TorrentFreak

The place where breaking news, BitTorrent and copyright collide

Facebook Releases Anti-PIPA / SOPA Statement

Today the Internet is witnessing the largest protest in history, trying to kill two pending anti-piracy bills.

While Facebook is not joining the blackout, Mark Zuckerberg just released the following statement opposing PIPA and SOPA.

“The internet is the most powerful tool we have for creating a more open and connected world. We can’t let poorly thought out laws get in the way of the internet’s development. Facebook opposes SOPA and PIPA, and we will continue to oppose any laws that will hurt the internet.”

“The world today needs political leaders who are pro-internet. We have been working with many of these folks for months on better alternatives to these current proposals. I encourage you to learn more about these issues and tell your congressmen that you want them to be pro-internet.”

The MPAA, meanwhile, continues to try to spin today’s protests.

Yesterday they called it a PR-stunt, turning Internet users into corporate pawns, and earlier today they claim the blackout “fails to enlist big sites.”

Right…

mpaa fail

This post is from the News Bits section of TorrentFreak where we present stories from around the web in a concise summary format. Full TorrentFreak articles can be found here. If you have a tip please let us know. News Bits have their very own RSS feed
  • Erthwjim

    The MPAA needs to get their collective heads out of the sand and out of their asses.

    • Trolololo

      Implying they have heads?

  • Reader

    Wikipedia alone is probably larger and more famous than any website or service the MAFIAA have ever created..

    • Anonymous

      Because the MAFIAA doesn’t create any proper websites/services. They just want you to pay for 20 bucks a song.

  • LWoBsTeR

    fails to get big sites? hahaha guess google and facebook aren’t big with their MILLIONS of users. lol

    • Anonymous

      Well, google and facebook are protesting in their own way but they don’t actually participate in the blackout…

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Dakota-Dube/1178206657 Dakota Dube

        still participating just not blacking out but wiki and reddit are in FULL BLACKOUT MODE

  • http://twitter.com/p2jack Jack

    MPAA fail….

    Google = Biggest site on the internet.
    Facebook = Biggest Anti-Social Network.*
    Wikipedia = huge
    4chan = Biggest Image Board In The World
    Twitter = Been Trending #ANTISOPA #SOPAblackout #SOPA all day….

    • Onerandomotaku

      Nope, 2ch from Japan is the biggest imageboard in the world. 4chan is only the biggest English speaking imageboard.

      Coincidentally, 4chan was actually based on 2ch.

      • Dia

        It was based on 2chan not 2ch.

  • http://twitter.com/BarryCarey Matthew Carey

    I really wish Facebook and Google would have done something more. Google should have shut down search and left all other services open. Facebook should have blacked out. If they would have done that along with Wikipedia it would have made an impact 10x larger.

    Imagine our paid off politicians signing on to play their 6 hours of daily Farmville being met with a message that the very bill they’re being paid to pass is interrupting their crop watering.

    • Mr. Putin

      If Google censored their search results it would cost billions in damages. Think of all the businesses that rely on Google for traffic + advertisers etc. I am all for what Google did today, if they censored the search results that would have been stupid.

      Facebook is a social network, how can people talk about SOPA if they have no place to talk about it? – Twitter and Facebook needed to stay up (but a censored logo would have been nice).

    • Anonymous

      i’d rather google continues to do business and use that income to lobby against SOPA/PIPA

      and twitter/facebook need to stay open as a way to communicate the outrage

  • http://twitter.com/Warezweek Warezweek

    About time!

  • http://www.twitter.com/echoman74 echoman

    lol dude i don’t buy it mark zuckerfuck could have atleast had a banner or something on the site again whose side are they really on? I call BULL SHIT!!

  • Anonymous

    Has anyone actually tried going to the link they tweeted? It redirects to http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/18/us-internet-protest-idUSTRE80H01U20120118 . If you ask me, the MPAA’s trolled themselves.

  • Alyssa Blindy

    I’m from the MPAA and I know that no big websites are enlisted in the blackout. Wikipedia is so small. No one visits that thing, except for smelly old hags who have nothing else better to do with their lives. *sniffle.* Also, google is tiny. I never heard of it until today. I had to search it on my home page to find out what it was. I don’t know why, but my home page brought me to a link back to itself after the search. It’s actually quite strange, guess it’s the effect of these evil little blackouts. I mean come on, how can I search for a site, and then get my home page back up? That’s completely irresponsible of those search thingy creators. And because I still don’t know what google is, oh could someone tell me, and then tell me they love SOPA just to stop my sniffles?
    Thank you.

  • Facebook Sucks

    Oh poo, I thought Facebook was going to shut down….this is one site I could care less about, Mark Failberg(Zuckerberg, joke here lol), quit raping the Internet and society, thank you. I don’t need to see a “Like” button on everything I say and or do.

  • Lopo666

    just a suggestion… why not boycott the cinemas for a week or 2 weeks?
    or even just the opening days of the big movies?

  • visistingpirate

    now that is a damm good idea make the movie makers lose millions in box office and make them realize that its us the people that really supports them without us they would be no where and have nothing

  • BTGuard - BitTorrent Anonymously

NewsBits

Even more news...

  • The Pirate Bay Isn’t Down Completely, Just Having a Few Issues

    Twitter and Facebook, not to mention the TorrentFreak inbox, are currently alive with complaints that The...

  • Pirate Bay Founder Gottfrid Svartholm on Freedom of Speech

    Freedom of speech is a highly valued commodity, but should people be allowed to say whatever...

  • Blu-ray Anti-Piracy Tech Stops Discs and Promotes Purchases

    An anti-piracy system present in all official Blu-ray players since 2012 has received a fresh update...

  • Foxtel Breeds Pirates by Locking Up Game of Thrones

    One of the main reasons why people turn to piracy is the lack of legal alternatives....

  • UK Student Admits Breaching Sony Copyrights With Leak of PS3 SDK

    Last year an Internet user known as El Nomeo leaked version 3.70 of Sony’s Playstation3 SDK...

MostDiscussed

Below are TorrentFreak's most discussed articles of the past month. Join the discussion if you like.

CopyQuote

Left Quote

“The Pirate Bay has been one of the most important movements in Sweden for freedom of speech, working against corruption and censorship.

Peter Sunde Left Quote

PopularArticles

A selection of some TorrentFreak's classics dug up from our archives.