Social Media News 16th to 20th January

As you can imagine with all the goings on this week there has been a whole lot to write about!, I've left it till later to start this final draft because of the breaking news involving MegaUpload and been rewarded as SOPA Chief sponsor Lamar Smith is retracting the bill "until there is wider agreement on a solution" and Senator Harry Reid has postponed the PIPA vote. 

The People Prevail Against SOPA and PIPA

Image by Search Influence, Flickr

This has been the big week where some of our favourite online services like Reddit and Wikipedia have blacked out in Protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) which have seen widespread condemnation by the web. On the 18th of January Mark Zuckerberg also delivered a statement by status update on Facebook (how else)

Image by Guillume Paumier, Flickr

"The internet is the most powerful tool we have for creating a more open and connected world. We can't let poorly thought out laws get in the way of the internet's development. Facebook opposes SOPA and PIPA, and we will continue to oppose any laws that will hurt the internet. The world today needs political leaders who are pro-internet. We have been working with many of these folks for months on better alternatives to these current proposals. I encourage you to learn more about these issues and tell your congressmen that you want them to be pro-internet."

As of today SOPA Chief sponsor Lamar Smith is retracting the bill "until there is wider agreement on a solution" and Senator Harry Reid has postponed the PIPA vote. so the Internet and her millions of users have won this battle as trust me they will come back with another bill in time.

MegaUpload Down

Image by Cayobo, Flickr

On Thursday news broke that MegaUpload had been taken down for copyright infringement. For some this is no major surprise only the timing in the wake of SOPA is. So how does the case stack up against one of the worlds largest sites? well lets look at the issue of non removal of copyright material and how their uploading system works because this is a crucial point in the case.This is how MegaUploads' upload system works If you want to upload a file then it would be hashed in order to find out if a copy was already on the site, If there was then you would be given a unique url to have access this content in the future. You would have various url's connected to the same file so if a copyright holder reported abuse for content referenced by it's url then only one url would be non functional and the material would stay on the site and all the other url's would still have access to it. MegaUpload were able to fully remove certain illicit material from the site automatically.There is one question millions are asking online and that is if the FBI have the power to take down MegaUpload and put their founder Kim Dotcom in jail then is SOPA actually needed?

Hack Attack

Image by Stian Eikeland, Flickr

Almost as soon as the news of MegaUpload broke hacking group Anonymous launched their biggest attack. Justice.gov, MPAA (Motion Picture Association America), RIAA (Recording Industry Association America) and Universal Music Group are among the sites that have been affected.

YAHOO

Image by Yodel Anecdotal, Flickr

“My time at Yahoo!, from its founding to the present, has encompassed some of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my life. However, the time has come for me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo!
“As I leave the company I co-founded nearly 17 years ago, I am enthusiastic about the appointment of Scott Thompson as Chief Executive Officer and his ability, along with the entire Yahoo! leadership team, to guide Yahoo! into an exciting and successful future.”

Yahoo are sad to see Jerry leave but I guess 17 years as co-founder and CEO was long enough. Paypal President Scott Thompson takes his place as CEO. I can't wait to see how the internet old boy Yahoo pushes forward.

Video Game News

Lastly and rather overshadowed by SOPA but here is some videogame news Rockstar have delayed the release of Max Payne 3!, It is thought this is so they don't share the spotlight of the predicted behemoth Mass Effect 3.