The MPAA Says Blackout Protests Are an Abuse of Power

[Mr. Gibs]

It's funny how Apple didn't do any action to raise awareness to this issue. Neither did Microsoft. We can clearly see now which companies are really working to protect the internet and which ones are the ones who are just silent on the issue as they initially supported SOPA/PIPA (Apple, Microsoft etc) and are like weasels now not putting their support in protecting our internet freedoms.

Makes it very clear what companies to support. Great job Microsoft and Apple, not that I expected either would do anything that is for the benefit of consumers and open internet.

Actually I think its got more to do with the fact that Google will lose a ton of money if SOPA/PIPA passes. Youtube, image, search etc would either be shut down or severely limited.

[shakey]

you shouldn't have to black out a website to make a statement, MS already released their stance on it that is all they feel they need to do

I wonder though.. how this might help the cause, if MS released a patch that blacked out everyone's wallpaper and said, Stop SOPA or this could be your new wallpaper because it is in violation to copywriteblahblahblah... I bet that would have a huge impact on more people as well.

[Ayepecks]

This was posted a while ago on the main page.

[neufuse Veteran]

I wonder though.. how this might help the cause, if MS released a patch that blacked out everyone's wallpaper and said, Stop SOPA or this could be your new wallpaper because it is in violation to copywriteblahblahblah... I bet that would have a huge impact on more people as well.

there would be some huge investigation into MS's abuse of power etc etc... class action lawsuits....

[The Laughing Man]

Im shocked at how stupid some of these tweets are. Its truly sad to see how uninformed people are about one single site. Some people were dumb enough to blame Obama for Wikipedia blackout. Check out the stupidity below.

https://twitter.com/herpderpedia

[Hardcore Til I Die]

It's funny how Apple didn't do any action to raise awareness to this issue. Neither did Microsoft. We can clearly see now which companies are really working to protect the internet and which ones are the ones who are just silent on the issue as they initially supported SOPA/PIPA (Apple, Microsoft etc) and are like weasels now not putting their support in protecting our internet freedoms.

Makes it very clear what companies to support. Great job Microsoft and Apple, not that I expected either would do anything that is for the benefit of consumers and open internet.

Do you ever post about anything other than slating (insert competitor of google here) ?

[Charisma Veteran]

you shouldn't have to black out a website to make a statement, MS already released their stance on it that is all they feel they need to do

And well it should be. Corporation-sponsored government action is responsible for a good part of the mess we are in around here.

[Xtreme2damax]

I don't want to live on this planet anymore

Oh my, people are seriously this retarded? Someone should post something the that page telling everyone they are retarded morons and to research SOPA. Maybe if they pulled their heads out of their asses they would understand what SOPA is and exactly why Wikipedia and other websites are protesting by blacking out for 24 hours.

[Boz]

Do you ever post about anything other than slating (insert competitor of google here) ?

Nope.. just raising awareness which one of these companies you give money to support and defend things that are in everyone's interest. I'm glad I was wrong about Microsoft, but Apple is clear cut.

And don't forget.. Google and quite a few other companies NEVER supported SOPA and opposed it from the start while Microsoft, Apple and a few others did and then back-peddled into bailing out because they saw that it's not gonna end good.

[Colin McGregor]

Good thing i dont use either site. Wont even notice lol

It's funny how Apple didn't do any action to raise awareness to this issue. Neither did Microsoft. We can clearly see now which companies are really working to protect the internet and which ones are the ones who are just silent on the issue as they initially supported SOPA/PIPA (Apple, Microsoft etc) and are like weasels now not putting their support in protecting our internet freedoms.

Makes it very clear what companies to support. Great job Microsoft and Apple, not that I expected either would do anything that is for the benefit of consumers and open internet.

damn so much MS hate, no sense to look it up on your great google site to see that MS is against it. Typical fanboy troll.

THe only reason google didnt support it from the start is because they have their own way of screwing with peoples privacy and didnt need PIPA to do it.

