[Jason]

What has happened to the AN forums?
I now get a huge banner floating over the top of the forums and all images are broken.
There is also no pull-down menu for the mobile edition.

Regards

[709]

I knew about the bill, but the links present in the "offending" image gave me more good morning-coffee reading than I've had in a long time.

It's only one day, ffs, but if this bill becomes law the internet as we know it will be fucked. I'm perfectly fine with the warning on every page. You think that's annoying? Wait until this bill passes.

[Jason]

Well it might be ffs for you but I didn't know anything about this and I haven't followed the news about it.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by Jason Well it might be ffs for you but I didn't know anything about this and I haven't followed the news about it.

Did you read any of the links?

Here's a repost now that I've taken off the floating box:

• Reddit: American Censorship Day - Stand up for ████ ███████
• Public Knowledge: This Bill Seriously Screws with the Internet
• ArsTechnica: Republicans, Democrats, Google, and Church of Sweden unite to halt Hollywood
• EFF: An Explosion of Opposition to the Internet Blacklist Bill
• Boing Boing: STOP SOPA, SAVE THE INTERNET
• CNET: Google, Facebook, Zynga oppose new SOPA copyright bill
• Techdirt: Over 100 Lawyers, Law Professors & Practitioners Come Out Against SOPA
• TechCrunch: Speak Out Against SOPA: Send Congress A Physical Letter In Just A Few Clicks

[709]

Well then I guess you won't be bothered when you can't access the sites that you like and visit regularly. Because crying "I didn't know anything about this!" will totally be effective after the fact.

[709]

Aaaand. Now it's gone. Maybe crying is effective!!!

[kscherer]

Oh, good. We're done screwing around. Whew.

*wipes brow*

Brad, you sure know how to screw up a guy's day! First visit this morning I thought one of you admin types had gone and flubbed something up royally! Had to read very, very carefully to realize you was all just up and messin' with us!

Meany!

But, the point has been made. I can hardly wait for this one to pass!

P.S. Quite a bit of fun trying to figure out which smilie is which.

[709]

[Brad]

Originally Posted by 709 Well then I guess you won't be bothered when you can't access the sites that you like and visit regularly. Because crying "I didn't know anything about this!" will totally be effective after the fact.

This!

Originally Posted by kscherer Brad, you sure know how to screw up a guy's day! First visit this morning I thought one of you admin types had gone and flubbed something up royally! Had to read very, very carefully to realize you was all just up and messin' with us!

Don't blame me. Blame US congress for proposing such fucked-up legislation. One day of fake banners is nothing compared to the headaches websites will get if PROTECT-IP/SOPA become law.

[Brad]

And I've fixed the "broken" images now.

For those of you who missed out, here's what AN looked like from about 1 AM EST until 7 PM EST today:

[kscherer]

Originally Posted by Brad Don't blame me. Blame US congress for proposing such fucked-up legislation. One day of fake banners is nothing compared to the headaches websites will get if PROTECT-IP/SOPA become law.

Not blaming you at all. Just joking with you.

And I totally get where you were going. One thing you missed, though, is that the banner would not be superimposed over the site. You would just get the banner—and nothing else!

This kind of legislation is so bad, it hurts. I would have to say that, if this thing passes (which it won't in its current form) the interwebs as we 'Muricans know it would be all kinds of shafted.

edit: By the way, aren't those two US Seals trademarked and copyrighted? You trying to get us blocked, dude?

[Brad]

Originally Posted by kscherer One thing you missed, though, is that the banner would not be superimposed over the site. You would just get the banner—and nothing else!

What browser are you using? The site displayed fine behind the banner in Chrome, Firefox, Safari 5.1, and IE8 (I think it was IE8, at least — I just fired up my dusty old Windows VM to give it a quick pass).

Oh, duh. I get it now.

Originally Posted by kscherer edit: By the way, aren't those two US Seals trademarked and copyrighted? You trying to get us blocked, dude?

I actually thought about this. They may be copyright http://americancensorship.org/ but since the site is run by FightForTheFuture (sponsored by and "friends with" Creative Commons) I figured they'd be cool with it.

[709]

Originally Posted by kscherer edit: By the way, aren't those two US Seals trademarked and copyrighted? You trying to get us blocked, dude?

They were changed enough to fall under "satire" - which is thankfully protected under the 1st amendment.

That said, we may as well throw the 1st in the trash if this bill is passed.

Which is ironic, because if you've watched any of the (R) debates you'd realize that satire is alive and well. If any of those people aren't vying for a psychotic cartoon franchise based on themselves ala South Park I don't know what they're fucking on about.

[Wrao]

I'm not really looking to get 'into it' about the ideals of freedom on the internet and the problems with censorship and limiting what people can do and all of that, but it does seem to me that people are, on a whole, far more willing to freely give up their freedom in exchange for simple comforts or conveniences. Also, that this isn't inherently a bad thing either.

