Ask PG: Could we have the SOPA censorship label up on HN's logo today?

coderdude · on Nov 16, 2011

One of the few sites where people really care about this issue and half the comments in this thread are people wondering why we should even bother. I'd laugh if I wasn't so disappointed in you.

tptacek · on Nov 16, 2011

Doesn't that just beg everyone to submit SOPA stories to the site? Have we learned anything at all new about SOPA in the past 24 hours?

Archio · on Nov 16, 2011

Read benbsholz's comment (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3243628)...

It really doesn't hurt to remind people about this and make sure they take action. The future of open source software is at the core of HN, and it could really get affected by this legislation.

tptacek · on Nov 16, 2011

Is that a "no"? Because (if it wasn't obvious) that's what I suspect to be the case about these SOPA stories: that they tend to contain little if any new information about SOPA.

benbscholz · on Nov 16, 2011

Getting people to watch the stream is enough. Check it out if you haven't.

tptacek · on Nov 16, 2011

The stream is a great HN submission. Thanks.

Achshar · on Nov 16, 2011

if google, yahoo, ebay, reddit, mozilla, zynga, AOL, twitter, facebook, linkedIn, etc can do it then i can't see why HN (being all about dev and startup community) can't do it.

brudgers · on Nov 16, 2011

PG almost certainly can do it.

But that sort of editorializing does not seem consistent with the culture which has grown up around HN.

tristan_louis · on Nov 16, 2011

Here's the question. Is it editorializing when your own existence is put in question?

Under SOPA, HN could be taken down with a simple link. One could create an account, post a link to some copyrighted material and then ask that HN be removed blocked at the DNS level.

So if HN is not willing to stand for that, what is willing to stand for?

brudgers · on Nov 16, 2011

HN != YC

davidhansen · on Nov 16, 2011

The legislation covers blocking or redirection of DNS queries by zone.

Last I checked, the HN hostname is inside the ycombinator.com DNS zone.

brudgers · on Nov 16, 2011

My point is that shutting down HN would not significantly threaten the survival of YC.

Please note that I am assuming that YC, and not HN, is the primary enterprise of the person or persons in a position to deal with these matters.

benbscholz · on Nov 16, 2011

I think the HN crowd is more aware of SOPA than the visitors to those sites, but I think adding to the banner couldn't hurt (some people may have missed the SOPA stories from the last week).

larrys · on Nov 16, 2011

"If ... can do it"

Of all of the above companies you listed, as of right now, it's only on reddit.com

JoshTriplett · on Nov 16, 2011

http://boingboing.net/?p=129579

Check out the logos at the bottom.

larrys · on Nov 16, 2011

The "can do it" refers to the question "could we have the SOPA censorship label up on HN's logo today?" (Similar to what was done at http://www.avc.com for example.)

The comment I am commenting on says:

"if google, yahoo, ebay, reddit, mozilla, zynga, AOL, twitter, facebook, linkedIn, etc can do it then i can't see why HN (being all about dev and startup community) can't do it."

So "can do it" doesn't refer to signing a letter (which can't be done now anyway) it refers to putting the censorship label over the logo. The majority of the companies mentioned did not do that which was the point that I was making.

Achshar · on Nov 17, 2011

from "can do it" i meant publicly oppose the bill and not just change the logo. Sorry for the confusion. PS Mozilla also changed the logo.

dayjah · on Nov 16, 2011

They're conducting YC interviews atm, I doubt this'll even be noticed; I hope it is though.

maeon3 · on Nov 16, 2011

Put down that book citizen, there are copyrighted words in there that you haven't paid for yet. Dont make me taze you.

It's coming, sooner or later, the only thing we can do is fight it like alcohol drinkers did with prohibition.

suivix · on Nov 16, 2011

Could we not turn HN into an activist site? Thanks.

genieyclo · on Nov 16, 2011

Torn · on Nov 16, 2011

Because the ideas behind freedom of speech and 'routing around damage' are the main reasons behind the Internet's success.

genieyclo · on Nov 16, 2011

I don't see what exactly changing y18.gif would accomplish...

Happy feelings? Seems like you're preaching to the choir.

benbscholz · on Nov 16, 2011

I have been reading about this all week, but having a banner on my Mozilla home page reminded me to write my congressmen. I can't hurt to remind people about this -- especially considering the impact it is going to have on the users of this site.