SOPA/PIPA

netfor - January 17, 2012 - 3:03am

Will portableapps be joining wikipedia and reddit in a blackout to protest SOPA/PIPA?

( categories:

General Discussion

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Yes and No

John T. Haller

(Homepage) - January 17, 2012 - 10:15am

We will be blacking out our logo again, but we will not be taking the site down for the day. Unlike wikipedia and reddit, lots of folks need PortableApps.com to do their job and get security and functionality updates to their software. So blacking out would be irresponsible.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

My own reaction to the last logo blackout

solanus (Homepage) - January 17, 2012 - 10:27am

The last time you blacked out the logo, it was so understated that it was very unclear what the protest was about. At first I just thought the site had been hacked by some bored teenager.
I think it would be more effective if you put "CENSORED - SUPPORT INTERNET FREEDOM, PROTEST SOPA" or something like that and add a link to get more info.

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Official

John T. Haller

(Homepage) - January 17, 2012 - 10:32am

That CENSORED blackout bit was the official one used across all sites supporting it including reddit, the EFF and others.

Keep in mind that SOPA is already dead and PIPA is likely to be shortly.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

Well, the official one sucked.

solanus (Homepage) - January 17, 2012 - 6:52pm

The idea was great, but the design was lousy and confusing.
And as I looked through other sites that day, I saw variants that gave more info.

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SOPA is not dead. It has been

StyxPlays - January 18, 2012 - 6:53am

SOPA is not dead. It has been shelved so that it can discreetly be brought back in and passed when all this hype has died down.

That's the point,....Right?

GJansen - January 17, 2012 - 12:46pm

Isn't the whole point of blacking out to show people that a free internet is indispensable? So, the fact that people need PA is a good reason to actually black out and make them realize that. Anyone who really cares can get their apps the day before and security updates are usually not life (or privacy) threatening enough that they can't wait one day. Plus, PA users have the apps on portable drives, right?
I need Wikipedia on a daily basis, still they black out.

I think it would send a strong message.

Not Quite

John T. Haller

(Homepage) - January 17, 2012 - 1:08pm

Nobody NEEDS reddit or wikipedia in a given day. They're nice to have, but not strictly necessary. When a user comes online and needs a security update to their browser or IM client and we're not online to give it to them, that's just plain irresponsible.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

What about just blacking out

depp.jones - January 17, 2012 - 1:55pm

What about just blacking out the website and leave access to the updater open? That will limit the user's access to the information here but keeps the platform initiated updates and the app directory intact. Don't know the possibilities of drupal in such a case...

:)

Simeon

- January 17, 2012 - 4:11pm

Reading through this thread I had the same idea.
I also thought about a start page or landing page to better inform people. It could have a button to continue to the rest of the page and would only appear when I first hit portableapps.com.

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Good idea

Gord Caswell

- January 17, 2012 - 4:38pm

That's what I was thinking of as well.

[EDIT] What about this javascript app? https://www.cloudflare.com/apps/stop_censorship

The code for those not on CloudFlare is here: http://mikesofaer.github.com/stop_censorship/

That looks like it would work for us. Still allows the site to be live, but keeps with the spirit of the movement.

Lots of innovative protests today

solanus (Homepage) - January 18, 2012 - 8:38am

Wikipedia is blacked out, for sure, and so is FSF. Both have pages with lots of info - Wikipedia has a link to find your representative, and FSF.org has a list of other blacked out sites.
But others have added strong initial splash screens, that still allow you to proceed to the site - check out LibreOffice.org.

So... are we blacking out our logo or what?

I made this half-pony, half-monkey monster to please you.