I’m not going to pretend to know what a computer science major does, or attempt to understand congressional bills like a lawyer. However, the phenomenon observed by millions Wednesday in the cyber world was remarkable enough to spark a deeper interest in many of those using the Internet for basic purposes.
When I logged online to the Internet Wednesday to my homepage, Google, I was immediately informed about a 24-hour digital protest with the words “Google” literally blacked out. I rolled my cursor over the image and read the subtext, which asked viewers to sign a petition against the provisions in two Congressional bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act, referred to as SOPA, as well as the Protect IP Act, or PIPA.
Initially, Google was successful in persuading me against these two “government attacks” on the freedom and entrepreneurship of Internet. Additionally, later that day, I went to Wikipedia for a little quick research. However, I came to find that the English Wikipedia was also involved in the protest, completely blacking and blocking out their website to users, asking viewers to sign a petition or else, “Imagine a world without free knowledge.”
What really shocked me, though, was how easily these websites were able to use their power and platforms to influence their daily users. There was an initial negative reaction of how these bills would be used to filter out websites infringing on copyrights, which would potentially affect the freedom of content in regular websites. However, I eventually realized that it was absurd to allow myself to think irrationally about the issue because Wikipedia and other similar websites blocked their sites.
However, I do respect the protest's ability to involve users in the political process, encouraging the voicing of legitimate concerns about freedom in the Internet. Here at PBA, I spoke with a business major in my class, John, about his concern with the bills that would potentially cause “permanent blackouts of entrepreneurs and new businesses online.” Overall, whether or not the bills or blackouts succeeded in having future impact on the regulations of the Internet, the tech geek in me was excited to have witnessed such an event.
Be sure to watch the video for more coverage on what the bills and blackouts entailed!
When I logged online to the Internet Wednesday to my homepage, Google, I was immediately informed about a 24-hour digital protest with the words “Google” literally blacked out. I rolled my cursor over the image and read the subtext, which asked viewers to sign a petition against the provisions in two Congressional bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act, referred to as SOPA, as well as the Protect IP Act, or PIPA.
Initially, Google was successful in persuading me against these two “government attacks” on the freedom and entrepreneurship of Internet. Additionally, later that day, I went to Wikipedia for a little quick research. However, I came to find that the English Wikipedia was also involved in the protest, completely blacking and blocking out their website to users, asking viewers to sign a petition or else, “Imagine a world without free knowledge.”
What really shocked me, though, was how easily these websites were able to use their power and platforms to influence their daily users. There was an initial negative reaction of how these bills would be used to filter out websites infringing on copyrights, which would potentially affect the freedom of content in regular websites. However, I eventually realized that it was absurd to allow myself to think irrationally about the issue because Wikipedia and other similar websites blocked their sites.
However, I do respect the protest's ability to involve users in the political process, encouraging the voicing of legitimate concerns about freedom in the Internet. Here at PBA, I spoke with a business major in my class, John, about his concern with the bills that would potentially cause “permanent blackouts of entrepreneurs and new businesses online.” Overall, whether or not the bills or blackouts succeeded in having future impact on the regulations of the Internet, the tech geek in me was excited to have witnessed such an event.
Be sure to watch the video for more coverage on what the bills and blackouts entailed!
What kinds of questions have the two bills and several blackouts caused you to ask?
Update: The bills SOPA and PIPA have been put on hold.
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