[Mageia-discuss] Anti SOPA online protest, tomorrow January 18

[Romain d'Alverny]

Hi everyone,

just a quick note to warn you that Mageia.Org will join anti-SOPA
online protest tomorrow Wednesday 18 January.

This will affect at least www.mageia.org, and maybe those other sites:
forums, blog, wiki - they will not be available, or only partly enough
to be noticed, on Wednesday 18 from early morning to midnight UTC.
Mailing-lists, build-system and other tools will not be affected.


# What is SOPA?

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act and
http://sopastrike.com/ (beware these may be just blacked out tomorrow
Wednesday as well). You may be instested about PIPA as well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PROTECT_IP_Act .

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111122/04254316872/definitive-post-why-sopa-protect-ip-are-bad-bad-ideas.shtml
is too a good read.


# Why do we join the online demonstration?

Although those are US bills, they would technically have a deep impact
on Internet-based practices and businesses all over the world -
notwithstanding that they may as well inspire other national bills
(some already did or tried, actually).

It's about outdated business models and practices that struggle to
survive (at all costs for others to pay), instead of embracing change
and struggling to reform. It's the reptilian brain against the
neocortex. It's the "back to the trees" mindset.

We could dissert about what this comes from, what is behind, etc. The
bottom line is that we oppose these changes, we oppose the mindsets
behind these changes, we oppose the vision of the Internet and of
society these changes want to lead to.

Joining the demonstration is a small, puny step. But it's ours.