Reddit is killing SOPA. The Hill: Members of Congress and their staff have grown used to scouring the Web, Twitter and Facebook to see where voters stand before finalizing their positions. But the heated debate over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has turned the social news website Reddit into an unlikely rallying point for opponents of the bill. “[SOPA] would kill Reddit,” Reddit general manager Erik Martin told The Hill. “We’re a platform so normally we would not take a stand on any political issue but this one would end our ability to run the site.” The website where users submit and vote for links has a proven track record launching online memes and viral videos, but the specter of SOPA has turned the community’s attention squarely toward Washington. The results have been eye-opening for Washington and Silicon Valley alike. SOPA would empower the government and copyright holders to obtain court orders forcing search engines, domain name registrars and other Web firms to sever ties with foreign websites deemed rogue. The bill has strong support from the content industries, which argue foreign piracy is sapping revenue and costing the nation jobs.   “This definitely the first time we’ve seen something like this, that’s been written about in the national headlines daily,” Martin said. “Reddit was much smaller [in 2008], a different animal.” (Image courtesy of Darel Parker)
Pop-upView Separately

Reddit is killing SOPA.

The Hill:

Members of Congress and their staff have grown used to scouring the Web, Twitter and Facebook to see where voters stand before finalizing their positions. But the heated debate over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has turned the social news website Reddit into an unlikely rallying point for opponents of the bill.

“[SOPA] would kill Reddit,” Reddit general manager Erik Martin told The Hill. “We’re a platform so normally we would not take a stand on any political issue but this one would end our ability to run the site.”

The website where users submit and vote for links has a proven track record launching online memes and viral videos, but the specter of SOPA has turned the community’s attention squarely toward Washington. The results have been eye-opening for Washington and Silicon Valley alike.

SOPA would empower the government and copyright holders to obtain court orders forcing search engines, domain name registrars and other Web firms to sever ties with foreign websites deemed rogue. The bill has strong support from the content industries, which argue foreign piracy is sapping revenue and costing the nation jobs.

 

“This definitely the first time we’ve seen something like this, that’s been written about in the national headlines daily,” Martin said. “Reddit was much smaller [in 2008], a different animal.”

(Image courtesy of Darel Parker)

Source: thehill.com

Print

35 Notes/ Hide

  1. spaceboots reblogged this from outsanity
  2. outsanity reblogged this from silas216
  3. silas216 reblogged this from quickhits
  4. luigimonstre reblogged this from quickhits
  5. mymarketingfile reblogged this from quickhits
  6. honeybadgerhufflepuff reblogged this from quickhits
  7. This was featured in #Politics
  8. unknown20troper reblogged this from quickhits
  9. quickhits posted this

Recent comments

Blog comments powered by Disqus