[neufuse Veteran]

ommmmmg my head hurts after reading the twitter feed.....

seriously, this just makes me think about how much wikipedia is a problem not a solution... all the people whineing about how they can't get their work done without it..... gawd there are other research methods people..... before it people used this amazing thing called an encyclopedia... and after that search indexes like this amazing thing called google....

and then to compound this lack of understanding on how to "research" they keep saying stuff like why is it down? its on the freaking site when you go to it! how hard is it to understand?! *head explodes*

SHOUTOUT TO ALL THE PPL WHO FINNA FAIL THEY PAPER DUE 2MRW CUZ WIKIPEDIA DOWN AND YOU GOTTA CALL JESSE JACKSON BITCH ASS TO GET IT BACK ON

I mean seriously?....

[shakey]

ommmmmg my head hurts after reading the twitter feed.....

seriously, this just makes me think about how much wikipedia is a problem not a solution... all the people whineing about how they can't get their work done without it..... gawd there are other research methods people..... before it people used this amazing thing called an encyclopedia... and after that search indexes like this amazing thing called google....

and then to compound this lack of understanding on how to "research" they keep saying stuff like why is it down? its on the freaking site when you go to it! how hard is it to understand?! *head explodes*

I mean seriously?....

Ya, people on there are showing how ****ed up our future is going to be... I remember the times before the internet.... Having to go all around town, library to library, trying to find the right books for projects and research. What I would have killed to have a wiki back then.

[OOOOOOOO]

Might help to learn what it is about before you say people don't have a valid reason to boycott it....

And that twitter site shows just how stupid and ignorant the masses are :(

My point is ... if you're annoyed because you want to keep illegally downloading stuff, you have zero rights to complain. If you're worried legitimately about other factors, and you aren't ripping people off, you have every right to worry.

That's it. End of argument.

[Phouchg]

Little do these spoiled asshats that take things as Wikipedia for granted know that Wiki guys have a huge hole in the blackout thing - and I suspect it is done that way intentionally, because Wikipedia wants to spread a message, not to actually inhibit knowledge, even if for one day only.

The blackout message is not a redirect nor an actual page altogether. It's a script at the end of the page that hides (display: none) actual content DIVs (that all still load) and shows an overlay DIV instead. That can be disabled by bazillion methods, most simple of which is, for not so fast connections, stopping before the page loads completely by pressing Esc.

[The Laughing Man]

Ya, people on there are showing how ****ed up our future is going to be... I remember the times before the internet.... Having to go all around town, library to library, trying to find the right books for projects and research. What I would have killed to have a wiki back then.

Our future is screwed. I remember when all stations tuned into Obama's speech revealing Osama Bin Laden was killed, Twitter blew up with people complaining because they were missing their american idol reruns. I also do not wish to live on this planet anymore.

[giantpotato]

Little do these spoiled asshats that take things as Wikipedia for granted know that Wiki guys have a huge hole in the blackout thing - and I suspect it is done that way intentionally, because Wikipedia wants to spread a message, not to actually inhibit knowledge, even if for one day only.

The blackout message is not a redirect nor an actual page altogether. It's a script at the end of the page that hides (display: none) actual content DIVs (that all still load) and shows an overlay DIV instead. That can be disabled by bazillion methods, most simple of which is, for not so fast connections, stopping before the page loads completely by pressing Esc.

Well, yeah, it says right on the wikipedia page how to disable it, disable javascript.

[Phouchg]

Well, yeah, it says right on the wikipedia page how to disable it, disable javascript.

Real men don't read official stuff. Real men "haxx0r"! :p

[shakey]

My point is ... if you're annoyed because you want to keep illegally downloading stuff, you have zero rights to complain. If you're worried legitimately about other factors, and you aren't ripping people off, you have every right to worry.

That's it. End of argument.

Not at all. This affects everyone. Just because someone pirates, doesn't mean they shouldn't be worried about this. That is like saying those who steal food shouldn't worry about food poisoning from a company who poisons their foods to stop people from stealing it. This has much father implifications than just affecting pirates. This is a huge thing for everyone, innocent or not.

