SOPA/PIPA blackout: ‘The Day the LOLcats Died’

SOPA blackout day is a dark day — literally. With a black bar across Google’s logo and other sites turning their robust user-driven sites into a single black page. One team, though, avoided donning black, and chose instead to sing out its angst with this viral video “The Day the LolCats Died.”

They can take our lives, but they can’t take our LOLcats! That’s the message from Seattle Against SOPA, which sings the potential effects of SOPA set to the tune of Don McLean’s “American Pie.”
Seattle Against SOPA isn’t the first to spread awareness of the bill through song. Last month, Leah Kaufman (who created “I Got a Crush on Obama”) and British rapper Dan Bull wrote songs about SOPA, firewalls, and Internet freedom. Watch here.

SOPA and PIPA...

Readers weigh in on SOPA, PIPA

By Brett Molina, USA TODAY

Updated 21m ago

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Judging from the responses of readers and through social networks such as Twitter, reactions to the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act seem stacked firmly against the two pieces of proposed legislation.On Twitter, several trending topics tied to SOPA and PIPA have dominated, including End Piracy, Tell Congress and #DayWithoutWikipedia, which highlights the 24-hour blackout of website Wikipedia in protest to both anti-piracy bills.

USA TODAY readers have weighed in as well, voicing their opinions on SOPA and PIPA. Here are a few reader comments:
Allan Ranusch: "Wealthy corporations and unlimited contributions trumps freedom of speech."
D.j. Allyn: "Once again, Congress is trying to fix something that isn't broke, instead of dealing with what they SHOULD be dealing with."
@dodgr007: Old Spanish proverb: "Sopa isn't soap, ropa isn't rope & butter is mantiquilla" & censorship is fascism.
Chris Parker: "This bill is god awful. There's no reasonable "other side" to the argument. Yes piracy is an issue and has been for longer than the internet has been around. It's not the supposed intent of this bill that's the issue, it's the scope and methods with which they plan to enforce it. Government should not censor the internet by legally being able to pursue ISP companies like Time Warner to block traffic, period."
Gregg Lebovitz: "These bills do not solve any problems, weaken our position as a technology leader, and are driven by some an entertainment business who is failing their customers and trying to use the courts to increase profits. We are fed up with you."
Dave Smith: "Yep, when republicans and democrats came to the table, we got the Patriot Act. Why do we even question their abilities to protect the constitution? And, the bill allows the government to go after all ISPs, not just sites selling pirated materials. Where is George Orwell?"