On January 18th, many sites across the web will be protesting SOPA by going black, including Reddit and possibly Wikipedia, as well as tons of other smaller sites.
How to join the protest:
If you’d like to join the protest, it’s very easy. Download the Stop SOPA plugin from the WordPress repository. Many thanks to Brooke Dukes for creating this free tool to help the WordPress community protest. The STOP SOPA plugin will automatically blackout your site for you on January 18th from 8am to 8pm.
What will my site look like during the blackout?
The page will have a black background with a message in white text:
This site has been blocked in protest of the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) two bills which will allow the government censor the intenet.
Find out more at americancensorship.org or the video below.
This website will return at 8pm.
The blackout screen will also include this video to help your visitors understand the implications of SOPA:
This is one of those issues where we all need to pull together to fight to stop it. Once bills are passed they are not so easily reversed and the ramifications of this one would be global. This is not just an American problem – it will negatively affect internet entrepreneurs and innovators worldwide. Please consider using the free Stop SOPA plugin to blackout your site in protest.
For a quick overview of SOPA check out our recent post: WordPress Speaks Out Against SOPA/PIPA
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Hopefully the text shown during the blackout will have been corrected for spelling errors before January 18th. ;-)
;) I copied it from the plugin, just updated it in the post.
Yeah, I figured that was the case. I’m hoping the plugin author will see this. :)
BTW, thank you very much for your posts! I really appreciate all the great information you provide to us WP geeks.
How will this plugin handle search engines, will it provide the proper 503 header?
Yes, the plugin uses a `wp_redirect` with 302 added
Stop Online *Privacy* Act? Or should it read Piracy?
This could be the spelling you were referring to, but wanted to be certain…
Yes, the plugin has some word / spelling errors – easily edited in its plugin files, though.
Yes, this is fixed in 1.3 :)
Do you know if there is a work around for wordpress.com users? Or is there some you can suggest we can do to support the movement on Jan 18th, if there is not a way to use it on wp.com?
I was wondering the same thing because I wish to blackout my blog as well!
Hi,
Thanks for the shout-out. I just fixed the spelling mistakes and date issue in 1.3. So Please update :)
Sorry for the trouble,
Brooke
How will this affect multisite networks? Could it be installed, then enabled on the main/root site but not on every site in the network? I would like to participate, and some of my blog owners might also want to, but I cannot be sure all of them will want to participate. I’m not sure how to test the plugin’s multisite effect ahead of the date. Thank you!
Those are very good questions Charles and the same ones that some of my clients are asking. I personally will be blacking out fifty odd sites of my own and multiple client sites on individual hosting, however some of my folks are using wpmu.
Robbi Drake
How could i blackout my blog that is hosted on wordpress.com since i cannot install plugins there?
I’m guessing we will have to just backup the blog and throw up a blank page for the day–maybe put a blurb on it about participating in Blackout Day
How do we do it for people who are using WordPress.com for free? I never downloaded wordpress to begin with, but instead just signed up. I want to participate too!
There’s a tutorial for wordpress.com that might help you: http://magnificentnose.com/2012/01/17/how-to-black-out-your-wordpress-com-site-for-the-sopa-pipa-blackout/