Google Joins Tomorrow's SOPA Protest, Tells Admins How To Black Out The Right Way
Google Joins Tomorrow's SOPA Protest, Tells Admins How To Black Out The Right Way
Posted 01/17/2012 at 11:38am
| by Brad Chacos
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Even though SOPA’s odds of worming through into law are looking increasingly slim, it’s still a threat, as is PIPA, its sister bill in the Senate – and websites are lining up to combat it. After Reddit announced it would be blacking out on January 18 to protest the bill, a host of other organizations followed suit, culminating in Wikipedia’s announcement that it, too, would shut down tomorrow. Today, Google said it would lend its voice to the cause – but not with a full-fledged blackout. One of its employees also outlined how websites can blackout in a search-friendly way.
Tomorrow, some of the most valuable virtual real estate on the ‘Net – Google’s home page – will include a link to a page that outlines Google’s opposition to SOPA and PIPA. It’s not a blackout, but given Google’s giganticness – my grandmother actually calls Google the Internet, in a naïve rather than ironic way – it’s a strong move nonetheless.
"Like many businesses, entrepreneurs and web users, we oppose these bills because there are smart, targeted ways to shut down foreign rogue websites without asking American companies to censor the Internet," a Google spokeswoman told CNET. "So tomorrow we will be joining many other tech companies to highlight this issue on our US home page."
Meanwhile, Google Webmaster Trends Analyst Pierre Far explained how websites who want to temporarily shut down – “Perhaps for server maintenance or as political protest” – could do so without adversely affecting their search rankings. Basically, you’ll want to use a 503 HTTP status code, but if you want more details, be sure to check out Far’s post on Google+. (Note, also, that he posted the information on his personal account, so it isn’t officially sanctioned by the search giant.)
Twitter's CEO, on the other hand, says calls to shut down that service are "just silly." Check out the tweet below.
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win7fanboi
January 18, 2012 at 6:57am
Block SOPA/PIPA :
http://sopastrike.com/strike/
http://www.cdt.org/content/stop-pipa
https://action.eff.org/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8173MaxPC do your part and make the SOPA/PIPA posts sticky.
Brad Chacos
January 18, 2012 at 7:19am
Speaking as a freelance contributor and not a Future US employee (because, well, I'm not): the Maximum PC offices are on the West Coast of the U.S., so you won't be seeing any website changes (stickies, features, etc.) other than news posts for a few hours yet. I'd expect to see some SOPA-related stuff today, though.
win7fanboi
January 18, 2012 at 8:16am
Really appreciate you keeping us apprised of this important issue.
thetechchild
January 17, 2012 at 10:33pm
Dick Costolo is being ridiculously naive about this. He must realize that America makes up a HUGE part of Internet traffic, and is at the very least an influence in global and foreign politics. Just because it's another country, doesn't mean you can just ignore it... That's how genocide and dictatorship happens.
He must have an ulterior motive, or be absurdly ignorant, because it's entirely possible to block Twitter for just the U.S. (or just English-speakers), and even if it wasn't, the rest of the world needs to know too... You can't just ignore something like censorship occurring in a world power like America.
win7fanboi
January 18, 2012 at 6:59am
+ 1... Didn't even know who (the) Dick was till today. You'd think that he would know better before saying stuff like this. How these morons make CEO I will never understand.
qhoa1385
January 17, 2012 at 7:09pm
You know it's serious when Google joins the fight... SOPA is going to the trash can
win7fanboi
January 18, 2012 at 8:37am
Don't be so sure, it's supported by bipartisan congress(read both parties are getting pay-offs) and companies with deep pockets. Also, most of the senators don't know how internet works and why blacklisting hasn't worked for spam and won't work to stop piracy. If they did, they wouldn't have come up with such a bill to begin with.
livebriand
January 17, 2012 at 5:44pm
It would be nice if they did a complete blackout, like wikipedia, but at least this is better than nothing.
Bullwinkle J Moose
January 17, 2012 at 3:28pm
I have been protesting Illegal copyright claims and Illegal licencing agreements for years by using only UNLICENCED copies of Windows that Microsoft claims are "Illegal"
I have also been blocking "Licenced" copies of Windows from our public and private networks
I do NOT advocate piracy however since I only use copies of Windows that have Illegal licensing agreements and invalid copyright claims due to Microsofts repeated theft of intellectual property
Since you cannot legally enter into a licencing agreement with Microsoft that violates a third parties copyrights and patents, the licenses are null and void
You should all do the same
Still waiting for Microsux to sue me....
What are they scared of??
