Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Seattle Whiteout as Major Websites Blackout against SOPA

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This picture should give you a good idea of what I mean by whiteout. Yeah, it's been snowing and snowing and snowing some more in this part of Washington, and it has been the same since Sunday. On Monday, we got about 4 inches of snow and it was enough to go out on our decking and throw snowballs at each other.
More snow is expected today, up to 10 inches in some places, and it has been labelled the no-school Wednesday in majority of the School Districts. That wouldn't usually have concerned me, except it also means that Atala will be working from home. Hehehe...



Now, add to that the fact that major websites have decided to blackout in protest of the Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA) and you'll agree with me there's a conspiracy somewhere. Anyway, SOPA is a Bill that may drastically change the way we interact with the web and which the American Congress is thinking of passing. Major websites like Google, Wikipedia, Wordpress, among others that believe it will be a cog in the democracy and freedom of the internet and are leading the campaign against it. It was fun seeing what the sites looked like. Enjoy and click the links for more info. Let me go and disturb somebody...








8 comments:

  1. Please God no. In this era of social media inspired revolutions, I can see why governments would support this. I hope the bill never comes to pass.

    Having a snugfest huh? my duvet works fine :p

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    1. I agree with you there, the terms of the Bill are really strict, and half are unnecessary. Keep warm o.

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  2. wow i had hoped for a white christmas but unfortunately in atlanta it hardly snows. so no snowballs for me or 4 nice snow.
    About the bill I just hope it isn't past, cos it would be drastic.
    www.secretlilies.blogspot.com

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    1. I also hope the Congress gets the message unlike our own NASS.

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  3. I envy the snow pictures unlike in the UK where we've had no snow this winter, at least in the south-east where I live. On the hand, I'm not too worried because when it snows here everything grinds to a halt!

    I worry about the SOPA act, I wonder how on one hand the US claims to be an advocate of free speech and on the other hand drawing up an anti-privacy law. I guess this is a fallout of the recent wikileaks scandal but then they can't have it both ways.

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    1. Yes, I believe the wikileaks scandal was part of the reason they accelerated efforts at passing the bill. Also, I hear the movie and music industries have a role to play. Now the internet companies are striking back.

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  4. I think you guys are close to us border wise cos we're also having torrents of snow now. I get to watch a TV station from Washington.cant remember the town now though

    I dunno what this bill is all about but i think wikipedia has made a point. Imagine the net without some information readily available on our fingertips?God knows I learnt a lot through the web just last year alone....

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    1. I remember it took us just a few hours to drive into Vancouver the other time, so yeah Canada is not too far away. You guys should also try and staying indoors and warm.

      And yeah, I hope the Bill is not passed. Some of us run businesses on the internet.

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