It's a weird topic. I think you can liken the internet in some ways to America at the turn of the century, when the populace made a major push towards living in cities and sacrificing some aspects of freedom they might have had in more rural environments. Not a perfect analogy, notably because the internet is global and borderless(for the most part) but I think the fundamental notion that people are perfectly content with fudging some freedoms for the sake of some luxuries isn't untrue either.

Cool theme though, I saw it pretty late at night yesterday and it took me a second or two longer than I'd like to admit before I 'got it'.

[billybobsky]

Originally Posted by 709 They were changed enough to fall under "satire" - which is thankfully protected under the 1st amendment. That said, we may as well throw the 1st in the trash if this bill is passed. Which is ironic, because if you've watched any of the (R) debates you'd realize that satire is alive and well. If any of those people aren't vying for a psychotic cartoon franchise based on themselves ala South Park I don't know what they're fucking on about.

I think a certain group of conservatives (not all, mind you) has decided that there are no real villains except liberals, and the stereotypical villainy in cartoons is a desirable trait since they tend to do not terribly liberal things...

[709]

Originally Posted by Wrao ... notably because the internet is global and borderless(for the most part) ...

I think herein lies the rub. The internet is awesome because I can talk to you, Brad, chucker, murbot, etc. etc. etc. and you are all over the fucking world. And I can talk to you instantly, or at least as much as a this website allows.

Now, fast forward 12 months. Content providers control everything. pscates' awesome and honest movie reviews? He posted a wildly available promo pic with his review but gave the flick 2 stars. Urm, that site posted our property. Shut the URL down. Guilty until proven innocent is the new way.

Fuck and fucking fuck that. These are the book burners and the anti-intellect. They are everything America as a country is not.

Revolution? Censor the internet like China and you will visit the wrath of your stupid God that you revere so much on your fucking heads.

[709]

Originally Posted by billybobsky I think a certain group of conservatives (not all, mind you) has decided that there are no real villains except liberals, and the stereotypical villainy in cartoons is a desirable trait since they tend to do not terribly liberal things...

How awesome would it be though if there was a cartoon based on the (R) candidates? "Robot Laser Eyes" Bachmann, "The Lip Licker" Cain, "2 Out of 3 Ain't Bad" Perry, ZOMG. I would totally watch that shit.

They could fight Health Reform Monster! Occupyopus! I'm booking a flight to LA right his second to pitch this.


They'd be like The Justice League, but with no regard for justice! So. Fucking. Awesome.

[709]

Is it bad that every time I hear Herman Cain speak I secretly pray that he'll say "Bring me Solo and the Wookie" ?

[Maciej]

In other news, has this been a slow posting day? Or am I imagining things?

[billybobsky]

It was really shit to try to post with the pop-up. That and until about noon, you couldn't actually get around it.

[drewprops]

Shutup!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edit: oh, the pop-up is gone. Sorry.


...

[Maciej]

I didn't realize that the bill had such strong bipartisan support. Looks like the internet is fucked, between this and all those limp net neutrality rules the future sounds bleak.

[drewprops]

The future is infinitely malleable.

Elect new leaders.




...

[chucker]

Originally Posted by billybobsky It was really shit to try to post with the pop-up. That and until about noon, you couldn't actually get around it.

I manually edited the markup each time by hitting backspace twice in the Web Inspector.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by drewprops Elect new leaders.

It's rare that I find a candidate whom I think to actually be worthy of a vote, and when I do vote, it's often just voting against the other guy that's even worse oh god no please I don't want HIM/HER in office. It's the classic symptom of a two-party, first-past-the-post voting system, and there's zero motivation within the leading parties to change that because, well, the system works to their benefit.

The few intelligent, charismatic, and visionary people for whom I do have great respect and think would be good leaders generally have no interest in politics. Rightfully so. It would probably ruin them.

*shrug*

[billybobsky]

Ooh. I have never turned on my develop menu item...

[Mugge]

Hmmm. Turns out our own beloved Apple also supports SOPA indirectly: http://www.osnews.com/story/25345/EU...ine_Piracy_Act



Wondering what's the best means of contact for complaining to them. Anyone here know Tim Cook's work email? He might not be as responsive as Steve, but as far as I see it, it's his goddamn duty to read our written swill now...

[Brad]

Originally Posted by Mugge Hmmm. Turns out our own beloved Apple also supports SOPA indirectly: http://www.osnews.com/story/25345/EU...ine_Piracy_Act

Makes perfect sense to me. Apple isn't in the business of hosting and distributing user-generated content.

Companies like Google and Twitter and Flickr and Tumblr etc. are all built entirely around user-generated content, and SOPA threatens the Safe Harbor protection they currently enjoy. So, it makes sense that these companies would speak out against SOPA.

[chucker]

Still, it's quite a stretch to say that Apple is "supports it indirectly" just because they are a BSA member. They're unlikely to completely agree with every single one of BSA's policy decisions of the past >20 years.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by chucker Still, it's quite a stretch to say that Apple is "supports it indirectly" just because they are a BSA member. They're unlikely to completely agree with every single one of BSA's policy decisions of the past >20 years.

But… but… Apple didn't put a banner on the site this week proclaiming opposition to SOPA!

Absence of evidence is evidence of absence!