Google To Use Home Page To Protest PIPA Tomorrow

from the join-the-crowd dept

Tue, Jan 17th 2012 10:32am — Mike Masnick

Following the news that Reddit, Wikipedia, and a bunch of other sites will be going dark to protest PIPA (and, to a lesser extent, SOPA) tomorrow, Google has now announced that it will use its home page to express its dislike of the bill. Google has not made clear exactly how it will protest. It won't "go dark" like those other sites, but it appears that it will post some sort of link, and will highlight ways for people to contact their elected officials in protest over the bill. With both Google and Wikipedia pushing people to call Congress... you might want to assume that Congress is going to get a few phone calls tomorrow.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: pipa, protect ip, protest, sopa
Companies: google, reddit, wikipedia

53 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

bob, 17 Jan 2012 @ 10:35am

Go Big Search!
This is your moment. But whatever you do, don't go dark because then people will start using alternatives and they'll know you're not that different:

http://lifehacker.com/5876794
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Jake, 17 Jan 2012 @ 10:45am

I envy you and your fellow countrymen even the illusion that the decision isn't already irrevocable.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hilly Billy, 17 Jan 2012 @ 10:45am

Craiglist Sopa
Seen on craigslist now:

STOP SOPA & PIPA HR3261 & S968 are threatening CL and the rest of your Internet. Most of the web sites you use strongly oppose these bills. Find out why, and how you can help put a stop to this madness before it's too late!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 10:46am

Wicked, unbelievably wicked! I hope they make it super obvious so people click the link and learn.

Maybe others can join? Yahoo? Bing (well... maybe until Micro$oft realizes what happened as I don't trust them with SOPA/PIPA stance, or at all for that matter)?

Let's hope Congress gets a good ear-full.

But why stop at Congress? Go after the source of the problem, Hollywood themselves. Give the studios and record companies and media "outlets" an ear-full. Give them all lots of dissenting, disappointed, "I won't support you EVER" phone calls and emails.

Especially call the RIAA and MPAA. May they receive thousands of calls from really pissed off people.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Ninja (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 10:47am

...you might want to assume that Congress is going to get a few phone calls tomorrow.

I foresee a telephony congestion and mailboxes over user quota. Communications nightmare I tell you!

I'm hoping that Google directs ppl at both Senate and Congress (for calls and e-mails). I'd love to be there and listen to Lamar saying with a straight face that it's a minority...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 10:48am

Re: Go Big Search!
"The Best Gmail Alternative: Hotmail"

And they lost it. That didn't take long. Last I checked (and I admit I didn't check recently), I can't use Thunderbird + IMAP with Hotmail.

But even if they do, you'd just be swapping Google for Microsoft. Which one is worse?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 10:50am

They should also mention something about copy protection lengths, continuous copy protection extensions, and they should encourage people to call congress about retroactively shortening copy protection lengths as well.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Kenneth Michaels, 17 Jan 2012 @ 10:50am

In a way, I wish Google would stay out of the mix for Blackout Wednesday. Because Google will be protesting, the PIPA/SOPA supporters will cast the telephone calls to legislators as Google-driven, rather than grass-roots or community driven. We know how much the MAFIAA hate Google and think that only Google is behind the protests. For those not connected to the internet (most legislators) that is what they will hear and believe.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Kevin H (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 10:51am

Re: Re: Go Big Search!
Microsoft
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Gwiz (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 10:52am

Re: Go Big Search!
...then people will start using alternatives and they'll know you're not that different:

Pretty much any intelligent person knows there isn't much difference.

As for me, I'll keep on using Google because I like all the good things they have done like supporting open source and the Summer of Code projects. I trust them about 7,000 times more then the owners of Bing.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 10:57am

But Google is probably the easiest way to get the story to reach the non-tech world. I kind of wish Google would actually join full force and actually go black. If they did, the mainstream news organizations COULDN'T keep it off the primetime news anymore. They would HAVE to give it coverage there.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Cowardly Anon, 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:02am

Re:
I think that is part of the reason they are not doing the blackout. Highlighting awareness is the best Google can hope for without derailing the effort.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:07am

Re: Re: Go Big Search!
Just to make it clear, I am not saying that there aren't alternatives to Google. I have already replaced Google search with DuckDuckGo.

But, seriously, Hotmail, Bing maps, Office Web Apps? Swap Google for Micro$oft? Sorry, that's not the way to go.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:09am

Vote The Bums Out
Nonsense like SOPA/PIPA is not going to stop until all the backers of those bills are gone from Congress. Do your duty, US voters.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:11am

Oh cool, an anti SOPA/PIPA Google Doodle.

