is this a reference that i don't get?

If you really want to know, your best bet would be to do a google search on the phrase and see if a result pops up telling you where it came from.

You better hurry though. You know, before SOPA passes.

here's how americans stop this from happening:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=JhwuXNv8fJM#t=1146s
http://www.reddit.com/r/SOPA/comments/ngbin/reddit_how_can_i_find_out_what_my_representatives/

Demand Progress is another pretty effective group attempting to shut this down. They primarily work on petitions, mass emails/calls to representatives. Joining up kind of takes the work out of contacting people who might be in a position to help stop the bill. You might consider that as well. Ron Wyden, the senator threatening to filibuster the senate version of SOPA, Protect IP, is a supporter of the group, as it is of him.

There is also a petition up on the White House site that has been gaining quite a few digital signatures, so if you have an account on the site, you should sign it.

SOPA is one of those things I don't even really care that much about. Yeah, it's horrible, but it's also a perfectly boring example of how corporations are more important than people. This stuff happens literally all the time. And I mean literally as in literally.

At this point, I feel like the only reason I push people to do something about SOPA is that I don't want to feel like I did nothing. I realize that ultimately my voice, and perhaps even the voice of all the people in these groups opposed to it, counts for little but I still want to try.

I have heard others express the opinion that even if it gets passed, the Internet will just adapt as it always has so these acts of Congress mean little in the long run. I'm not quite sure what to think.

This just in. I don't want to link you to external sites so I'll try my best to sum it up.

>Godaddy has expressed support for SOPA.

>people started emailing and making threads on reddit to boycott them.

>Godaddy responds that they're aware of the emails but didn't feel any effect on their business

>Internet people raged.

>Wikipedia moved 3000+ domains out of GD. Cheezeburger with 1000+. An anonymous CEO of something with thousands as well. Thousands of people moved their small number of domains effectively resulting to thousand of domainmoves as well.

>other domain hosts started making coupons like 'sopasucks', 'byebyegd', 'nodaddy'. etc..

>less than 24 hours after gd made their 'no noticeable effect' reply. They immediately 'retracted' support for SOPA. We all know it's bullshit and only a move because they realize they're losing money.

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I think it's the principle of the thing. The internet imo is worth fighting for. Honestly it won't affect my life that much but sopa brings a power that is so insultingly ridiculous and is oviously not in the spirit of the greatest innovation of all time, internet. Nobody should have that power, especially when they're doping this for personal gain and money. Censorship in any way sucks.
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@Dada: it's still the principle of the thing. while legally it's already happening out there,

btw, GD supports SOPA because it is stated in the legislation that they are exempted from it. Basically if the bill passes they have an edge over competitiors.

It's not about piracy, they're doing this for the power and noone should feel apathetic about it even if it won't affect them personally. That's what activism is all about.

Power to the people! i'm suprised hacker groups arn't getting involved in this, like threatening to hack goverment sites and stuff unless this is dropped, hacking sites that belong to companies that.. though i suposes it would lend suppourt to the acts or at least make congress thing that this is neccasary to combat hackers or somthing.... i don't know what i'm on about... i'm just gonah stop talking now...

~you don't need a reason to help people~

Power to the people! i'm suprised hacker groups arn't getting involved in this, like threatening to hack goverment sites and stuff unless this is dropped, hacking sites that belong to companies that.. though i suposes it would lend suppourt to the acts or at least make congress thing that this is neccasary to combat hackers or somthing.... i don't know what i'm on about... i'm just gonah stop talking now...

I saw Anonymous had a video about it, otherwise I dunno

yea they had but it's good they aren't attacking websites. the net should fight this the right way and make the law and the law people with their side. we don't want hackers or pirates actively and publicly showing support because it will make for a bad image and as we all know those politicians will use it to make a good image out of the legislation.

including, for example, Cheezburger CEO

Yo, wikipedia has semi-shut down the site for 24h to raise awareness of congress trying to pull out SOPA. other sites included Reddit, BoingBoing, Mozilla, WordPress, TwitPic, MoveOn.org and the ICanHasCheezBurger network. "Other sites -- like Google, Facebook and Twitter -- oppose the legislation in question but aren't participating in today's blackout."

idk how urgent it is (propably it is since they're doing it now for 24h, senate happens next week at 24th of Jan) but yeah are you ABSOLUTELY sure you don't want to contact your ares congressguy (the guidelines has been given in this topic and in the links, it's not hard) to make it clear that you don't want this??? what if it takes just 15 to 30 minutes of your time??? america it's up to u fools...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn_more

Isn't SOPA dead? Wasn't the bill shelved, and didn't the White House declare that it won't sign anything that resembles the current bill?
No, neither SOPA nor PIPA are dead. On January 17th, SOPA's sponsor said the bill will be discussed in early February. There are signs PIPA may be debated on the Senate floor next week. Moreover, SOPA and PIPA are just indicators of a much broader problem. We are already seeing big media calling us names. In many jurisdictions around the world, we're seeing the development of legislation that prioritizes overly-broad copyright enforcement laws, laws promoted by power players, over the preservation of individual civil liberties. We want the Internet to be free and open, everywhere, for everyone.

also "YouTube would just go dark immediately," Google public policy director Bob Boorstin said at a conference last month. "It couldn't function." groaannn noo ooooo...

lol. yea it's really big but the enemies are of course trying to keep it hush-hush thus major efforts of people on raising awareness.

anyway, google also made their move. check out their homepage.
also, reddit, theoatmeal, cyanide and happiness, and other websites are going to blackout some time today.

yes that's right but the problem is this

100% original content

how will you define that. of course someone has to give a definition and we're giving that power of definition to people who through their own admission doesn't know how the internet works. i think the 'freedom' that is the topic here is about noone having the control over the reins of the internet. no one. the internet has been the only place free from those kind of malicious inluences for better or for worse and i think the internet wants to stay tht way.

oh well, bring it on. fuck the entire internet as long as i've got amazon prime i'm ok

Fuck a wikipedia I can't use it because it wants me to tell my congressman some shit and I don't have a twitter so I can't do that the way it wants me to.

Florida is a horrid state for any kind of right to privacy or anything like that anyways, they're so awful. They're the first ones to pass that bill in florida requiring anyone on wellfare to pass a urinary analysis first. And its like I'm the only person I have ever talked to about it that can understand why that is unconstitutional. They actually brought it up in a drug counseling course I was court ordered to take and even all of the pill heads and alcoholic poor people in the classroom (the very people that bill was written to fuck over) were telling me "they don't want some crackhead ghetto mama spendin' her welfare checks on dope instead of raising her kids and this was the best way to do it". They don't care about freedom of speech unless it has something to do with protesting abortions in the middle of the street, threatening everyone with eternal damnation cus jesus is coming back, or fucking teaparty rallies. I'm not going to waste my time telling a bunch of conservative assholes they should vote against a bill a conservative asshole probably wrote anyways.

you can use wikipedia today by disabling javascript in your browser options, they say so on their information page about this 'black out'.