The protests against Stop Online Piracy Act have moved from Internet to the streets across the US. A few days ago, many sites joined the “Internet blackout” movement and went dark, including trend setters like Wikipedia, Google, and Craigslist. The experiment in political activism proved its force as the message was spread with faster speed.
Wikipedia for instance turned off the English version of the website and on a dark background was displayed only the text “the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet.” Craigslist and Google published on the homepage messages suggesting people to contact members of Congress and to urge them to vote against the Stop Online Piracy Act and against Protect IP Act. Craigslist’s exhortation left no room for interpretation “Corporate paymasters, KEEP THOSE CLAMMY HANDS OFF THE INTERNET!”
However, the dissatisfaction with SOPA is growing fast and protesters now took their discontent in the streets. The controversial legislation made hundreds of people to participate at a calm demonstration in Upper East Side from New York. “The Stop Online Piracy Act will not actually do much to stop online piracy!” as many of the participants to the rally pointed out. A similar protest organized by Electronic Frontier Foundation took place in San Francisco, and other event against SOPA/PIPA legislation took place in Seattle.
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