Internet Blackout to Protest SOPA

[Prelate Diogenes Shandor]

http://maddox.xmission.com/

Maddox, of the best page in the universe. Remember this dude? Well he's got something to say about SOPA:





Because that's exactly what we need to wake up from this slumbering, do-nothing, "occupy everything," stagnant, non-action slump we Americans are in.

"Protest schemes that don't cost the participants any inconvenience, hardship or money remain the most popular, despite their ineffectiveness."

We're a country where people think that...

• Boycotting gas for a day makes a difference. It doesn't. Delaying when you buy gas by a day only broadcasts your intentions to oil speculators so they can profit. And the oil still gets purchased a day before or after anyway.


• Painstakingly recycling every single shred of garbage in your home makes a difference. It doesn't. Even if you, your neighbors, and everyone you've ever met recycled everything and reduced your waste output to zero, it wouldn't even make an observable impact on overall waste production in the world. Household waste and garden residue account for less than 3% of all waste produced in the US. That's less than the average statistical margin of error, and most people don't even come close to producing zero waste.


• Changing your profile picture on Facebook will get people to: A) stop abusing kids B) stop molesting kids C) stop killing kids and D) do anything.


• Signing an online petition, or changing the front page of your website to protest SOPA will fix anything.

SOPA is the "Stop Online Piracy Act." It's a shitty piece of legislation put together by puppetmaster lobbyists and politician puppets who don't know IP addresses from their assholes. My problem with this huge online protest against SOPA, and the reason I rarely take part in such protests, is because it doesn't address any problems, only the symptom. The problem isn't this shitty bill, it's the people who sponsored it. So we protest this bill today, bang enough pots and pans to shame a few backers into not letting this bill pass, then what? Those same dipshits who wrote this legislation still have jobs. They're going to try again, and again, and again until some mutation of this legislation passes. They'll sneak it into an appropriation bill while nobody's looking during recess, because there's too much lobbyist money at stake for them not to. We defeat SOPA today, only to face it again tomorrow. It's like trying to stop a cold by blowing your nose. It's time we go after the virus.

There have been many bills attempted (and some passed) like SOPA before it. There's the DMCA act of 1998, PRO-IP Act of 2008, the 2011 Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, and now the PROTECT IP Act of 2012. Think this victory means anything? A new bill gets introduced every year or two like clockwork. Check back in a few years, and there'll be another SOPA or Protect IP Act being squeezed down the lower intestinal tracts of congress. And then what? We black out our websites again like a merry band of idiots?

Raising awareness is a great way of feeling good about yourself without actually doing anything. Be honest with yourself:

How much do you care about SOPA?

Would you be willing to:

• Take time off work to go down to Washington DC?


• Boycott companies that supported it?


• Knock on this dickhead's door and ask him why he introduced such shitty legislation?

• Make sure none of these losers get elected ever again?

Harry Reid (D-NV)
Howard Berman (D-CA)
Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
Mary Bono Mack (R-CA)
Steve Chabot (R-OH)
John Conyers (D-MI)
Ted Deutch (D-FL)
Elton Gallegly (R-CA)
Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
Timothy Griffin (R-AR)
Dennis A. Ross (R-FL)
Adam Schiff (D-CA)
Lee Terry (R-NE)

[/list]

Because until or unless you do, all the loud clamoring isn't going to change shit. If you think it's too severe a punishment to fire these jackasses over this bill, then consider the fact that politicians who supported this piece of legislation either:

1. Supported it knowing its full implications, despite the fact that it would introduce security risks, hurt the economy, innovation and jobs and would lead to censorship.

2. Or that they supported the bill not knowing the full implications of this legislation, which means that they're ignorant, and they shouldn't have their jobs anyway.


As of this writing, enough of you whined and got your way. Great, you stopped SOPA.



It needs to get worse before it gets better. We need a really shitty piece of legislation like SOPA in this country to be the spark that ignites the lazy, idle tinders of protest. It's not uncommon or even controversial to say that Washington is corrupt. It doesn't cause anyone to bat an eye when you say it in public, with Republicans, Democrats or "other." That's a problem. We need SOPA to wake the sleeping giant in this country. It could have been our generation's Rodney King verdict. Instead of blacking out our websites, what we need to do is dismantle the system that created this bullshit. Enough is enough.

