WebProNews

Tag: Internet Blackout

  • Technology Subreddit Goes Dark In Protest Of CISPA

    Technology Subreddit Goes Dark In Protest Of CISPA

    Last year, all of Reddit went dark in protest of SOPA. It doesn’t look like the site will be doing it again for CISPA, but one of its more popular subreddits will.

    The popular technology subreddit, which has almost 3 million readers, has gone dark today in protest of CISPA. It’s not like the subreddit has become unavailable, but rather the entire page, except for the ad, is now encased in a darkness that makes reading the links rather uncomfortable on the eyes.

    Technology Subreddit Goes Dark For CISPA Protest

    The link at the top of the subreddit redirects users to a post on the Stand subreddit with information on what CISPA means for everyday Internet users. It also contains links to helpful tools that allow users to encrypt not just their Internet connections, but everything on their computer.

    Out of all the other tech-related subreddits, it seems that /r/technology is the only one to have gone dark today. There are probably some other smaller subreddits that have also gone dark, but few have the amount of subscribers that /r/technology enjoys. Unfortunately, those who frequent /r/technology are probably already well aware of CISPA. It would have been far more effective for Reddit’s front page to go dark while providing a link to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian’s video calling for action against CISPA.

    Still, it’s nice to see at least one mainstream site go dark today in protest of CISPA. Anonymous called for an Internet blackout, but only managed to sign up a little over 400 Web sites. The Web sites that had signed up were not very well known either thus limiting the spread of the message.

    UPDATE: Since publishing this story, a number of other popular subreddits have also gone dark in protest of CISPA. Most of the subreddits, including /r/pics, /r/funny, /r/politics, and /r/askreddit include the same link to the post on /r/stand at the top.

    One popular subreddit has done something different though. The much loved (or much hated) /r/atheism has a banner protesting CISPA (click to enlarge):

    Technology Subreddit Goes Dark In Protest Of CISPA

  • Anonymous Organizes CISPA Blackout, Not Many Web Sites Show Up

    The SOPA blackout protest was something else. Google, Wikipedia, Reddit and other major online players blacked out part or all of their Web sites in opposition to a proposed bill that would have given the U.S. government unchecked power to regulate the Internet as it saw fit.

    Likewise, CISPA gives the government and corporations the ability to share your private information without a warrant and without much oversight. The bill has been met with some resistance, but not enough. The House passed it with relative ease, and now the fight will go to the Senate. Now everybody’s favorite (or most hated) hacktivist group wants to send the Senate a message with a blackout of its own.

    Last week, Anonymous announced that it was organizing a CISPA blackout similar to the SOPA blackout of early 2012. Anonymous had hoped to coerce a number of Web sites into going dark today, but it only managed to get a little over 400 volunteers.

    Getting over 400 Web sites to go dark for a day is no small feat, but it just doesn’t compare to the thousands that went dark in protest of SOPA.

    Of course, a CISPA blackout could be effectual if Web sites frequently visited by millions of Internet users went dark. Unfortunately, the heavy hitters behind the SOPA blackout (i.e. Google, Reddit, Wikipedia) are refusing to go dark today in protest of CISPA. There are probably a number of reasons for this, but we can only guess at a few of them.

    For starters, CISPA isn’t an immediate threat to companies. SOPA would burden Web sites with the responsibility of policing their own content. CISPA encourages companies to share private customer data with the government while granting them complete immunity from legal recourse. CISPA may not present any immediate threat to Internet companies, but Rep. Jared Polis argued last week that it would cause some pretty serious damage all the same:

    “[CISPA] directly hurts the confidence of Internet users. Internet users – if this were to become law – would be much more hesitant to provide their personal information – even if assured under the terms of use that it will be kept personal because the company would be completely indemnified if they ‘voluntarily’ gave it to the United States government.”

    The other thing standing in the way of an organized CISPA blackout is the organizers themselves. Even among anti-CISPA Web sites like Mozilla, Reddit and others, Anonymous isn’t exactly well-liked. The group’s intentions may be pure this time around, but there’s an argument to be made that CISPA was crafted in response to attacks from Anonymous and other hacking groups.

    Anonymous’ planned blackout isn’t a failure, but it isn’t much of a success either. That being said, it at least shows that large groups of people are in opposition to CISPA. It might not be opposed by the teenagers who use Wikipedia to write term papers, but those in the tech community are rightly concerned about the overly broad legislation. It’s unfortunate then that Congress seems to think that only 14-year-olds living in their basements are the only ones opposed to CISPA.

