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SOPA Blackout?

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 9:14 pm
by jacmoe
Should Ogre3d.org participate in the SOPA / PIPA blackout?
Lots of other sites are participating: Reddit, Wikipedia, ..

I have a script which can black out the forum by issuing a 503 - like this: http://mikecantelon.com/?sopa_test=1

The same script can be used for the main site as well.
There is a Wordpress plugin, but we're running out of time.

IMO, it would be cool if OGRE blacked out too.

Since we issue a 503 it shouldn't affect SEO.

Do you care about this, Ogre people?

Re: SOPA Blackout?

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 10:01 pm
by Mind Calamity
I say yes, as I said in the thread about Runic each and every one of us is affected by this, and each and every site that's blacked-out is i hint to the geniuses who proposed SOPA in the first place.

The OGRE community is quite big, even though a lot of us are not from the USA I hope they understand that it affects the whole world, not just the USA.

So, go for it!

Wikipedia is doing the blackout in 9 hours. And that script looks really awesome! :D

Re: SOPA Blackout?

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 11:55 pm
by PhilipLB
Go for it!

Re: SOPA Blackout?

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 2:31 am
by Kojack
I say we start our own internet, with blackjack and hookers.

9 hours notice may not be enough considering world time zones.

I'm not opposed to the idea.

Of course what all these sites should be doing is a prolonged blackout (at least a week) for government ip ranges and the home accounts of all politicians, instead of blocking access to millions of people who have no influence over american politicians.

Re: SOPA Blackout?

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 4:46 am
by mkultra333
Probably don't have to audience to make a practical difference, but as a symbolic act I say do it. Speaking for myself, as a person who is producing copyright media for distribution on the internet, I'm totally against these U.S. measures to censor the internet. Copyright material is just the first step, they'll be censoring political and unpopular content in no time.

So do it!
I say we start our own internet, with blackjack and hookers.
Bender had the right idea. We've been lucky that the internet took the world governments by surprise, can you imagine what it'd have been like if they'd controlled it every step of the way? A totally neutered, censored corporate, church and government approved bland swamp. Amoral as the modern internet may be, it's also vibrant and alive with ideas. But the government everywhere are starting to move in, the U.S. with SOPA, Australia with an internet filter silently waiting in the wings, India trying to move to China-style censorship.

I think our best and brightest need to start working on a totally encrypted, stegenographic, anonymous internet that runs hidden on top of the current internet. Something a bit like Freenet, only hidden in plain sight.

Re: SOPA Blackout?

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 5:24 am
by Kojack
Something a bit like Freenet, only hidden in plain sight.
Something a bit like Freenet, but able to download a simple web page in less than a day. :)

Re: SOPA Blackout?

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 6:24 am
by jacmoe
As much as I like to, I can't really black out Ogre3d.org without any kind of green light.
I think I started lobbying a bit too late maybe?

I do have the scripts ready though and can do this as soon as someone official says 'go'.

Forum, wiki and main site.

Re: SOPA Blackout?

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 6:58 am
by Kojack
Some sites are doing things like a 9 hour block starting at 9am instead of the full 24 hour.

Re: SOPA Blackout?

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 9:07 am
by Kojack

Re: SOPA Blackout?

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 9:11 am
by jacmoe
Twatter and Failbook are not participating. :)
I sincerely hope that those bills do not pass.

Re: SOPA Blackout?

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 9:54 am
by jacmoe
I can't access WP.
And people will get pissed off if wiki and forum goes black without due notice.
So let's just think about this, and perhaps participate if there's another blackout in the future. :wink:

If any of you have WP and wants to join the blackout:
http://wpmu.org/7-wordpress-plugins-to-fight-sopa-pipa/

Re: SOPA Blackout?

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:13 am
by Kojack
You could change the forum default theme to white text on black. That would get notice without blocking anyone.

If twitter took part, we wouldn't be able to read all the tweets from panicking students trying to finish last minute assignments.
Facebook should do a permanent blackout. Not anything to do with sopa, I just want them to stop. :)

Re: SOPA Blackout?

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 11:31 am
by betajaen
Just turn off the forums, and change the CSS to black. That would cover most of the website. I'm sure there is an option for the Wiki for something similar.

Otherwise, if you had ftp access to the server, just do something to the .htaccess file, and/or rename the forum, wiki, directories.

Re: SOPA Blackout?

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 4:41 pm
by Zonder
Somthing based on bitcoin to decentralise DNS

http://dot-bit.org/Main_Page

Re: SOPA Blackout?

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 6:21 pm
by Mind Calamity
Decent notification, guys. Kudos for participating!

Hehe, well here's an interesting article: http://www.dailytech.com/Obama+Admin+De ... e23783.htm

So, the genius author of SOPA - Lamar Smith is a copyright violator himself, great job.

If the SOPA bill is to pass, he can get sued and his website can go down in a flash. :)

Re: SOPA Blackout?

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 11:46 pm
by jacmoe
Mind Calamity wrote:Decent notification, guys. Kudos for participating!
Figured that was the least disruptive way of protesting. :)

Unfortunately, I don't have access to WP so the main site stays unaffected.
Better than nothing. :)

Re: SOPA Blackout?

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:39 am
by Zonder
An interesting read on piracy

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2 ... ?full=true

I have watched programs I have downloaded because I have missed an episode or listed to music. But I toally agree with what they say I would never have paid for it as it's not that important to me i'd rather spend money on things I get alot of enjorment out of, which is books and games. With music if I really like the band I will go see them live if they are playing near. Movies I do go cinima maybe once a year because thats about as many films that are interesting coming out lol

Re: SOPA Blackout?

Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 5:52 pm
by JDX_John
I don't know if Ogre did black out but I would have voted NO. I use Ogre for my job and I'd rather that political activism doesn't screw up my work. I think taking down entertainment/social sites has far more superficial impact - which is all wikipedia were after with their pretend blackout - and doesn't cause more problems than SOPA itself would!

I'm sure this will be an unpopular opinion... it's nothing to do with supporting SOPA, simply that I don't my earnings affected :oops:

A protest which is very eye-catching but doesn't make the site inaccessible is far preferable in my eyes.

Re: SOPA Blackout?

Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 8:44 pm
by Kojack
I don't know if Ogre did black out but I would have voted NO.
Jacmoe did it in a pretty good way. It popped up a window with the sopa info when the forum was first visited during that time, but didn't stop forum access. So it gave a clear message but didn't interfere with anyone.

Re: SOPA Blackout?

Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 12:17 am
by JDX_John
Cool. A neat solution, so a bit like Wikipedia except Ogre didn't pretend they were blacking out to get a lot of media coverage :)