3 ms·

WordPress The Latest Tech Company To Come Out Strongly Against SOPA/PIPA

96 points by minecraftman 15y ago

nextparadigms 15y ago
I feel that whoever is going to present this list of companies coming out against SOPA, should also talk a little about what each of them represents. Just saying something like "Wordpress" or "Reddit" at the Congressional hearing, probably means nothing to most politicians there.
- secretwhistle 15y ago
  That's very true. It makes you wonder what internet entity (other than designated supervillain/punching bag Google) these politicians are aware of? "It says here that Wordpress hosts 70 million blogs worldwide, which I find hard to believe. If Wordpress is this big, I'd have heard of it. And this Reddit? It's what... some sort of alien game thing?" So quick to legislate something they profoundly (and proudly) misunderstand.
hopeless 15y ago
I'm surprised it took Wordpress so long, as I imagine they would/will suffer dearly under SOPA
westi 15y ago
s/Tech Company/Open Source Project/
mkr-hn 15y ago
Is this the position of the WordPress community, the WordPress Foundation, or Automattic?
- wyck 15y ago
  It is quite confusing since the .org devs are employees of Automattic, the Anti SOPA blog post is on wordpress.org ( by Jane Wells) YET the main register/referrer for wordpress.com is godaddy. So you have .org with an anti-godaddy link and .com with a pro godaddy link... ps. I understand godaddy eventually caved into a press release..but comon.
  - nacin 15y ago
    Some core developers, including me, as well as the vast majority of core contributors, are not employees of Automattic. To reply to your PS: Something tells me that if WordPress.com uses GoDaddy, they have a bit of leverage there.
- secretwhistle 15y ago
  Well, it was posted by Jane Wells (UX Lead for Wordpress) and filed under "Community" at Wordpress.org. I'm not sure where that falls exactly, but obviously she's chosen to speak for the community, or at least Wordpress' relationship to its community. It's on the Wordpress blog so I would guess she's speaking for Wordpress itself as well.
- tnorthcutt 15y ago
  Jane Wells (the author of the post) is an employee of Automattic, FWIW.
- rmccue 15y ago
  In this instance, I would say the WordPress Foundation. westi (a core developer of WordPress) commented below that this represents the project, and WordPress and the WordPress Foundation are really one and the same.
np1782 15y ago
Why haven't tech companies started lobbying? Don't companies such as Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft,Amazon generate cumulatively more profit than any other industry in the US? Why not just overpower, the SOPA lobbyist in Washington? Couldn't they also just buy one of these movie studios and take them out. Allot of these companies are sitting on a ton of cash. I am generally curious as to why tech companies have not done this.
- VMG 15y ago
  The SOPA supporters are just bigger http://venturebeat.com/2011/12/19/sopa-lobbying/ http://venturebeat.com/2011/12/19/sopa-lobbying/
  - np1782 15y ago
    For once it would be awesome if a few tech companies pulled their funds and bought a company like comcast. Or even tried to make a bid for viacom. You don't need to buy them all but, it would wake up allot of other companies. However,I feel the homegrown voice your opinion to the SOPA companies and politicians is great too. Allot of SOPA supporters have abandoned their support because of it. But,I feel tech companies should really flex their muscle for once.

96 points by minecraftman 15y ago

I feel that whoever is going to present this list of companies coming out against SOPA, should also talk a little about what each of them represents. Just saying something like "Wordpress" or "Reddit" at the Congressional hearing, probably means nothing to most politicians there.

secretwhistle 15y ago
That's very true. It makes you wonder what internet entity (other than designated supervillain/punching bag Google) these politicians are aware of? "It says here that Wordpress hosts 70 million blogs worldwide, which I find hard to believe. If Wordpress is this big, I'd have heard of it. And this Reddit? It's what... some sort of alien game thing?" So quick to legislate something they profoundly (and proudly) misunderstand.

hopeless 15y ago

I'm surprised it took Wordpress so long, as I imagine they would/will suffer dearly under SOPA

westi 15y ago

s/Tech Company/Open Source Project/

mkr-hn 15y ago

Is this the position of the WordPress community, the WordPress Foundation, or Automattic?

wyck 15y ago
It is quite confusing since the .org devs are employees of Automattic, the Anti SOPA blog post is on wordpress.org ( by Jane Wells) YET the main register/referrer for wordpress.com is godaddy. So you have .org with an anti-godaddy link and .com with a pro godaddy link... ps. I understand godaddy eventually caved into a press release..but comon.
- nacin 15y ago
  Some core developers, including me, as well as the vast majority of core contributors, are not employees of Automattic. To reply to your PS: Something tells me that if WordPress.com uses GoDaddy, they have a bit of leverage there.
secretwhistle 15y ago
Well, it was posted by Jane Wells (UX Lead for Wordpress) and filed under "Community" at Wordpress.org. I'm not sure where that falls exactly, but obviously she's chosen to speak for the community, or at least Wordpress' relationship to its community. It's on the Wordpress blog so I would guess she's speaking for Wordpress itself as well.
tnorthcutt 15y ago
Jane Wells (the author of the post) is an employee of Automattic, FWIW.
rmccue 15y ago
In this instance, I would say the WordPress Foundation. westi (a core developer of WordPress) commented below that this represents the project, and WordPress and the WordPress Foundation are really one and the same.

np1782 15y ago

Why haven't tech companies started lobbying? Don't companies such as Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft,Amazon generate cumulatively more profit than any other industry in the US? Why not just overpower, the SOPA lobbyist in Washington? Couldn't they also just buy one of these movie studios and take them out. Allot of these companies are sitting on a ton of cash. I am generally curious as to why tech companies have not done this.

VMG 15y ago
The SOPA supporters are just bigger http://venturebeat.com/2011/12/19/sopa-lobbying/ http://venturebeat.com/2011/12/19/sopa-lobbying/
- np1782 15y ago
  For once it would be awesome if a few tech companies pulled their funds and bought a company like comcast. Or even tried to make a bid for viacom. You don't need to buy them all but, it would wake up allot of other companies. However,I feel the homegrown voice your opinion to the SOPA companies and politicians is great too. Allot of SOPA supporters have abandoned their support because of it. But,I feel tech companies should really flex their muscle for once.