Save the internet

I changed my site for the day so that every page said this instead:

Today, Wednesday 18 January 2012, countless websites have “blacked out” to raise awareness about the serious problems with proposed Federal legislation in the United States that threatens the free exchange of ideas: the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Online Intellectual Property Act (PIPA).

I regard the threat of this legislation with utmost seriousness, and have joined the protest.

To learn more:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation works to secure rights and freedoms for individuals and information on the Internet and in other electronic media. They have a brief discussion of the problems, a set of links to more resources, and a a one-page PDF you can print out about the legal threat.

Google has blacked out their logo and has links and references explaining why. Reddit proposed the blackout, and other big-name websites including Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia are protesting as well.

Technology book publisher Tim O’Reilly explains why these laws are a bad idea and points to a very detailed exploration of the problems.

If corporations, nonprofits, publishers, and civil libertarians aren’t enough to convince you, even the conservative Heritage Foundation opposes these laws because they threaten “a host of unintended and dangerous consequences”.

To take action, EFF has a toolkit for activism and a tool for contacting your government representatives. On Tuesday 24th January 2012, the US Senate will vote.