Tomorrow, January 18, 2011, Wikipedia, Reddit, Destructoid, and thousands of other websites are voluntarily shutting down for 12-24 hours tomorrow in protest against SOPA and PIPA (formerly PROTECT-IP). Congress will be voting on the bill on January 24; this enormous protest is the last big strike we have against this bill. This is designed to raise awareness among even the most ignorant of Internet users, and will hopefully inform everyone of the dangers of this bill.

Twitter will not be down, so everyone will most likely be flocking there. There, you can tweet the tag #SOPASTRIKE in order to create even more awareness online! It's a big massive "Internet strike", one that will get not only national attention, but worldwide attention. You can find more info about it here: http://sopastrike.com/

Davideo7 : Vizzed doesn't necessarily have to take part in this protest, especially since it's such short notice, but maybe something on the front page of the RGR or the index page so people will know what SOPA is and why this day is so significant.

And if anyone out there has websites of their own, don't forget to spread the word! Even if you don't, there's always Facebook, Twitter, etc.

I've heard about this, and like nearly everyone hear in America, I am completely against SOPA. They're going to ruin teh internetz for us! D:

But seriously, I think whoever even proposed SOPA is a total *censor*. Seriously. Why?

I'm in full support, even though I don't have a website to shut down.

The Indie Stone (the company responsible for the game Project Zomboid that, as you can probably tell, I'm obsessed with) are doing the same thing. I honestly don't think that it has a chance to pass at this point, but the simple fact that it got as far as it did is an utter slap in the face of every American citizen as well as those in other countries who enjoy using the internet.

The fact that corporations can influence our government so easily with money is a joke and it's something that needs to be stopped.

It's tempting to participate in this but a day without ad revenue hurts because the site servers are really expensive. I will place a link of some sort though.

I love sopa and by that I mean soup in Spanish. However, SOPA has got to go. I'll definitely make a tweet or few with that tag. Power in numbers! Long live the internet as we know it!

It's sad that these people who are "protesting" are doing the work before the bill passes. Yeah shut down your site in protest... great idea. If anything these people should keep there sites UP not take then DOWN. Most people protesting SOPA are running in circles and accomplishing nothing. Move your domain day is an example of the stupidity going around when any web host can do what sopa does. And now this blackout protest where you are practically sucking up to sopa?

You want to protest SOPA? Grow some balls and keep your site up and tell them to go to hell That is how you protest. Shut down your site you are a sell out and all you do is put a big smile on those corporate suitmen faces

I doubt a blackout will change the minds of 30 people whose jobs are to take away freedom and money from the bottom feeders of society. They have been screwing us for decades and people are now just realizing it? Go protest at the source not on your own site... major facepalm. Show up with pitchforks and torches where the voting is taking place cause shutting down your site accomplishes nothing. I'm not even sure these people voting even use the internet they just got paid off by corporations to create and pass the bill.

Davideo7 :

You could replace the banner at the top for a day

Instead of the Vizzed Board Logo, you could make it into something like...

"Say no to SOPA" or "Stop SOPA"

It wouldn't hurt ad revenue, and would be a nice touch at least

legacyme3 : NO, his banner should read "Don't drop the SOPA"

The reason why vizzed shouldn't take part in this... is because so many people would have nothing to do. Also, I for one am all for stopping online piracy, just as long as it doesn't interfere with sites like... ANYTHING I USE.

shredknives :

The thing is, not many people are aware of SOPA. People are blacking out to raise awareness of it.

If SOPA passes, it would change Vizzed.

Hence why I think we should take part, because it affects us.

(unless they changed the wording perhaps)

Raising awareness to internet users won't change the vote or minds of those in congress. It will however give congress an idea of how successful this bill could be if it passes.

If it passes I'm sure the first sites they would shut down are those who protested it and surrendered before the bill even passed. Or maybe they got paid off to shut down their sites to look like the good guys. Either way, its not a good idea to follow the herd that easily

I'm glad I don't actually use the retro gamers room, otherwise this might actually affect me...

Also, I'm all for making the protest slogan be "Don't drop the SOPA"

legacyme3 : Fantastic idea, I think I'll do that. Also I'll make an announcement.

Huh. Thanks for telling me. I didn't even know about this. I'll make sure to spread the word on facebook because im pretty sure most dont know about it either 

JigSaw : First of all, shutting down sites is not what SOPA is going for. They don't want the entire Internet to dissolve into dust; they just want to regulate it much more strictly.

That said, shutting down your own site is an act of rebellion against the government, though indirectly. People that have not yet heard of SOPA probably will through this protest, and chain after chain will eventually reach Congress. Besides, I don't think it's possible to say that Congressmen never use the Internet; that's just not possible in this day and age. Google is among one of the sites participating (though they won't shut down completely; probably change their logo or something) and since nearly everyone goes there, I'm sure word will get out fast.

The sites have been kept up, people have been tweeting and posting like mad, and SOPA and PIPA are still getting significant support. So that's why this whole protest is being put into action.

Protest at the site? News flash, not everyone can afford the hundreds of dollars it takes to fly to Washington on the day of the vote and stand in front of Congress with megaphones and posters. Petition? Who reads those? They're made nearly every day. Voluntary Internet shutdown? No one's heard of that before, and the media will pick up on it before you know it.

I don't see how you could be so against this protest when it's been shown that change happens like this, short of violence...

http://thenextweb.com/lifehacks/2011/12/21/confused-by-the-stop-online-piracy-act-heres-sopa-for-dummies/

For those unaware....

Here's some dumbed down text about SOPA.

Davideo7 : About your announcement...

Wikipedia is going to be down tomorrow, in part of the protest. And you should add something about spreading the word through Twitter (#SOPASTRIKE) and Facebook, too. =3

Someone70 :

Yeah it is, but I asked David to include that, since it's easy to give links to peoples congressmen.

I already did lol

Someone70 : Ok fixed.

I noticed on Google, they have a big black box covering their Google title. However, I don't see anything on Wikipedia or Facebook like there is supposed to be. Maybe it's because they are on a different server time, and that will start later. When they say blackout, do they mean they will be shut down for the whole day? My fiancee is going to be so upset. She can't go a few minutes without checking Facebook. She probably doesn't know about SOPA though.