SOPA Protests Get Attention & Many Politicians Withdraw Support

January 18, 2012 marked one of the largest Internet protests, if not the largest Internet protest to date against SOPA and PIPApending legislation. Websites and people from all different industries participated in a blackout and protest to raise awareness and get the attention of Congress and the Senate. The protests were not only in the form of website blackouts, but SOPA opposers also took to the streets the old fashioned way, to protest, in the streets with signs across the country.

Wikipedia was one of the most well known sites to go dark and one of the most talked about. Their home page read:

"Imagine a WorldWithout Free Knowledge
For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia. Learn more."

And this morning it reads:

"Thank you.
The Wikipedia blackout is over — and you have spoken.
More than 162 million people saw our message asking if you could imagine a world without free knowledge. You said no. You shut down Congress’s switchboards. You melted their servers. Your voice was loud and strong. Millions of people have spoken in defense of a free and open Internet.
For us, this is not about money. It’s about knowledge. As a community of authors, editors, photographers, and programmers, we invite everyone to share and build upon our work.
Our mission is to empower and engage people to document the sum of all human knowledge, and to make it available to all humanity, in perpetuity. We care passionately about the rights of authors, because we are authors.
SOPA and PIPA are not dead: they are waiting in the shadows. What’s happened in the last 24 hours, though, is extraordinary. The Internet has enabled creativity, knowledge, and innovation to shine, and as Wikipedia went dark, you've directed your energy to protecting it.
We’re turning the lights back on. Help us keep them shining brightly.
Read more"

Also from Wikipedia:

"Was the blackout successful?

The English Wikipedia joined thousands of other web sites in protesting SOPA and PIPA by blacking out its content for 24 hours. The purpose of the blackout was twofold: to raise public awareness, and to encourage people to share their views with their elected representatives.

During the blackout:

• More than 12,000 people commented on the Wikimedia Foundation's blog post announcing the blackout. A breathtaking majority supported the blackout.
• More than 162 million saw the Wikipedia blackout page.
• More than eight million looked up their elected representatives' contact information via the Wikipedia tool.
• Anti-SOPA and PIPA topics began trending globally on Twitter immediately after the blackout began. Hashtags included #factswithoutwikipedia, #SOPAstrike, and #wikipediablackout. At one point,#wikipediablackout constituted 1% of all tweets, and SOPA accounted for a quarter-million tweets hourly during the blackout.
• A quick search of “SOPA blackout” on Google News produced more than 8,000 links as of this writing.

Are SOPA and PIPA dead?

Not at all. SOPA sponsor Lamar Smith stated that the House of Representatives will push the bill forward in February. Senate sponsor Patrick Leahy still plans for a PIPA vote on January 24.

Moreover, SOPA and PIPA are symptoms of a larger issue. They are misguided solutions to a misunderstood problem. In the U.S. and abroad, legislators and big media are embracing censorship and sacrificing civil liberties in their attacks on free knowledge and an open Internet."

Definitions of SOPA and PIPA are there as well just in case anyone is still not sure exactly what it means. Many other sites that joined the protest blockout used that opportunity to explain and educate what SOPA and PIPA are and why they are bad and encouraged everyone to sign the petition and contact their congressmen and senators to let them know how the voters feel about the situation.

Google blacked out their name logo and linked to a page which offered information and a petition to signStop SOPA's Google Plus page reported yesterday afternoon that over 4 million people had signed the petition, the Google TakeAction page with the title statement: End Piracy, Not Liberty had over 13 million page views. As of this morning, there are more than 130,000 +1s to the page.

Google even slowed its crawlers for the day to help make sure sites that participated in the blackout didn't suffer any damage to their rankings because of it.

The Oatmeal has an explanation and also an animated cartoon for those who have short attention spans!

YouTube video: The Day the LOLCats Died:

Clay Shirkey also has a great explanation of what SOPA and PIPA are, a history of the legislation leading up to this and why SOPA and PIPA are bad in thevideo from TED

Ask.com joined the protest yesterday

Mashable posted a picture montage of what the Internet would look like after SOPA, if it were passed and also an article on why SOPA and PIPA will not stop piracy

And while the bills are not dead, Congress is definitely getting the message. So many messages, in fact, that many Senators and Congressmen's contact pages online were running slow or non-responsive yesterday due to the high number of visitors that were driven to their contact pages.

PIPA co-sponsor Florida Sen. Marco Rubio pulled his name from the bill Wednesday, and SOPA co-sponsor Arizona Rep. Ben Quayle pulled his name Tuesday. Several other politicians withdrew their support yesterday as well.

President Obama has announced that he will not support SOPA or PIPA bills as they are written.
The fight is not over for SOPA protesters, The House will resume working on the bill in February and revising it to try to get it passed through.

SOPA Protests Blackout The Internet Wednesday

The SOPA Protest movement is really getting traction in the media AND the attention of law makers. The South Florida IMA Blogwrote last week about Internet sites planning to black out wednesday, Wednesday, January 18th in protest of SOPA and What Marketers Need to Know About SOPA in December, however there is another vote coming up next week and the protest and black outs are definitely getting attention now.