Tomorrow is going to be entertaining, especially since I work in tech support. I can hear it now; "There's something wrong with the Internet." "No, Google's just protesting SOPA."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
:Lobo Santo (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:12am

Re: Vote The Bums Out
Sadly, we cannot vote the lobbyists out of Washington DC.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:16am

I'll be eager to see the third world country joke of a media we've got here where I live trying to explain what's happening...

God, I wish I had popcorn for these occasions!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:17am

If the "media industry" had any balls at all, and if they really believed that piracy was as damaging as they say that it is, they could stage their own blackout: no concerts, no TV series, no movies, no streaming, no nothing.

That would be a powerful message. But they completely lack the guts to pull that off.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:17am

Re:
You hit the nail on the head, Google is just giving the mpaa and riaa more ammo.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hephaestus (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:23am

Re:
That and the remaining 60% of people, that do not infringe, will begin to.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
PRMan, 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:26am

Google should...
Google should be sure to not allow cache hits for its' partner sites tomorrow such as Wikipedia and Reddit.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:30am

It takes a monster
Finally!

Google is big enough and generates enough money to attract attention.

Still, opposition to SOPA and PIPA is up against a leviathon sized opponent. I get the feeling that Google is only half-way playing ball for a reason. "Don't burn bridges and try to always come out with as much profit for yourself as possible".

If Google gets a chance to sell out, I think they could possibly take it. I'm just looking at it the way Washington does. Where is the money? If they can get Google to support it with a few revisions, it will be a huge set back. Of course the revisions will more and likely serve Google's best interst.. Unfortunately, thats how the game is played.

If congress and lobbyists can get Google to come out in support of it, this will tip things in an awful direction. Google can be a huge ally or one king sized opponent. The scale can tip easily either way. Perhaps Google is seizing the political stage at the moment solely for their own self interest? Perhaps I'm mistaken.. Maybe I'm just a glass is half-empty kind of individual.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Berenerd (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:40am

My 2.5 cents..
I will bet that when you click search it will filter out all the sites that could be blocked by the law and then a link to goto your real search page. just a theory.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
artp (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:42am

Re: Media Industry blackout
That already do that. Not in total, but most of the media that has been recorded over the years is locked up and unavailable to the Average Bear [ (C) Yogi Bear ].

So a media blackout would just be more of the same. I wouldn't even notice. I gave up television over 15 years ago. What have I missed? I am finally catching up on my movies. Gandhi was great. I finally saw what happened to Spock after he died. I can hardly wait to see the rest of Deep Space Nine.

Yeah, a media blackout would be a non-event for me.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Chosen Reject (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:42am

Re:
If the media industry had balls, they wouldn't be cowering behind congress with stricter IP laws. Instead, they'd actually try new business models and be succeeding.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:45am

Re:
Sysadmin here. Calling in sick tomorrow. Making a big show of eating dodgy sushi for lunch today.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Rich Kulawiec, 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:47am

Re: Re: Go Big Search!
We digress, but Hotmail gets an F for email services only because there is no lower grade available. It is the poster child for incompetence, negligence, and stupidity. Sadly, it has earnest competition from Yahoo's email operation, which seems determined to match every idiocy of Hotmail's with one of its own. Not that I'm enamored of Gmail -- I give it a gentleman's C, primarily for its very poor anti-spam architecture -- but at least it appears to be run by humans instead of by crack monkeys.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:55am

Re:
Google and others who profit in some way from piracy, *ARE* behind the protests.

duh.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Robert Doyle (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:01pm

Re: Re: Vote The Bums Out
Still looking for that 'sad but true' button.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
gorehound (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:10pm

Re:
Also make sure to Boycott Big Content and use your money to purchase legally Non-Hollywood/MPAA/RIAA music and films.
Hit these studios with your wallets.Dollar signs is what they truly believe in and dollar signs is what they need to be starved of.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Violated (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:17pm

Blackout
This is good news with Google joining this protest.

It is a shame that Twitter is clueless. They won't disrupt their service for just one of many bills they say. A large change from when they played a large part in this Arab Spring and got censored themselves.