Our future is screwed. I remember when all stations tuned into Obama's speech revealing Osama Bin Laden was killed, Twitter blew up with people complaining because they were missing their american idol reruns. I also do not wish to live on this planet anymore.

People wonder why I don't like to go out into the public much.... They can't see the world as I do, and I think they are lucky to be as such. Some of us are just doomed to have more hope than humanity is possible of fulfilling, and thus, we are severely let down.

[neufuse Veteran]

Well, yeah, it says right on the wikipedia page how to disable it, disable javascript.

but that takes reading and a tad bit of research! people that use wikipedia hate research and reading! just copy and paste, homework done!

[justmike]

"incite their users in order to further their corporate interests"

Oh My! He forgot "without us getting paid for it" at the end of that.

:/

"given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today"

I LOL'D!!,SAY WHAT?!? So freedom dictates they say nothing?! LOL! They want control, and any person who knowingly or unknowingly signed up for this mess should be questionable in every way from this point forward! They really must have someone who actually knows what the law would grant from an opposing side, if not, we are in much greater trouble.

Want to fix this mess? Start dividing what can and can't be property. If it acts as a wheel or hammer, support, tool, or function thereof, or part of said function, then it SHOULD NOT be able to be owned by any group or individual IN ANY WAY, it's that simple. Until that gaping wide problem is addressed, there is no actual fix to anything whatsoever, especially from the top down The entire problem lies with ___ is 9-10ths of the law, and is why these problems exist as far as virtual anything goes.

;)

[Mr. Gibs]

My point is ... if you're annoyed because you want to keep illegally downloading stuff, you have zero rights to complain. If you're worried legitimately about other factors, and you aren't ripping people off, you have every right to worry.

That's it. End of argument.

Your logic is so flawed its not even funny anymore.

If all I wanted to do was to keep illegally downloading stuff, PIPA and SOPA would have minimal effect on me. There'll be a billion ways around the censorship, just like there always has been.

At the end of the day this bill will do next to nothing to prevent piracy, because it's still not going after the root problem. Sure you'll never ever get rid of it but if publishers stopped living in the 50s and actually realized how to use the internet to their advantage, there would be a pretty big drop. Netflix, iTunes, Zune music pass, spotify, steam are all proof of that. People want their content delivered to them in a way that's convenient, easy to use and affordable. Shoving intrusive DRM and other crap does nothing to hurt the pirates, it just hurts legitimate users and creates more pirates.

[Charisma Veteran]

Your logic is so flawed its not even funny anymore.

If all I wanted to do was to keep illegally downloading stuff, PIPA and SOPA would have minimal effect on me. There'll be a billion ways around the censorship, just like there always has been.

At the end of the day this bill will do next to nothing to prevent piracy, because it's still not going after the root problem. Sure you'll never ever get rid of it but if publishers stopped living in the 50s and actually realized how to use the internet to their advantage, there would be a pretty big drop. Netflix, Zune music pass, spotify, steam are all proof of that. People want their content delivered to them in a way that's convenient, easy to use and affordable. Shoving intrusive DRM and other crap does nothing to hurt the pirates, it just hurts legitimate users and creates more pirates.

this this this this this this

Please post this everywhere you can think of, and shout it from the bloody rooftops, because one could not hit the nail any more precisely on the head if they used a laser scope to do it.

[justmike]

Shoving intrusive DRM and other crap does nothing to hurt the pirates, it just hurts legitimate users and creates more pirates.

Exactly, the only ones it's not hurting are the people getting paid to come up with and support crap that doesn't do anything, even in the short term. If they would spend all that money on convenience and cost cutting, we would be years ahead.

[ViperAFK]

My point is ... if you're annoyed because you want to keep illegally downloading stuff, you have zero rights to complain. If you're worried legitimately about other factors, and you aren't ripping people off, you have every right to worry.

That's it. End of argument.

Holy straw man argument batman

[remixedcat]

the mafiaa are the ones abusing thier power they shouldnt have in the first place