    [h/t: RT]

  • Reddit Launches Bus Tour to “Promote the Open Internet”

    Reddit Launches Bus Tour to “Promote the Open Internet”

    Emboldened by the part it played in combating the SOPA legislation earlier this year with an “internet blackout,” Reddit has officially announced that it is taking to the road with a bus tour in support of the open internet.

    In a post over at the Reddit blog, Reddit GM Erik Martin today announced the Internet 2012 Bus Tour. Martin, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, and other Reddit staff will board a half red, half blue bus and tour across the Midwestern U.S. From the blog post:

    This isn’t just about Silicon Valley and big web companies. Start-ups, local governments, small businesses and web savvy individuals across the country are using the platform of the Open Internet to start new businesses, learn new skills, earn extra income, and make their budgets go further. If you have a story like this, please post it to /r/Internet2012. The Internet 2012 Bus Tour will collect, document and share these stories from the American heartland. We will have 10 journalists from major outlets on the bus, as well as our own documentary crew to capture and tell these stories.

    In order to finance the tour, a fundraiser has been started on IndieGoGo. Perks for the fundraiser include a DRM-free download of the documentary, posters & stickers, a phone call/drunk dial from the tour, having your name on the bus, a ride on the bus, or your very own tour stop (for $36,000).

    A partial itinerary of the tour is already complete, and it starts on October 3 at the Presidential Debate in Denver, CO. From there the bus will make a stop each day, going to Boulder, Co; Lincoln, NE; Des Moines, IA; Iowa City, IA; Kansas City, MO; and Lexington, KY, where an event will take place on “The Future of Local Communities” with Drew Curtis‘ FARK. The last currently scheduled day will see the tour stop in Danville, KY, where the Vice Presidential debate will take place.

    The tour organizers are currently collecting stories of how the open internet has helped local communities over on the tour’s main subreddit. One of the first posts to that subreddit happens to be the trailer for the bus tour, seen below, which includes more details about the tour.

  • MPAA Finds Internet Blackouts To Be “Irresponsible”

    Today is the day where many popular sites are blacking out in an effort to protest the anti-piracy bills that certain members of the government are so blindly trying to force down the public’s throat. Granted, the uninformed public out there probably deserves their fate, but thankfully, these folks aren’t the only members of the Internet population; although, they are a loud bunch.

    Because so many big-name sites are blacked out to protest SOPA, naturally, the MPAA decided it was their responsibility to remind us how misguided these entities are and that SOPA/PIPA are good pieces of legislation (PDF). Not only did the MPAA’s PR department issue a release, one that refers to these protests as a “gimmick,” they also wrote something about it on their blog.

    Both pieces of content essentially mock the anti-SOPA efforts with such brilliant prose like the following, which is taken from the MPAA’s blog:

    some technology business interests are resorting to stunts that punish their users or turn them into their corporate pawns, rather than coming to the table to find solutions to a problem that all now seem to agree is very real and damaging.

    It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information and use their services. It is also an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today. It’s a dangerous and troubling development when the platforms that serve as gateways to information intentionally skew the facts to incite their users in order to further their corporate interests.

    A so-called “blackout” is yet another gimmick, albeit a dangerous one, designed to punish elected and administration officials who are working diligently to protect American jobs from foreign criminals. It is our hope that the White House and the Congress will call on those who intend to stage this “blackout” to stop the hyperbole and PR stunts and engage in meaningful efforts to combat piracy.

    So the MPAA wants the government to step in and try to stop the blackouts from happening? So, basically, instead of addressing the issues these protesting entities have directly, the Motion Picture Association of America would rather the government intervene? Therein, folks, lies the problem with the entities that are trying to influence Internet legislation: They only see their side of the story, and anyone who disagrees with the proposed anti-piracy bills are “irresponsible.”

    Because insulting those who disagree with your position is a great way to find common ground; but then again, common ground is not what the MPAA wants. They want to be able to shutdown whatever site offends their sense of copyright infringement, and nothing more. They do not care if Google, Reddit, Wikipedia, and the host of other sites resort to drastic measures in order to protest SOPA/PIPA. They only want compliance with their way of thinking.

    Lead image courtesy of Aaron McGruder and The Boondocks.