Sopa 101: Your Guide To The Internet Blackout : C N N

[Spartan]

s it the online apocalypse? Not so much. Google, Wikipedia, Boing Boing and others have gone dark, along with thousands of others, who are protesting two anti-piracy bills that are up for debate in the U.S. Congress.It's a debate that's pitted the Web against Washington. And if the goal of these protests was to get people talking, that sure seems to have worked, with every media organization on the planet talking about piracy today. Many of these sites are using creative techniques to bring attention to the two bills – one called SOPA, the other PIPA – and making very clear their viewpoint on it. Before you panic, read our quick-and-dirty guide to these online protests.

[b]So, what are these piracy bills about?[/b]
With all of these sites going dark, it is important to know why this topic has become the center of a heated debate.
CNNMoney has a genius explainer on this topic, for those interested in all the gritty details. The gist is this: Media companies are upset that their copyrighted content gets stolen and given away for free by some websites. Two bills aim to crack down on this piracy by restricting access to U.S. websites that potentially could link to this pirated content. Tech companies in Silicon Valley say the bills have unintended consequences that could tamper with the way the Internet functions.

You can learn about it here: █████████████████, here: █████████ here:██████ and here:█████████. Kidding! That blackout technique is part of the point these sites are trying to make today as they fully go dark.

[center]– There’s a large blackout bar over Google’s logo.[/center]
[center][img]http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2012/images/01/18/c1main.google.sopa.jpg[/img][/center]


[center]– English-language Wikipedia sites are blacked out.[/center]

[center][img]http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/120118065531-wikipedia-dark-c1-main.jpg[/img][/center]


– And, don't freak out, but the tech blog Boing Boing shows a “service unavailable” error. "Boing Boing is offline today, because the US Senate is considering legislation that would certainly kill us forever," the site says.
The humor website TheOatmeal.com has gotten the most traction for its creative use of their homepage to bring attention to SOPA. "For the next 24 hours I am blacking out TheOatmeal.com in protest of SOPA and PIPA. If one of these bills were to pass, this page is what many sites on the internet would look like," the website reads. "As someone who creates content for the web, earns a living from it, and has had his content pirated, I do feel that we need better legislation against online piracy. I [i]do not[/i], however, think that SOPA or PIPA are the legislation we need."

[center][img]http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2012/images/01/18/c1main.oatmeal.sopa.jpg[/img][/center]

The site's page, like many others remains black and has an animated GIF that it points out they took from somewhere else. If SOPA were to pass, the site says, they would be shut down. We'd show you the full animation, but it is a little not-safe-for-work. The animation is several images compiled from the Web with text about SOPA and a message in between, as seen above. The site asks you to join them and "please pirate the s***out of this animated GIF."
The site GOOD, which is known for its commentary on culture and society, also put up a massive splash page today. "Today, GOOD is joining forces with friends around the world and around the internet to mobilize opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act and PROTECT IP Act, the flawed bills being considered in the House and Senate right now," the site says at the top of their homepage. At the bottom they thank those who share their view, in quite an upfront way.

[center][img]http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2012/images/01/18/c1main.good.is.jpg[/img][/center]


All these sites, and thousands of others, are protesting two anti-piracy bills that are up for debate in the U.S. Congress.They're arguing that so much of the content we share comes from other places and if this new law were to pass, much of it wouldn't be able to be published or would be censored or taken offline if it were. Links couldn't be shared to other content unless otherwise approved, the same goes for images and any other content.That’s why companies like Google and Wikipedia are protesting and asking people to join them.

[happyprince]

intha pedha posts vesthe yela baaa......theme yentoo seppeyochu kadha

[Spartan]

[quote name='happyprince' timestamp='1326985077' post='1301326208']
intha pedha posts vesthe yela baaa......theme yentoo seppeyochu kadha
[/quote]


first para sadivite ardham aipoddi...