Instead of changing your Facebook icon to an anti-SOPA image for a day or two, here's something you can do that might make a real difference: boycott the companies that supported this legislation. There are too many to boycott all of them effectively, so I propose we pick two or three, hit them, and hit them hard. Punish them for putting their interests above ours. Hitting them in the wallet should send a message. I've highlighted the most difficult ones to boycott in red. The companies with the biggest return for our boycott are in yellow. The more we inconvenience ourselves, the more impact the boycott will have:

1-800 Contacts, Inc. - 801-924-9800 (contact)
1-800-PetMeds - 954-979-5995 (contact)
3M - 1-888-364-3577 (contact)
ABC (contact)
ABRO Industries, Inc. (automotive supplies) - (574) 232-8289 (contact)
Acushnet Company (Titleist and Footjoy golf) - (800)225-8500 (contact)
Adidas America - (800) 448-1796 (contact)
AstraZeneca plc - 1-800-236-9933 (contact)
Autodesk, Inc. - 415-507-5000 (contact)
Beachbody, LLC - 310-883-9000 (P90X, Insanity Videos) (contact)
Bose Coporation - (508) 879-7330 (contact)
Burberry - 800 284 8480 (contact)
Business Software Alliance Members:
Adobe - 408-536-6000 (contact)
Apple - 408.996.1010 Tim Cook, CEO (contact)
Autodesk - See individual listing.
AVEVA - Houston Office: 713-977-1225 (contact)
AVG - 978-319-4460 (contact)
Bentley Systems - 1-800-236-8539 (contact)
Cadence Design Systems - 408-943-1234 (contact)
CNC Software Mastercam - 800-228-2877 (contact)
Compuware - 313-227-7300 (contact)
Corel - 613-728-0826 (contact)
Dassault Systemes SolidWorks Corporation - France +33 1 61 62 61 62 (contact)
Dell - 512-338-4400 (contact)
Intel - 408-765-8080 (contact)
Intuit - 650-944-6000 (contact)
Mastercard (contact)
McAfee - 408-988-3832 (contact)
Microsoft - 425-882-8080 (contact)
Minitab - 814-238-3280 (contact)
Progress Software - 781-280-4000 (contact)
PTC - 781-370-5000 (contact)
Quark - 303-894-8888 (contact)
Quest - 800-306-9329 (contact)
Siemens PLM Software, Inc. - 800-498-5351 (contact)
Sybase - 1-800-792-2735 (contact)
Symantec - 650-527-8000 (contact)
TechSmith - 517-381-2300 (contact)
The MathWorks - 508-647-7000 (contact)
Callaway Golf Company - 800-588-9836 (contact)
Caterpillar Inc. - 309-675-1000 (contact)
CBS Corporation - 1-212-975-4321 (contact)
Chanel USA - 1.800.550.0005 (contact)
Coach - 1-800-444-3611 (contact)
Columbia Sportswear Company - (800) 622-6953 (contact)
Comcast Corporation - 215-286-1700 (contact)
Coty Inc. - 212-479-4300 (contact)
CVS Caremark - 401-765-1500 (contact)
Dolby Laboratories, Inc. - 415-558-0200 (contact)
Dolce & Gabbana USA, Inc. (contact)
Electronic Arts, Inc. - (650) 628-1500 (they open at 8am PT)
ESPN (contact)
Fender Musical Instrument Company - 480.596.9690 (contact)
Ford Motor Company - 800-392-3673 (contact)
Gibson Guitar Corp. - 1-800-444-2766 (contact)