I have also heard smaller sites saying well not many people come there so they won't make much difference. They are wrong on that one when I for one noticed their choice even if I was not a member.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:21pm

and have a look here:

h**p://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/01/reeling-mpaa-declares-dns-filtering-off-the -table.ars

proof or not of who is writing the laws, just as suspected?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:27pm

They should also provide a link that will let you use your google voice account to your congressman.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
ComputerAddict (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:32pm

Re: Go Big Search!
The Best Alternative, host your content on completely different sites stopping any possibility of collaboration between sites, seemless interfaces between products (like Gmail attachments to Docs..) and make sure you keep 10 sites up to date with your strongest passwords instead of 1...

I'm sorry, I love integration, and your not going to get search, email, docs, calendar, and a myriad of other services all tied and linked together from a small company. I'm not saying that it has to be Google, or Microsoft, but its not going to be some small startup.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
ComputerAddict (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:40pm

Re:
Btw, you're allowed to link to sites:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/01/reeling-mpaa-declares-dns-filtering-off-th e-table.ars

And Even HTML Anchor links too:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/01/reeling-mpaa-declares-dns-filtering-off-the-ta ble.ars
[ link to this | view in thread ]
ComputerAddict (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:41pm

Re: Re:
Missed that he added a space in "the" at the end of this link, this one should work:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/01/reeling-mpaa-declares-dns-filtering-off-the -table.ars

And Even HTML Anchor links too:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/01/reeling-mpaa-declares-dns-filtering-off-the- table.ars
[ link to this | view in thread ]
btrussell (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:42pm

There are still sopa supporters
Everyone wants all the sites to go down to protest, but what are we doing as individuals?
eg.
Quit watching NFL
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:42pm

Re: Re:
That's right pirate kiddies, take a one day break from ripping off small and independent record labels! Please!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:59pm

Re: Re:
omg. Why didn't I think of that?!

I sent out emails yesterday advising management that we have no control about blacked out websites tomorrow.

Only one manager understood wth we were talking about, even tho it's the ONLY thing I have talked about lately....

lesigh.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 1:00pm

Re: Re:
There's nothing funny about dodgy sushi. That stuff tasted rancid.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 1:01pm

Re: There are still sopa supporters
I don't do music, movies, or TV. I'm full on gamer nowadays. Screw big content, they don't get my money.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 1:06pm

Lamar Smith - Blindman
Lamar will just put on his sunglasses and state "See, it's just about Google".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 1:09pm

Re: Re: Re:
I know the feeling. Tomorrow you will be inundated with people asking about about it. You will be at the front lines educating users on the technological and political issues of the day.

I will be at home watching The Venture Brothers seasons 1 and 2.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
btrussell (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 1:12pm

Re:
If it was as damaging as they say it is, they would have packed up ten years ago.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 1:56pm

Re: Re: Re:
So buying from MPAA/RIAA members is ripping off the independents? Well, if we use MPAA/RIAA accounting, then I guess it is.

You heard him, even AC's with us, buy independent.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 3:14pm

Better hope the studios don't take a page from the Google playbook and do something like blackout the Niners-Giants game. How long would it be before the bills get passed then. Hours, perhaps days.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
ltlw0lf (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 4:22pm

Re: Re:
Google and others who profit in some way from piracy, *ARE* behind the protests.

I just wanted to take the opportunity to point out that Anonymous Coward and others who profit in some way from the mass murder of pixies, *ARE* behind the rapid overvaluation of pixie dust.

It is the only way he can be so wrong in so many ways -- but at least the pixie dust keeps him sufficiently stoned.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
zipperation, 17 Jan 2012 @ 4:26pm

i used to vote for demarepubs because it was the easy vote, one that allowed me to vote without conscious or political awareness.

the two party system made it easy to cast a blind vote and still satisfy constitutional needs

but now its all gone. it seems now safer to pick otherwise.

wo is me i will most likely have to actually read up on candidates now...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 5:51pm

Re: Go Big Search!
Wow really! I can use 8 kinda good services instead of just one super awesome one? I can't wait.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The Groove Tiger (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 6:11pm

Re: Re: Re: Go Big Search!
I remember Hotmail... it had a big entry in their FAQ about why their page didn't update automatically when you received new mail (or checked without hitting "reload"). It pretty much said "yeah... about that, we don't know how to do that."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 7:24pm

Re: Re:
Antipiracy outfits profit from the existence of piracy.

The SOPA Protests are being funded by Lamar Smith!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 8:22pm

I wonder how long before the FCC looks to revisit regulating search engines.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
lrobbo (profile), 7 Jun 2012 @ 9:41am

Really, that hotmail comment cracks me up
[ link to this | view in thread ]