Is it the Gov't sponsored spyware that I cannot prove is in their products to morons in this forum but can easily prove to a court of LAW or the proof that their license is null and void?
BOTH!
Sue me tuff guys and I'll Bitch Slap you back to the stone age!
BOYCOTT MICROSUX!
MrHasselblad
January 18, 2012 at 5:54am
Please take this as an unofficial "insider" glance at exactly how Microsoft operates...
They almost always know exactly where people/businesses use either unlicensed or illegal copies of any of it's products. But also... Even though they know exactly where they are; that Microsoft typically ignores it. Because one should have a really fun time getting that software to properly update - therefore it's only a very short time before any user should run into a wall - and it will cost them more in both time and money by not having done it properly.
But I've also seen companies "such as" Microsoft spend many hundreds of thousands (if not much more) in prosecuting the most trivial of software violations.
Bullwinkle J Moose
January 17, 2012 at 3:39pm
F.Y.I.
I only use copies of Windows that have been found to have violated a third parties copyrights and patents in a Court of Law thereby rendering the Licensing Agreement NULL AND VOID!
thetechchild
January 17, 2012 at 10:29pm
You know just as well as I do that anybody who takes on Microsoft in a court of law in a country like America will lose, no matter how many lawyers or how much evidence they have.
You'd have to have an equally powerful multibillion dollar corporation backing you to win a case like that.
And copyrights and patents are stupid, as is the concept of Microsoft licensing. But Microsoft makes enough money to not give a shit about pirates (though they pretend to try fighting them), which is why few enough Windows pirates get sued (obviously, they could crush any individual they wanted, but how much $$ would that really get them?).
And if Windows really had spyware in all their products, they wouldn't even keep selling their products. They'd already rule the world by now. Plus, you're not the only one who knows how to monitor their computer and scrounge around in Windows internals.
The size of the secret is proportional to the difficulty of keeping it. There's no fucking way that everybody who's ever run an Ethernet tap and screwed around with the Windows libs, plus the thousands of devs who work at MS, could all be either tricked or silenced.
Good luck spouting your bullshit to people who don't give a damn... If you're so afraid, start using Linux.
compro01
January 17, 2012 at 2:32pm
Really ought to be on the 19th, then we could have Black Thursday 2.
Hey.That_Dude
January 17, 2012 at 2:31pm
Yay! Go Google. As for twitter: This is why you have a Country wide black out or the ability to stop people from certain countries from accessing twitter. Not having that ability is kind of stupid from an IT Point Of View.
kris79
January 17, 2012 at 1:44pm
Go Go Google! What will that leave politicians to do all day if they can't search for porn on the internet? May have to go home to their wives. Or mistresses.
Biceps
January 17, 2012 at 1:03pm
@dickc : since I don't use your service anymore because of your refusal to grow a pair regarding SOPA and PIPA, I will use this forum to ask you what I believe to be a fair question: how is it that you feel that you can tout (tweet) how Twitter has enabled democracy in the Middle East by giving people a channel where they can communicate without censorship - yet when you are asked by your users and the rest of the tech community to actually participate in the process in defense of your own rights and our rights, you call it 'silly'.
SOPA and PIPA will affect more than just the USA, and you know it, Dick; it would also affect your business model deeply. What's the real reason?
bloodgain
January 17, 2012 at 2:32pm
Exactly! Mr. Costolo's assertion that this is single-issue national politics is patently wrong. SOPA and PIPA grant powers with a long reach and little oversight that would affect most of the modern world.
Vordar
January 17, 2012 at 12:40pm
If any of these bills ever make it Twitter and Facebook wont think its "silly". Google you have my respect. Now if its "silly" to shut everything down in protest then how about Twitter and Facebook develop some courage and shut down for 24 hours the accounts of the supporting companies. Lets see what happens when people cant "Like" movies.
FrancesTheMute
January 17, 2012 at 12:33pm
I really think that Facebook and Twitter should get in on this. These are both sites being used by Politicians and therefore would get their attention a lot faster if they were to shut down for a day. I'd be willing to bet 90% of the members of Congress have never even heard of Reddit.
morefaster
January 17, 2012 at 12:25pm
I hope MPC joins the protest and shuts down for the day. It would seem kind of silly if they didn't.
devastator_2000
January 17, 2012 at 1:48pm
That is what I was thinking. Maximum PC should also black out on the 18th.
Biceps
January 17, 2012 at 4:45pm
+1. I have to say that MaximumPC has done more than their share of reporting on SOPA and PIPA, and it makes me proud to be a reader. Independent news is hard to find, and thoughtful independent news is harder. I would also support a blackout tomorrow.
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