Net
Blackout
to Protest
Censorship
Bill, Amid
"Obama Beware"
Chants in DC
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
BLACKOUT
SOPA,
January 18 --
Following a
day of "Occupy
Congress"
protests in
Washington,
leading to
chants at the
White House of
"Obama beware,
Occupy is
everywhere,"
today a
constellation
of activists
and Internet
companies are
in blackout
mode to
protest
the SOPA and
PIPA proposals
on Capitol
Hill.
Pushing
these
ostensibly
"anti-piracy"
laws is former
US Senator
Chris
Dodd, who in
the midst of
legislating
about banks
took
preferential
loans from
Countrywide
Mortgage. Now
he is
denouncing the
#BLACKOUTSOPA
protest -- for
some, a good
reason to join
it.
At
the White
House
press briefing
on Tuesday,
Obama
spokesman Jay
Carney was
asked:
"supporters of
the Occupy
movement on
the Hill this
morning had
a huge banner
saying,
'Liberals
admit it,
Obama let you
down.' How
worried is the
President?"
Carney
replied
that Obama is
"working
through his
executive
authority,
working
with the
private
sector, to do
what he can do
improve the
American
economy and
improve the
job picture,
as well as,
obviously, our
national
security."
And
on Tuesday
evening, seven
hours after
Inner City
Press had
asked US
Ambassador
Susan Rice
about the UN's
delay in
protecting
civilians in
Jonglei
State in South
Sudan, Obama
NSC Spokesman
Tommy Vietor
issued a
statement that
"We
also
note the
mandate of the
UN Mission in
South Sudan
(UNMISS) with
respect to
conflict
prevention and
civilian
protection,
and call upon
the South
Sudanese
government and
the UN to
continue
working
closely
together on
this vitally
important
mission. We
further call
upon the
UN to provide
any additional
support that
is needed by
UNMISS to
carry out its
responsibilities
in South
Sudan."
To
some it was
unclear if
this was
belated
critique of
the failure to
protect
civilians.
Even on this
day of
widespread
Internet (and
for some,
Twitter)
blackout, the
US State
Department is
inviting
questions via
Twitter. Might
have to wait
for another
day.
, 
