Black March protest v2 SOPA Boycott

[x5vale]

Originally posted by morgandawn at SOPA Boycott

For those of you wanting to participate in the upcoming Black March protest against Internet censoring legislation, but favor a more targeted approach: The SOPA Boycott:  Boycotting those companies that sponsored or supported SOPA and PIPA.  This allows participants to focus their efforts on larger companies and avoid harming indie artists and small businesses.

There are lists being pulled together to help focus the boycott efforts.  One is here. But near the top is a more compete list that also offers a  boilerplate script  you can use to contact the individual companies you will be boycotting, to let them know your opinion and that you will not support their company unless they rethink their position. And there even is an app to help you identify the companies and their products.

So whether you favor a total boycott or a targeted boycott, you can participate and you can tailor your level of participation.  We have the tools, the will and the strength to take a stand.

Note: the Business Software Alliance that represents a  large number of  software and hardware companies (Dell, Apple, Intuit, Adobe) withdrew its support in November, so keep in mind that the Google list is in process of being updated.



edited to add: name of the targeted campaign, along with a link to the Android app.

-My two cents on what happened with shutting down MU:
Some comms on my flist closed. They gave up the fight. I respect their decision, even if I don't agree with the motivations they gave.

People get scared, people are freaking out about being shut down and worse, persecuted or because the Black March idea is a threat to the little, indipendent artists and creators.

Feel free to disagree, but I think that for once we should, especially the ones who live in the US, have a strong reaction.

That being said, do you remember Napster? They thought the piracy would have been defeated and they were wrong...they are not going to win this war, but they can make everything harder and they will try.

It's up to us.

Comments

[rojaji.livejournal.com]

honestly, shooting down sopa wouldnt have gone over so well if we didnt have some big guns on our side. w/o google and wikipedia, we would have just gotten screwed over again. thats what napster didnt have back in the day, plus everything was still so new. so many artists now realize that they do much better working with the internet rather than against it - look at radiohead and trent reznor for example. the big studios think they can hold on to a creative work forever, but you know what? whether its a book or a movie or a song - its an idea, and once it gets out there, its like air. not only does it get read or watched or listened to, but it inspires, it helps create the next generation of work. if you didnt want your idea out there, why did you put it out in the first place? people are gonna pick it up, play with it, look at it from every direction, hell, more than likely someone is gonna find some way to turn it into porn (rule #34 lol).

but if you're an enterprising sort of artist, one who likes free advertising, you're gonna realize this just helps introduce you to more audiences who otherwise would have never know your name:
http://youtu.be/0Qkyt1wXNlI

as for megaupload. that sucks. some people had legitimate uses for that site, and i really feel bad for them - esp one commenter who was very upset because she used mu for storage - her family pics were on there and she was worried they were lost forever. many more used the site for sharing files - which yeah, its illegal, but why are they resorting to that? i betcha the bulk of file sharers are outside of the us. it takes months, even years for shows they like to get on tv in their local areas. the fact of the matter is, theres a huge demand there, one the old media companies could even tap for profit if only they'd get their heads out of their asses, and technology has found a way to meet that demand whether the old media companies like it or not.

anyway, i'll check out that sopa boycott list, thanks for sharing hon. hi and how are you btw? we're good - finally got the kids a dog for christmas, so yay, new family member! give gaia a hug from me! XD

[x5vale.livejournal.com]

I start from the last: how would they manage to have sommany people at the conventions outside the US if people could not watch the tv shows?

In Italy we do buy dvd from UK because here we are behind with the shows and it's a cash flow for the majors...so they gain from it..anyway piracy is illegal and I am not for it, people who create need to be payed but it's the whole concep of copyright that has to be ridiscussed.

