SOPA Blackout?

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jacmoe
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SOPA Blackout?

Post 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?
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Re: SOPA Blackout?

Post 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
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Re: SOPA Blackout?

Post by PhilipLB »

Go for it!
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Re: SOPA Blackout?

Post 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.
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Re: SOPA Blackout?

Post 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.
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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.
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Re: SOPA Blackout?

Post 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. :)
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Re: SOPA Blackout?

Post 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.
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Re: SOPA Blackout?

Post by Kojack »

Some sites are doing things like a 9 hour block starting at 9am instead of the full 24 hour.
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Re: SOPA Blackout?

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Re: SOPA Blackout?

Post by jacmoe »

Twatter and Failbook are not participating. :)
I sincerely hope that those bills do not pass.
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Re: SOPA Blackout?

Post 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/
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Re: SOPA Blackout?

Post 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. :)
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Re: SOPA Blackout?

Post 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.
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Re: SOPA Blackout?

Post by Zonder »

Somthing based on bitcoin to decentralise DNS

http://dot-bit.org/Main_Page
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Re: SOPA Blackout?

Post 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. :)
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Re: SOPA Blackout?

Post 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. :)
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Re: SOPA Blackout?

Post 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
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Re: SOPA Blackout?

Post 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.
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Re: SOPA Blackout?

Post 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.
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Re: SOPA Blackout?

Post 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 :)
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