Visitors of the Syracuse University School of Information Studies’ website Wednesday were greeted by a washed out, black-and-white homepage with bold gray text reading ‘Stop SOPA.’

The iSchool’s website and blog, Information Space, were shut down for the day as part of a protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act, a bill being reviewed by Congress. The act contains provisions that put user-generated websites, such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, at risk of being shut down due to copyright holders’ ability to place them on a blacklist without legal oversight.

Along with high-profile web platforms such as Wikipedia and Google, the iSchool took a bold stance on the issue, believing that a free and open Internet is necessary for the growth of information sharing and that such provisions limit freedom of speech.

Due to the nationwide blackout movement, SOPA lost support from lawmakers on Capitol Hill early Thursday morning. Six U.S. lawmakers stopped supporting the anti-piracy legislation backed by Hollywood as websites protested the measures, according to a Jan. 18 article published by The Washington Post.

During the protest, the iSchool homepage read, ‘The School of Information Studies (iSchool) website and blog have gone ‘dark’ today to bring attention to pending legislation in Congress that could stifle innovation online and bring censorship to the Internet,’ informing visitors of the reasons for the blackout.

The iSchool website described SOPA and its threatening provisions and provided a link to a blog post by Isaac Budmen, senior policy studies and information management and technology major.

The anti-SOPA and PIPA movement, the Protect IP Act, involving the blackouts reflected the power of the Internet itself, said Roy Gutterman, associate professor of communications law and journalism and director of the Tully Center for Free Speech. He said he is not sure there has been a piece of federal legislation that has generated such a degree of vocal and widespread protest.

‘The reasons that make online piracy so easy are the same reasons we have seen such widespread protests,’ Gutterman said. ‘The Internet allows people and movements to mobilize and attract attention.’

Blackouts on these sites brought the issue to the attention of people who normally would not follow the development of the laws. Gutterman said he hopes laws become debated publicly more in the future to reflect the will of the people, which would ‘speak volumes about our democracy.’

Ross Lazerowitz, a freshman information management and technology major, said he had never been more proud of the iSchool. He said that many people weren’t aware of SOPA’s provisions, and although Syracuse is only a microcosm in society, raising awareness still had an impact.

‘The Internet is a free place. I’m all for things being safe, this isn’t one of them,’ he said. ‘Regimes recently were overthrown through sites like Twitter, so people needed to realize the impact the Internet has by remaining free and open.’

Assistant professor of practice at the iSchool, Anthony Rotolo, said he thinks the most important effect of the blackout was the conversation it started.

‘Inside the iSchool, students were talking about this issue that could shape the future of information science,’ he said. ‘But now there’s a global conversation about what everyday people — students, business people and political leaders — want the future of our Internet and social web to be.’

Eric Caballero, a graduate student at the iSchool, said he believes the blackout directly affected the spread of awareness within the digital field itself.

‘Anyone who’s directly impacted will become aware of the debate, whether here at the iSchool or on a bigger scale,’ he said. ‘Debate is good. There should always be debate for any legislation — it’s an essential part of democracy.’

meltagou@syr.edu

Published on January 18, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Marwa: meltagou@syr.edu | @marwaeltagouri