Harley-Davidson Motor Company - 1-800-258-2464 (contact)
Johnson & Johnson - (732) 524-0400 (contact)
Juicy Couture, Inc - 1-888-908-1160 (contact)
Lacoste USA - 1-800-452-2678 (contact)
Leatherman Tool Group, Inc. - (800) 847-8665 (contact)
Lexmark International, Inc. - 1-859-232-2000 (contact)
Liz Claiborne, Inc - (212) 354-4900 (contact)
L'Oreal USA - 1-212-818-1500 (contact)
Lucky Brand Jeans - 1-866-975-5825 (contact)
Marvel (contact)
Major League Baseball - 212-485-3444 (contact)
Marmot - (707) 544-4590 (contact)
Monster Cable Products, Inc. - 415 840-2000 (contact)
National Basketball Association (NBA) (contact)
National Football League (NFL) (contact)
NBCUniversal - 212-664-4444 (contact)
Nervous Tattoo Inc., dba Ed Hardy - 323-785-4460 (contact)
New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. - (636) 326-1024 (contact)
New Era Cap Co Inc - 1-877-632-5950 (contact)
NHL Enterprises, L.P. - 212-789-2000 (contact)
Nike, Inc. - 1-503-671-6453 (contact)
Oakley, Inc. - (800) 431-1439 (contact)
Peavey Electronics Corporation - 601-483-5365 (contact)
Perry Ellis International - 1-800-994-0073 (contact)
Petzl America - 801-926-1310 (contact)
Pfizer Inc. - 1-212-733-2323 (contact)
PGA of America - (561) 624-8400 (contact)
Philip Morris International - 804-274-2000 or 800-343-0975 (contact)
PING - 1.800.474.6434 (contact)
Ralph Lauren Corporation - 888-475-7674 (contact)
Red Wing Shoe Company - 1-800-733-9464 (contact)
Reebok International Ltd. - 781-401-5000 (contact)
Revlon - 1-800-473-8566 (contact)
Rite Aid - Home Office: (717) 761-2633 (contact)
Rolex Watch USA Inc. - 665 5th Ave, New York, NY10022 - Tel: (212) 758-7700 - Fax: (212) 223-7443
Rosetta Stone Inc. - 1.800.280.8172? (contact)
Shure Incorporated - (847) 600-2000 (contact)
Sony Electronics Inc. (try 1-800-222-7669) (contact)
Sony Music Entertainment - (212) 833-8000 (contact)
Sony Pictures Entertainment - 310-244-4000 (contact)
Spyder Active Sports, Inc - 303-544-4000 (contact)
Taylor Guitars - 619-258-1207 (contact)
Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc. - 1.866.530.8624 (contact)
The Dow Chemical Company - 800-258-2436 (contact)
The Estee Lauder Companies - 877-311-3883 (contact)
The Timberland Company - 603-772-9500 (contact)
The Walt Disney Company - 818-560-1000 (contact)
Tiffany & Co. - 1-800-843-3269 (contact)
Time Warner Inc. - 212.484.8000 (contact)
Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc. - Corporate Offices (949) 583-3000 (contact)
True Religion Jeans (contact)
UFC - Ultimate Fighting Championship - (702) 221-4780 (contact)
Visa (contact)
Viacom - (212) 258-6000 (contact)
Wal-Mart - 479-273-4000 (contact)
Warner Music Group - (212) 275-2000 (contact)
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. 203-352-8600 (see bottom of their link for corporate) (contact)
Xerox Corporation - 1-800-275-9376 (contact)
Zippo Manufacturing Company - 888.442.1932 (contact)