Wow a DOG! Awesome :)

I hope to see you around more bb. We are ok btw :)

ok so i wrote you a book, sorry! ;p

[rojaji.livejournal.com]

i used to steal music way back when, way b4 itunes. way back in the old days i would tape songs off the radio and buy albums that i really liked. maybe i bought 5-6 cds a year. sometimes i got lucky and i loved the whole album. usually though i liked only 2 or 3 songs and hated the rest. it would take months for me to decide if i wanted to buy the album since i would wait until the 2nd or 3rd song was released to decide if the cd was worth buying.

so when people started sharing music online, and i could pick out just the songs i wanted, and i coulddecide if i liked them and wanted them the day the album came out? i hopped on that bandwagon - somewhat. for one thing, i felt a bit guilty about it, for another i picked up a virus every now and then when i dl'ed music for free. the music industry was putting all its efforts into prosecuting filesharers, instead of finding a way to use this new technology.

but then itunes came out. i finally had a way to dl music legally, safely, more conveniently. not only that, but i buy a hell of a lot more music now through itunes than i ever did in cds... in fact the music industry better be frigging ecstatic that the piraters dragged them kicking and screaming online because its now so much easier to buy music impulsively. i probably spend 3-4 times as much on music now every year, and i'm sure i'm not the only one who buys more music now than i ever did on cd.

Re: ok so i wrote you a book, sorry! ;p

[rojaji.livejournal.com]

now if only hollywood would figure out. they're starting to, with netflix. they're trying with hulu - but they still need to work on their tech or something because for me at least, they dont stream very well. i can watch netflix, comedy central and youtube just fine, so its not my computer, it must be hulu. i know many shows make the episodes available on their websites, but i find that those dont often stream very well either. i download if i miss an episode here and there (like the first couple of eps of bones when i realized it had started its latest season when i wasnt looking lol). for awhile when the picture tube on our old tv was dying, i would dl supernatural because its already such a dark tv show its hard enough to see on a good tv. so for about a year or two i was watching it online (i dont buy new stuff until the old stuff is totally dead lol) of course since i buy every season of spn, i didnt feel bad.

what they need to do is come up with a good site to stream tv shows on, make the tech good enough so that it actually streams well. then they need to rethink all their licensing bs (that keeps hulu just nbc shows, or that keeps people from overseas from keeping up with their favorite shows) one of the problems with netflix is that different media companies keep yanking their content because of some bs or other - well, you know what? people want to watch your content. most of those people want to do it legally - we'll sit through ads (as long as you dont overdo it or theyre not too obnoxious) or even pay a monthly fee (as long as you dont overcharge or keep changing your mind on the fee netflix), but you've got to put it out there. you've got to tap this market, or we're gonna keep tapping it for you until you get your head out of your ass (not you val, the media companies lol!) and great point about the conventions btw - idk why they dont change how thye get their content out to overseas fans - such a large untapped market - they're stuck in the stone age, i swear!

we want the creative stuff to keep coming, we want the ones who create it to get paid. but we also want to be able to get to this stuff easily and for a reasonable price. the music industry finally found the internet, now the tv/movie industry needs to find it too!

Re: ok so i wrote you a book, sorry! ;p

[x5vale.livejournal.com]

This is what they seem not to understand...piracy is not ok, but we have to sit down and discuss, not just shutting everything down...

[rojaji.livejournal.com]

and sorry i havent been around much hon, i tend to be on fb more than lj these days. haven't been as active in the spn fandom either - i'll check in for the big bangs or during the summer when i really miss my spn (thank god for fanfic!), but thats about it.

actually, the whole reason i found this post was because i heard mu had gotten shut down and i just knew lj was gonna be mad as hell about it lol!

anyway, the dog is a 4 yr old black lab mix named noah. he loves to play fetch with the kids and snuggle with me. the cats are very unhappy though and unfortunately our porch cat has found another home in protest. i'm hoping he forgives us eventually and comes back, esp since noah really isnt outside all that much, but idk. we'll see. at least our two indoor cats cant escape lol. i'm gonna start working with them and the dog this week while the kids are at school - see if i can get the cats to be a bit more tolerant of the dog. wish me luck bb, i'm gonna need it lol! glad you're all well hon, take care! :)

[x5vale.livejournal.com]

I have a fb account too. I keep in touch with some of my friends there. I am Valeria Scala there, if you want to friend me.

GOOD LUCK THEN!

[rojaji.livejournal.com]

ok, i liked someone i think was you. if you dont have a new friend request, look me up on fb. my name is sara conti, i live in jefferson, oregon. have a good day hon!

[x5vale.livejournal.com]

Friended :)

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Good thoughts, bb...

[x5vale.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[wistie.livejournal.com]

I agree with all of this! I am joining the boycott and have sent letters to everyone I can think of. Censorship is evil. Artists need to get paid for their work, but this is not the answer.

xoxo

Reiven

[x5vale.livejournal.com]

Exactly!