On: What the first web blackout looked like, 17 years ...

[fkn]

I was too young at the time to be aware of this blackout, but I am grateful to the ones that protested this bill. The internet would not have been the same if people are scared to express their ideas/opinions/arts.

I wonder about the world we would be in if the bill had passed as it was presented.

[gojomo → fkn]

It did pass and was signed into law.

Through a combination of people ignoring it, and the Supreme Court eventually knocking the worst part down, it wound up 'mostly harmless'.

Not every battle has to be won via a vote in the legislature.

[tristan_louis → gojomo]

Part of the reason it passed is that it was an amendment to the Telecommunications Reform Act, the biggest change in telecommunication regulation in the last 1/2 century so no matter what we did, it was bound to pass then.

Being involved in fighting it was a whole education in how Washington works and part of the reason I suspect we're going to have to continue fighting SOPA/PIPA for a long time to come, even if it's on the back burner right now.

[troll24601 → fkn]

The bill did pass. The ACLU and the Supreme Court got rid of it.