***Note: if there are any inaccuracies on this list (companies that don't support SOPA that were included, or companies that weren't included, email me).

The companies in red aren't impossible to boycott, (*copy and paster's note: I didn't color code the list -Cram) just a lot more difficult because of their size. For example, you'd probably have to spend an hour of research every week just to make sure you weren't supporting a Viacom property if you chose to boycott them, and a boycott fewer than a few million strong probably won't matter to a company as large as Viacom. The companies in yellow stand a chance of getting some significant fallout from a boycott. There are a number of publishers on this list, including my own publisher. If the consensus I get from readers is that we should boycott publishers, I'll support the boycott even though it hurts me. However, publishing companies traditionally haven't gone after piracy as blindly and bone-headedly as the MPAA and RIAA, so there are more deserving targets.

Which companies do you think deserve the boycott for SOPA? How would you propose we solve the problem that doesn't involve changing your Facebook profile picture? Email me. I'll update this site with a list. Keep it to the list of supporters. Updates soon.

Do you mind if I copy parts of this post to other forums?

[Cramulus]

fine by me--you know I didn't write it, right?

[LMNO]

The community has asked us to preserve emergency access options.

There you go, Dingo.  On this page:  https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/English_Wikipedia_SOPA_blackout/Technical_FAQ%20

"Emergency Access"?


What the hell?


OMG!  I really need to know if gorillas can sleep standing up!

[AFK]

That's right fuckers, don't buy Fender or Gibson guitars!  Buy Danelectro!  Sexy retro look AND great sound! 

[Prelate Diogenes Shandor]

fine by me--you know I didn't write it, right?

Oh right.

(though I thought you had at least formatted it for forum use)

[Freeky]

The community has asked us to preserve emergency access options.

There you go, Dingo.  On this page:  https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/English_Wikipedia_SOPA_blackout/Technical_FAQ%20

"Emergency Access"?


What the hell?


OMG!  I really need to know if gorillas can sleep standing up!

Right?  If you need wikipedia as an emergency resource, you're probably not in a big pickle in the first place.

[kingyak]

Maddox added a bit to the end of the same page today. Apparently the original letter from the entertainment industry to Congress claims over 2 million workers in the industry are affected by piracy. He looked at some census records and the number of employees is actually something like 360,000, about 25% of which are food and service industry positions. The 2 million number only works if you include all forms of entertainment (sports events, gambling, museums, etc.).

[Triple Zero]

I called my congressional representatives and senators yesterday. And the thing which prompted me to actually do it was a friend's post on FB about slacktivism. Lots of people are going to change their FB avatar, post some status updates about SOPA, make a show of "support", but this micro-activism is invisible to the people calling the shots.

Given the positive SubGenius definition of "slack", shouldn't we be careful not to pollute the term and use a different word?

[Triple Zero]

For the record Wikipedia actually gave instruction on how to circumvent the blackout; if you read their description on what SOPA was, it said explicitly that they wanted to send ther messae not inconvenience anyone.

What I really like about this, is the side-effect of how it probably taught thousands of people how they can disable Javascript on a website to stop unwanted behaviour.

Some of them might even get curious and go look for the many many other tricksy ways you can get webpages to do your unintended biddings.

[Triple Zero]

6 KAN {ripe corn 10:32AM PSt
at this time? i see none of my links work meaning i'LL have to reply via
show posts rather than update my position | everything defaults to MAIN

I never quite understood why or how you used those in-forum links anyway?

They help you to navigate the forum?

Is there a reason why the many other links already available (such as "show unread", "show replies", "Profile>Show Posts", "Profile>Show Posts>Topics", "most recent posts on this forum") are not convenient for you? Or is it just that you like this way better (which is ok).

Just asking, cause maybe if there's a way to automate those links, I could add it as a feature in the forum, for your convenience (the links wouldn't appear in posts then but somewhere else on the page).

(hm makes me think I might want to bookmark those links and bind them to a quick access key or button or something--in my browser)

[Don Coyote]

Great. I need a new ISP.

[Placid Dingo]

Black March - http://megauprising.com/black-march/

I was pretty doubtful of this but it seems to have some good backing - The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Mozilla and Creative Commons.

[Cramulus]

I called my congressional representatives and senators yesterday. And the thing which prompted me to actually do it was a friend's post on FB about slacktivism. Lots of people are going to change their FB avatar, post some status updates about SOPA, make a show of "support", but this micro-activism is invisible to the people calling the shots.

Given the positive SubGenius definition of "slack", shouldn't we be careful not to pollute the term and use a different word?

nah, it was exactly the term I was looking for

[Cramulus]

"Better the government shut down than Wikipedia go on strike. That would be like part of my mind going on strike. Just give Wikipedia whatever they want — we don't even need to hear what it is." — Ray Kurzweil

[Cain]

I must say, I am quite amused at some of the more....outspoken defences of the owner of Megaupload out there.

Sure, there are questions about due process, the correct scope of government power etc, but at the same time, it's incredibly funny to watch people opposed to SOPA and PIPA trying to turn him into a symbol for the cause.

Because someone who makes millions out of disenfranchising artists of their earnings is really the ideal person to stand up to Hollywood.  Also, watching them defend someone previously arrested on insider trade and fraud charges, while decrying the corruption of the financial system is kinda amusing.