CGA Forums blackout Jan. 18 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Central to protest SOPA?

Tek7

Tek7

CGA President, Tribe of Judah Founder & President
Staff member
Would anyone be opposed to a CGA Forums blackout on Jan. 18 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central (8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern) to protest against SOPA?

The blackout would correspond with Reddit's larger protest against SOPA. While I'm not a Reddit user, their protest is inspiring other sites to follow suit; Reddit won't be the only site taken down in protest of SOPA on Jan. 18.
 
im not sure our congress people will even realize what we've done but during the black out we should each individually send letters and make phone calls to our local representatives sharing out concerns.
 
Im all for it :) I wish other larger sites would follow suite as well. Like Facebook. Could you imagine the uproar if Facebook was even down for half a day? :p
 
Blackout eh? How many others besides Reddit will there be? Now if Google decided to join that would even get Congress attention. As long as an short explanatory note comes up instead it will be even better.
 
Wouldn't this be akin to churches closing down to protest a religious issue?
To me it kind of defeats the purpose. What a shame that no-one will be able to read the testimonies or commentaries or Bible studies on that day.

Posted from my Android phone.
 
ursen said:
Blackout eh? How many others besides Reddit will there be? Now if Google decided to join that would even get Congress attention. As long as an short explanatory note comes up instead it will be even better.
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Aye, that would be the plan. I wouldn't just shut down the site for a day; that would just be silly. I'd make sure we had a note up explaining WHY the forums were offline.

rev. Jim said:
Wouldn't this be akin to churches closing down to protest a religious issue?
To me it kind of defeats the purpose. What a shame that no-one will be able to read the testimonies or commentaries or Bible studies on that day.
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That's a valid point. I wouldn't go so far as to say a 12-hour blackout defeats the purpose, but we may find a better way to protest SOPA. I'm certainly open to suggestions.
 
I think the blackout makes perfect sense. You take down the main page, replace it with one that explains what SOPA is, how it potentially hurts us, and explain to the users how to take a stance against it.

I don't think it's quite like shutting down a church to protest. It's more akin to every other church in the nation teaching why protesting funerals is wrong, and encourage them to call/write their friends at Westboro and help correct their misguided actions.

If we, the voting community, do not contact our legislators and explain why we do not want to see SOPA enacted (at least, in it's current form), they are more likely to vote it down, send it back to committee, and fix it. If we do nothing, they pass it as currently written.

Reddit and many other organizations will have a blackout to encourage their users to actually get involved in shaping politics by showing what could happen if SOPA takes effect.
 
Not to be a killjoy or anything, but I sense it will have little effect unless the blackout goes nationwide. Those who care and are likely to get involved already know what is going on. Those that don't care will go elsewhere while possibly becoming angry at the people who closed the site temporarily rather than congress.







I'm not saying you shouldn't do it, I'm just saying that it may not have the outcome you desire.
 
Maybe a landing page with a brief note explaining what sopa is and why, as a community, we are against it. Maybe 2 buttons, one taking you on to the site and a second that would take you to a page that would have all the contact information for our current crop of Senators and Congrespeople.
 
Wolfeman said:
Maybe a landing page with a brief note explaining what sopa is and why, as a community, we are against it. Maybe 2 buttons, one taking you on to the site and a second that would take you to a page that would have all the contact information for our current crop of Senators and Congrespeople.
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This would be much a better idea than blacking out the site for a day. My main concern is reaching people for Jesus, and it would be a great shame if someone came here for help or encouragement, and OOPS the site is down in protest of some anti-piracy bill.

See my point?

I support Wolfeman's alternative.
 
Patriot said:
Not to be a killjoy or anything, but I sense it will have little effect unless the blackout goes nationwide. Those who care and are likely to get involved already know what is going on. Those that don't care will go elsewhere while possibly becoming angry at the people who closed the site temporarily rather than congress.
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Become updated!

I think asking if its okay to Blackout CGA is hilarious, but I see why you want to ask first. You don't ask permission to defend your rights or ask permission to protest... you just do it!

Wolfeman said:
Maybe a landing page with a brief note explaining what sopa is and why, as a community, we are against it. Maybe 2 buttons, one taking you on to the site and a second that would take you to a page that would have all the contact information for our current crop of Senators and Congrespeople.
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Lets do both. Blackout CGA with that landing page thing, then remove the blackout but keep the landing page.

I'm all for it. Let's do it!
 
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Wolfeman said:
Maybe a landing page with a brief note explaining what sopa is and why, as a community, we are against it. Maybe 2 buttons, one taking you on to the site and a second that would take you to a page that would have all the contact information for our current crop of Senators and Congrespeople.
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Not to poo-poo on your idea... but how many of us actually type in the address to come here? I have a quicklink to "New Posts" so that I don't have to type the address or click any buttons. Such a page would not make any difference to me, unless you forcibly direct users to that page on a new session.
 
What about a black vBulletin 3.8.x skin and a big announcement at the top of every forum page with a link to a SOPA protest information site?
 
Durruck said:
Not to poo-poo on your idea... but how many of us actually type in the address to come here? I have a quicklink to "New Posts" so that I don't have to type the address or click any buttons. Such a page would not make any difference to me, unless you forcibly direct users to that page on a new session.
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I actually go to the front page of the forums. Same idea but a touch removed. I still have to click the new post button.

Tek7 said:
What about a black vBulletin 3.8.x skin and a big announcement at the top of every forum page with a link to a SOPA protest information site?
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That would work the best I think. Educate instead of alienate.
 
I kinda like the idea of having a little stamp to stick on posts saying "If SOPA passes, this might not be here."
or
"If SOPA passes, you might not be able to see this site."
 
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