa could make it possible for sites to be shutdown for no reason.  So to protested it sites are shutting down. Doesn't that sound dumb?

@ThePickle: Absolutely. Google has the most to lose. They always say, "If it exists, you can find it on Google," and people have done so for a decade. If SOPA goes through, their culpability skyrockets.

@kingzetta said:

Sopa could make it possible for sites to be shutdown for no reason.  So to protested it sites are shutting down. Doesn't that sound dumb?

Not that dumb, no.  It would basically be like saying "So, this is what you want?" and shut down major sites and all the sites run on their servers  for a week , come back online and go: "Do you see what you're supporting you dumb fucks?"

@Subjugation said:

What exactly does this accomplish though? Is it to promote awareness? It won't directly hurt any of the moronic legislators that are backing this proposal because I doubt they use many of these sites, or even know how to use the internet. I hope it does effect change though. Get Google and other major sites to join the blackout and it would catch way more attention.

It's to promote awareness. The news isn't talking about SOPA at all and it seems the only way that the public really hears about it is through word of mouth (I'm actually quite amazed that even The Daily Show has not once talked about SOPA). I hope the larger sites like the Google affiliates end up catching on. It really is a crappy thing and as many people as possible need to know about it. I feel like NDAA snuck in because not enough of a deal was made out of it, and SOPA has even less face time in the national media (mostly because the big 10 are for SOPA).

We can all ways hope Obama will step up and veto this like he promised. 

@The_Laughing_Man said:

We can all ways hope Obama will step up and veto this like he promised.

Yes, because he so totally kept his promise to veto NDAA.

Anyways, I sincerely hope this makes a difference, and wakes people up. Me? I can live without facebook, google, twitter, etc. for a day. It really isn't that hard. If it helps wake people up, I'm all for it.

@benpicko said:

As long as YouTube doesn't shut down, I'm fine.

Ironically, that site will be devastated worse than most if SOPA is passed.

@benpicko said:

As long as YouTube doesn't shut down, I'm fine.

That depends if Google goes dark. If Google does it, Youtube will.

@Subjugation said:

What exactly does this accomplish though? Is it to promote awareness?

bingo

I want everything to shut down.

I didnt know what SOPA was until i saw this post and looked it up. im glad that big websites are supporting it.

Hopefully Google and Amazon get on board.

Facebook is the clincher though. The dumbest people in America use Facebook for hours and hours per day. That's the only way to reach that kind of moron.

I really wish SOPA will be passed and the internet devolves and vanishes. 
 
Maybe then I'll get out of my room for something other than work.

I really wish SOPA will be passed and the internet devolves and vanishes.  Maybe then I'll get out of my room for something other than work.

My power is gonna be out on the 25th, do you think they'd mind doing it then instead?