ECA, GamePolitics Goes Dark to Protest SOPA/PIPA

January 17, 2012

On January 18 at 8:00 am ET GamePolitics and other ECA-owned websites will go dark in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Acts. We are proud to stand with an estimated 7,000 web sites and organizations to show our opposition to the government’s efforts to curtail free speech and innovation in the name of protecting the interests of corporations and lobbyists. We feel that there are better ways to fight online piracy and the sale of counterfeit goods without comprising innovation, free speech, and the integrity of the Internet.

While other sites may (or may not) have a vested interest in seeing these bills defeated, our only interest is the Internet community. We will always stand for the unfettered right to free speech and free expression of gamers everywhere. We urge ECA members and our readers to contact their elected representatives in Washington and let them know that SOPA and PIPA are two pieces of legislation that need to die. We'll let the last word be from the ECA:

"The ECA supports free speech and stands against censorship. Today, in solidarity with other websites of every shape and size, we are going black and calling on everyone to take action NOW. Contact your Senators to stop the Protect IP Act (PIPA). Stand with the ECA and against censorship. Take action NOW."

Posted in ECA People Politics & Legislation Protect IP Protest SOPA

Comments

Re: ECA, GamePolitics Goes Dark to Protest SOPA/PIPA

Submitted by Cecil475 on Thu, 01/19/2012 - 14:51.

The only question I have is why did GP blackout before 8am? I was on at 3am and GP was blacked out already. Or, were you testing it out during a low visit time?

- W

Re: ECA, GamePolitics Goes Dark to Protest SOPA/PIPA

Submitted by tusharnene on Thu, 01/19/2012 - 09:28.

I'm very glad ECA and GP took part in going dark. I try to educate my friends but before yesterday there was an alarming lack of knowledge about SOPA and PIPA.

Some people came to me and complained that the blackout didn't really provide any new arguments about the legislation. But what it did provide was awareness and the spread of existing arguments - it's up to those who know to educate those who don't.

I don't understand the folks that still say it didn't accomplish anything - a number of House and Senate members publicly dropped support of these bills. All in all I'd call it a good day.

Re: ECA, GamePolitics Goes Dark to Protest SOPA/PIPA

Submitted by hellfire7885 on Wed, 01/18/2012 - 00:20.

And when are you coming back online?

Re: ECA, GamePolitics Goes Dark to Protest SOPA/PIPA

Submitted by Aidinthel on Wed, 01/18/2012 - 00:36.

Most other sites seem to have set a 12 hour duration, so I assume GP will follow suit.

Re: ECA, GamePolitics Goes Dark to Protest SOPA/PIPA

Submitted by udx on Tue, 01/17/2012 - 22:17.

For those who have a Blogspot, where in the HTML do I put the Javascript to block out my blog on that day?

What is a game?(throws wine glass on the floor and it breaks to pieces) A miserable little pile of secrets.

Shout box

Andrew Eisen: Needless to say, a chunck of those might not be inclined to plunk down their dough for Nintendo's new console when they just bought a competitor's, compounded with the fact that Nintendo has shown little interest in catering to their needs.02/22/2012 - 5:43pm

Andrew Eisen: If Nintendo is serious about courting the core gamer, it can't just ignore them until it releases the Wii U. They'll just get their fix somewhere else.02/22/2012 - 5:40pm

Andrew Eisen: A game which didn't light the sales charts on fire but didn't bomb either. In fact, from what I've read, NA sales make up a good half of that game's worldwide sales. Not to mention the good will Atlus garners by continuing to cater to gamers.02/22/2012 - 5:34pm

RedMage: Especially when the likes of Atlus seem to have no problem doing a great job localizing something niche like Catherine.02/22/2012 - 2:20pm

Uncharted NES: Entertainment Industry Embraces New Business Model: Suing Google For Third-Party Android Apps That 'Promote Piracy'- http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120221/08245617830/entertainment-industry-embraces-new-business-model-suing-google-third-party-android-02/22/2012 - 2:07pm

Andrew Eisen: Hard to imagine the games would sell so poorly that they wouldn't cover the reletively minimal cost of bringing them over (shipping, ESRB rating, new packaging, printing, etc.).02/22/2012 - 2:02pm

Andrew Eisen: A point I made in that YouTube video I did last summer. The games tend to sell more copies here so if the damn thing is already developed and localized, why not release it here?02/22/2012 - 2:00pm

RedMage: That's what I figured. It's especially ironic since the black and white data shows NA buys more of these games than Europe or even Japan.02/22/2012 - 1:57pm

Andrew Eisen: And honestly, at this point, most probably won't because they saw their were no more games and moved on.02/22/2012 - 1:55pm

Andrew Eisen: Localizing for Europe is actually harder. Or at least, more work because typically, you do more languages. I don't think its a matter of difficulty but that Nintendo, for whatever reason, has no faith in NA gamers to actually buy these games.02/22/2012 - 1:54pm

Andrew Eisen: Fatal Frame's localization was also announced! For Europe...02/22/2012 - 1:52pm

RedMage: Definitely the latter. I'd still like to know why Europe is apparently easier to localize RPGs for.02/22/2012 - 1:51pm

Andrew Eisen: Do you mean the quality of the localization itself or Nintendo's tone deafness when it comes to catering to the NA market.02/22/2012 - 1:45pm

RedMage: That being said, Nintendo still sucks when it comes to localization.02/22/2012 - 1:42pm

RedMage: Last Story confirmed for North America in 2012! FINALLY! http://bit.ly/yDVyEY02/22/2012 - 1:42pm

Andrew Eisen: Sounds like an interesting story. Nothing to do with video games I wouldn't think but we're big on free speech rights here. Darn shame Slashdot's link doesn't work.02/22/2012 - 1:32pm

Uncharted NES: The 'New' Righthaven Offers Discount To Techdirt Readers Who Want 'Spineful' Hosting- http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120221/03205417825/new-righthaven-offers-discount-to-techdirt-readers-who-want-spineful-hosting.shtml02/22/2012 - 1:30pm

Uncharted NES: Man Ordered To Apologize To Wife On Facebook- http://slashdot.org/palm/17/12/02/22/1448242_1.shtml02/22/2012 - 1:28pm

Uncharted NES: Seriously Zippy? Well Happy 36th. :)02/22/2012 - 1:11pm

james_fudge: BREAKING: Happy Birthday!02/22/2012 - 12:37pm

All shouts