First, if you have not yet read the details about SOPA and PIPA and why they are being highly contested, TAKE A CLOSER LOOK. That article shows specific examples of what could happen to censorship if the law is passed. Sure, the law is meant to stop online piracy, but it gives control to the government that can be interpreted into censoring websites, IP addresses and holding parties accountable for what others do on their servers regardless of knowledge about it. Here is another great explanation: What is SOPA and How Does it Work?
Here is one example of how it could Kill the Open Education Resource Movement if the SOPA or PIPA laws were to pass.

Reddit was one of the first major sites to join the blackout on January 18th along with MoveOn and Mozilla as well as many others, yesterday Wikipedia joined the Protest SOPA black out. Today Google announced they will be Protesting SOPA on their home page, and while they are not going dark, their support of the protest is huge and will help bring more awareness to the subject. WordPress is reportedly going black or supporting the protest in some way.

Twitter is among a handful of top tech firms, including Google, Facebook and Yahoo, that sent a joint letter to key members of the Senate last November to express their opposition to SOPA and PIPA.

Tim O'Reilly on Why He is Protesting SOPA.

Who Is Going Dark in Protest, And Why
Along with those sites, The SFIMA Blog will not be posted on Wednesday, if the Internet is censored, so would be the news that we report. Honest and unbiased reporting cannot be done in a world of censorship.

What can you do? Change your social media profile picture to join the SOPA protest.

How to blackout SOPA and PIPA without hurting your SEO.

Is it working?

Victory for SOPA Opponents; DNS Block Struck from Bill

SOPA Supporters on the Run

White House Will Not Support SOPA, PIPA
Other Great Reads to Keep Up on the Latest Controversy:

Does Piracy Cause Economic Harm?

MSNBC Video SOPA Debate

Rupert Murdoch squares off with Obama over online piracy legislation

SOPA/PIPA Topic Thread on Mashable

Internet Sites Plan Blackout to Protest SOPA

On Wednesday January 18, 2012 many sites are planning a blackout in protest of SOPA. The blackout is symbolic to what could happen if Congress and The Senate vote to pass SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) and allow censorship of the Internet. The bills are intended to stop or prevent piracy, however opponents of the bill say that it is too broad and will give the government and law makers the power to shut down websites. In addition to the threat of over bearing censorship, those against the SOPA and PIPA bills maintain that it will not prevent or stop piracy. 

The non-profit organization Fight for the Future is one of the main opponents to the SOPA and PIPA bills and they publish several websites with information on why SOPA and PIPA are both bad for the internet and freedom of speech among many other rights. The site www.SOPASTRIKE.com has a list of the sites that are participating in the blackout on January 18th and also has a form for you to petition other sites to go dark to raise awareness and show an example of what could happen to many websites if the bills are passed.

Here is a great video showing what and why Internet Marketers should fight for in 2012, SOPA is at the top the list of 6 things that marketers should take a stand against and their video explains why.



Mashable has a topic devoted to SOPA and is updated with new articles about SOPA.

Here are many other articles to help keep up or catch up with the topic:

The Problem with SOPA (And How to Stop It)

Over 40 Internet Companies Come Out Publicly Against SOPA

Google, Amazon, Twitter and Facebook consider 'nuclear' blackout

Go Daddy Pulls Support For The Bill That The Internet Hates

Where Do Your Elected Officials Stand on SOPA?

Fears of SOPA ‘Unfounded,’ Says Bill’s Sponsor

WordCamp Miami 2012

SFIMA is proud to partner with WordCamp Miami again this year and help promote their event to our members and readers. The 3rd Annual WordCamp Miami 2012 is Feb 17 -18, 2012. It's two days this year and they are planning on having beginner workshops, sessions, and demos on Friday with the main event on Saturday (the three tracks will most likely be focused on user, advanced user, and developer). Tickets are down from $35 last year to $20 for one day or just $25 to attend both days. Last year sold out with almost 400 attendees, and they are expecting to sell out again this year, so get your tickets early!


Want to get involved with WordCamp Miami? WCMIA is still accepting speaker applications, looking for partners and sponsors, as well as volunteers.


If you are attending the SFIMA January event (tonight!) Thursday, January 12, 2012, you will have a chance to win tickets to WordCamp Miami for free!

Welcome to a New Era in Search

It seems as though this is "one of those days that the Internet changed". At least a big part of the Internet made a major change today. Google announced they are rolling out what is likely the largest change in the concept of Google's search engine results page. Search, plus Your World is billed by Google as "Your photos, your friends, your stuff. . ." Google's home page takes you to Google's Inside Search page which explains, "Search has always brought you information from across the web. Now, search gets better by including photos, posts, and more from you and your friends. When signed in with Google+, you’ll find personal results and profiles of people you know or follow. You can even expand your world by discovering people related to your search."

