Who was Really Behind Internet Blackout Day? A SOPA & PIPA Case Study & Happy Hour
Hosted by: Public Knowledge
Category: Politics & Government
Location: Buffalo Billiards- Adirondack Room, Washington, DC
Thursday, February 16 at 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM
As Grant Gross reports in his 2/3/12 piece,
“Who Really Was Behind the SOPA Protests?”
” Some critics have blamed Silicon Valley tech firms for the massive online protests last month against two controversial copyright bills.
Other groups have trumpeted the grassroots nature of the protests.
The first narrative, that giant tech companies drove the uprising, has little basis in fact, according to several people who helped organize the protest.
The second storyline, that the protests bubbled up from regular Internet users, comes closer to explaining the phenomenon, but reality is more complicated, participants said.
The protests were a combination of independent decisions by websites including Wikipedia and Reddit to go black on Jan. 18, behind-the-scenes organization by a number of groups, and grassroots response to the blackout and other online efforts, participants said.”
This panel discussion and networking event will introduce you to some of the people behind “American Censorship Day” and the “Internet Blackout Day” for a candid discussion discuss their the strategies and tactics that lead up to over 14 million people to contacting Congress in a single day.
We will discuss how Internet experts, non-profit organizations and entrepreneurs from across the political spectrum came together to successfully derail SOPA and PIPA and offer a glimpse into what this means for future advocacy campaigns.
Moderated by
Featuring
