By Cory Doctorow at 10:06 pm Wednesday, Jan 18
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The globally praised Khan Academy comes out against SOPA and PIPA in this explainer video, which does a really excellent job of digging into the implications for legitimate sites (like Khan Academy) in a world where SOPA/PIPA become law. This is a great explanation of what SOPA and PIPA means for people trying to communicate with a broader public, but one thing to keep in mind as you watch is that there's another constituency that's missing: all the people who are using the net for other reasons: people who want to post videos of human rights abuses, who want to talk with other sufferers from a rare disease, who want to privately share private family moments with distant relatives. All these constituencies depend on services like YouTube and Twitter as a platform for communications, too.
SOPA and PIPA
(via Waxy)
House Judiciary Committee Chair Lamar Smith (R-TX) has
vowed to resume his markup hearings in February. (
Thanks, Adam!)
— Cory
By Cory Doctorow at 10:05 pm Wednesday, Jan 18
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Yesterday, literally millions of Americans contacted their senators and congressional reps to ask them to withdraw their support for SOPA and PIPA. The result? A massive withdrawal of support from elected lawmakers for the bills. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and John Boozman (R-AR) all vowed to oppose PIPA (all were co-sponsors of the bill). On the SOPA side, Ben Quayle (R-AZ) and Lee Terry (R-NE) voiced their opposition to the bill, and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) blacked out his own site in protest (!).
Remember, this is what happened on the day. The momentum is breaking, and I predict more defections in the days to come.
Update: More defections abound: Ars Technica lists a total of 18 new senators opposed to PIPA.
SOPA / PIPA Co-Sponsors Drop Like Flies As Millions Protest
By Mark Frauenfelder at 2:50 pm Wednesday, Jan 18
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Welcome to Boing Boing's Apps for Kids Episode 5 for Wednesday, January 18, 2012. Apps for Kids is a podcast about cool smartphone apps for kids and parents.
I'm Mark Frauenfelder. My co-host is Jane Frauenfelder. Today, we review a remake of a 1991 Macintosh game called Glider Classic for the iPhone and iPad.
If you're an app developer and would like to have Jane and me try one of your apps for possible review, email a redeem code to appsforkids@boingboing.net.
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