The reasoning behind it is that we all trust our friends for information, and now with all the Google products and enhancements and social networks their search will feature results from your friends across the internet including, pictures, Google + content from your circles, profiles in search and related people and pages. Of course, Google gives you the option to control your personal search options and turn them on and off as you wish. They are also clearly labeled with a blue person icon.

See more about Google's Personal Results.

There is also a YouTube video featuring the newest search result changes at Google:

Here are more articles from today all talking about Google's change in search results:

From CNN: Google search undergoes 'most radical transformation ever'

From TechCrunch: Google Fuses Google+ Into Search — And There Are Bigger Changes Afoot

From Mashable: Google Merges Search and Google+ Into Social Media Juggernaut

From SearchEngineLand: Google’s Results Get More Personal With “Search Plus Your World”

SFIMA January Event: Power Networking & Personal Branding With Colin D’Arcy, the "Imagementor"

Start the New Year off right with SFIMA and this great event where you will learn how to develop your personal image/brand, including business etiquette, language, grooming, dress, networking, dining and entertaining.

When: 

Thursday, January 12, 2012 

Time: 

Interactive Networking: 6:30 - 7:15 p.m.; Presentation: 7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Place:
Galuppi's
1103 North Federal Highway
Pompano Beach, FL 33062-4321
(FREE PARKING)

PLEASE NOTE: The presentation begins as you arrive to network!
Be there promptly at 6:30 to get the most out of this interactive session.

Members, please use this link to register for FREE.

Non-Members, please use this link to register. Non-members attendance is $39 ahead of time or $49 at the door.

SFIMA Member Factoid: You can save at least $100 over the non-member rate when you attend 9 or more events. Click the MEMBERS link above to join SFIMA today!

You told us how much you value networking at SFIMA events, so we're bringing in an expert on making connections with staying power. What's more, January is a peak time for hiring, job-seeking and selecting vendors. Kick off the new year with this interactive, fun presentation, and take away valuable tips to increase your chances of success!

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Colin D’Arcy, President and Chief Old-Mold Breaker at Imagementor, Inc., is a successful entrepreneur and senior executive. His previous image and business etiquette clients include Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, Royal Caribbean, Ritz-Carlton hotels and others in hospitality, education, finance and government.He has lived in, worked in, and/or traveled to numerous countries and immersed himself in many cultures. His worldly perspective gives him the ability to effectively communicate the appropriate dress, behavior and demeanor to suit your organization. His association with several of the largest corporations and organizations in the world gives him a diverse understanding of what truly works in different circumstances and environments.

Colin's success is not only due to his business acumen, but also to the image he projects as a polished, socially-adept professional, who is always appropriately dressed, and who exhibits etiquette and manners that are suitably correct, regardless of the occasion.

DID YOU KNOW?

Surveys show that the first and lasting impression of a person is based 55% on appearance and body language, 38% on speaking style and only 7% on what one actually says.

At this event, you'll learn:

• How to conduct yourself skillfully, agreeably and memorably
• How not to be a ‘bone-crusher’ or a ‘dead fish’
• The significance of body language
• How to approach someone you want to meet

What Marketers Need to Know About SOPA

On this past Friday, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA Act) stalled in congress. This is actually a good thing for the internet, internet marketers, and online businesses. But, it is only a temporary delay in the proceedings regarding this bill. Here is a really good run down summary from SearchEngineLand:

"The delay is to allow more experts to weigh in with opinions and recommendations addressing technical, legal and first amendment issues.

SOPA proponents, including major content providers like the recording and motion picture industry, have argued that the new rules were necessary to combat “foreign” piracy and the sale of illicit goods like counterfeit pharmaceuticals.

SOPA opponents, including internet and tech giants and consumer and legal watchdog groups, say the proposed law is over-reaching, with the potential to “break” the internet and start a worldwide arms race of unprecedented censorship of the web.

If you’re involved with any type of online marketing, you should learn as much as you can about this proposed legislation, as the implications (mostly negative, unless you’re a large content provider or trademark holder) are huge.

Want to know more? Check out What All Marketers Need To Know About SOPA – The Stop Online Piracy Act over on [their] sister site, Marketing Land."

Also see a commentary piece from TheWashington Post, some of which is quoted here for more on why the Stop Online Piracy Act just will not work:

". . . SOPA is threatening to touch something far more precious than that — the glorious sprawl of the Internet.

SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act, is a bill that, in the name of preventing online piracy of copyrighted work, creates a horrifyingly large censorship authority for the Internet. Among other things, it requiresservice providers (which have come out opposing the bill) to block access to entire sites if a user on the site is accused of copyright infringement.

There are dozens of reasons this is wrong. The biggest and most pressing is that not only does the bill not do what it sets out to do, it also creates a horrifyingly blunt instrument to censor the Internet."

The SFIMA Board will be looking at this and other legislation closely in 2012 so that we can write to congress and let them know our position on bills that will directly affect our industry and we want to know what South Florida IMA members and local internet marketers and businesses in South Florida feel about these topics so that we can include the general opinion of our members and communities in our statement position. Please let us know what you think.