SOPA and PIPA Internet blackout aftermath, staggering numbers

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(CBS) - The Internet sent a loud message to Congress in a coordinated blackout of websites on Jan. 18. to protest the anti-piracy bills, Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA).

Full coverage of SOPA, PIPA at Tech Talk

Fight for the Future reports about 75,000 websites took part in the protest Wed. Wikipedia says 162 million people viewed the blackout landing page, 8 million U.S. visitors looked up Congressional representatives and 12,000 people posted comments on Wikimedia Foundation's blog post announcing the blackout.

The Los Angeles Times says Google confirmed that 4.5 million people signed the company's petition to protest SOPA and PIPA, while 350,000 emails were sent to representatives via SopaStrike.com and AmericanCensorship.org.

Twitter reported over 2.4 million SOPA-related tweets between 12 a.m. and 4 p.m. EST on Jan. 18, with the top five terms being SOPA, Stop SOPA, PIPA, Tell Congress and #factswithoutwikipedia.

According to the White House, a combined 103,785 signed a petition to kill the bill. About 24 U.S. Senators have now come out against the bills, including former co-sponsors Ben Cardin, Marco Rubio and Roy Blunt.

SOPA and PIPA have faced a rocky battle since inception, building up to the Internet blackout on Wed.

SOPA is the House version of the bill and caught the attention of tech companies since it was introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith in Oct. 2011. In Nov., Google, Facebook, eBay and other major tech players took out a full page add in the New York Times to state their opposition.

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In Dec., members of the link-sharing community Reddit organized a boycott against domain registrar GoDaddy after it was discovered that the company supported SOPA. It was later discovered that GoDaddy was also exempt from the bill.

Earlier this month, Reddit announced that it would black out the site to protest the bills. Although, Wikipedia's co-founder Jimmy Wales had pondered the idea earlier, the site sought a community consensus before deciding to join Reddit. Just days before the protest was to take place, Google announced that it would use its homepage to inform the public about SOPA and PIPA.

17 Photos

Websites go dark to protest SOPA

[rayward73446]

Since CBS is pro PIPA and SOPA it is not remarkable that this story is buried on the 21st page of headlines. This is an amazing responce against a bad law that Republicans have pushed to get passed. Yea, I know some democrats have sponsored the bill too.
There should be a way to protect copywritten media without targeting the Internet as a whole. Why don't the companies that have been infringed on just sue the web sites that are selling pirated movies, songs, and software. The offending web sites are in different countries so international law should be the vehicle for exacting punishment and restitution from those who have stolen from American companies. This problem has been going on for a long time, why should tax payers foot the bill for enforcement? I do not think that we should. laws that make the Internet a virtual garden ripe for lawsuits, and actions against third parties is completely uncalled for.
Kill PIPA and SOPA, both are terrible laws that should not be passed!

[mryoubrian]

We are once again moving to an era of consumer power in the USA and I am glad to see it.

Recent consumer wins-
1. Netflix raised rates, wanted to split company. Partially Stopped.
2. Bank of America wanted to raise fees $5.00. Stopped.
3. Verizon wanted to raise fees. Stopped.
4. GoDaddy supported SOPA. Stopped.
5. SOPA and PIPA legislation. Temporarily stopped.

Alot of the consumer activism was made possible by the internet bringing people together in a faster, much more efficient way than ever before. Petitions can be signed in seconds online.

I am still a little amazed at the success just in the last 6 months alone!

The consumer CAN change the way things are done and CAN make companies listen. The number of companies that have backpedaled is growing everyday as they are beginning to realize that the American consumer has a lot of clout to impact their bottom line.

Hopefully companies will also start to realize that customer service is more important than ever if they want to survive as a business. The companies who put the least amount of effort into customer service will see the reflection in their revenue streams and be forced to act.

And even MORE amazing is the fact that we organized so fast and completely, louder than ever that congressmen actually listened to the majority.
I like election years because nothing motivates a congressman more to listen to you and cooperate across the isle than being up for election.
P.S. Please make sure your next choice for congress signs a pledge for term limits or don't vote for that person.

[K. Daraa]

Obviously Universal didn't get the message. Like Helen Degenerate, they trod on the silent majority, totally self-absorbed in their own perceived importance. Universal, like the DoJ, Sony, and Edsel, are learning the hard way that ignoring the wants and wishes of your constituents is suicide.

[floradanes]

Siri is fighting against SOPA . Join the fight at - http://www.siricrazy.com/siri-funny/siri-throws-some-****-on-sopa-and-pipa

[stoppoliticalcalls]

WE are pleased to have unleashed over 19,000 citizen robocalls on Congress on SOPA.

http://reverserobo.posterous.com/sopa-almost-19000-citizen-robocalls-unleashed

Shaun Dakin
ReverseRobocall.com