Tomorrow is the protest of Congress’ proposed SOPA and PIPA vote. This legislation brought forward by a special committee to enforce the policing of piracy, would also almost certainly infringe on our free speech. To show solidarity against this type of legislation websites such as BigShinyRobot! are blacking out for 12 hours. Although voting on SOPA and PIPA has been delayed it is still legislation that exists, and has a great possibility of being made law. This is an act of fear from our Congress, a knee jerk reaction to a product they simply do not understand. The people have a voice and allowing ideas like SOPA and PIPA to be entertained among our elected “leadership” is one step away from giving them full control of all media resources.
SOPA is a guise to gain control over one of the few truly free areas of expression we hold. SOPA is the perfect example of fixing an issue that is simply misunderstood. Piracy is not a legal problem, it is a customer service problem. Companies like Valve, Apple, Amazon, and many others have come to realize that digital distribution is more affordable, more convenient, and in higher demand than physical format. If more companies would have this realization and join the future of media delivery this discussion would not be entertained.
We here are BigShinyRobot.com have been given the opportunity to share what we love with the world freely. We spend our time discussing comics, movies, video games, and anything that we can tie to our nerdy lifestyles. SOPA stands to threaten what we have built into a livelihood and lifestyle. Tomorrow along with our blackout you will assuredly see Facebook updates and tweets sharing our beliefs. Many sites will be joining us in this blackout, and if you run or write for a site that is undecided please join the protest. We encourage you our readers to share your voice and utilize the hashtag #blackoutsopa to support this movement.
Please note we are not alone in our blackout.
Wikipedia, Reddit, and many others will be joining us.
Some things are worth fighting for, and this definitely is. See you on Thursday.
-The Staff of Big Shiny Robot