Short back history for those of you who have been living under a rock or all your time on Facebook. SOPA stands for Stop Online Piracy Act, and on the surface sounds like a really noble thing, except that this is a corporate funded Congress that is trying to push it through; which should be the first warning that this isn’t going to play out nice.

Now anyone who has been pay attention to the whole SOPA thing, and not spending their life on Facebook, will be able to tell you just how bad this SOPA thing really is for the web, the users, and – well the Internet as a whole.

It’s one thing to know all the usual players that have come out against it, and it is a list that is growing daily, but what is more interesting is knowing which companies, beyond the usual players, are rooting for this killer to pass through Congress and into law.

Earlier today it came out that GoDaddy, the biggest domain registar and web hosting company in the world, was supporting SOPA and the went went nuts, and rightly so. From Reddit to heavy hitting web property owners like Ben Huh (think LOLcats) and from powerful angel investors like Paul Graham – YCombinator – to influential bloggers the voice against SOPA; and those that support it, is getting louder and louder.

So who are some of these companies that are supporting SOPA?

Well VentureBeat had a post out this morning with a list of a 142 companies from the Judiciary Committee responsible for SOPA and this was followed up later with a post from Techdirt where they had the link to the list of  439 companies that was collected by Andrew Couts.

Here’s some of the gems from those two lists.

• American Federation of Musicians (AFM) - no surprise there
• American Federation of Television and Radio Artists – again no surprise
• Capitol Records Nashville
• CBS
• Christian Music Trade Association
• Comcast/NBCUniversal – totally expected
• Council of Better Business Bureaus
• Disney Publishing Worldwide, Inc
• Go Daddy
• L’Oreal – huh? why?
• Major League Baseball
• MasterCard Worldwide
• National Football League
• News Corporation
• Time Warner
• 3M Company
• Adidas America
• Marvel Entertainment, LLC
• Monster Cable Products, Inc
• Nervous Tattoo Inc., dba Ed Hardy
• Nike, Inc.
• Oakley, Inc
• Dolby Laboratories, Inc
• Electronic Arts, Inc
• Ford Motor Company
• Wal-Mart
• Xerox Corporation

That is just a drop in the bucket of the companies and individuals that support taking your Internet away from you, or do their best to totally destroy it. If you want a full run down of who supports SOPA check the links above but in the meantime – how many of those companies to you support with your wallet?

You might want to think about it and maybe like Ben Huh find other companies to spend your money with. Let them know you aren’t happy with them and their support of SOPA.

So, who else in on that list of SOPA lovers anyway? is a post from: The Inquisitr

More than one dozen Occupy Portland protesters were arrested on Saturday night after a clash with police that resulted when city officials closed a city park an hour before schedule.

The city closed South Park Blocks park at 8:30 p.m. (11:30 p.m. ET) instead of the regular 9:30pm time because city officials claim that park employees and a park ranger were unable to complete their jobs after being confronted by protesters.

Demonstrators held their ground as the park closed early and chanted:

“This is a peaceful protest! We have the right to assemble!”

Under park rules areas are suppose to be cleared of structures (tents and other sleeping areas) which were set up by the few hundred protesters who took to the park.

City spokesman Mark Ross told CNN:

“Immediately (after) they went to the park, they were surrounded.”

After being pushed out of the park protesters marched to City Hall and into the streets where a police loudspeaker warned protesters that city parks were now closed and trespassers would be arrested.

By early Sunday morning many protesters were returning to the park and one Occupy Portland protester said of their protest and being pushed out on Saturday night:

“The First Amendment has been around longer than park ordinances.”

According to city Mayor Sam Adams the move to clear protesters has been necessary because of:

“A series of increased drug overdoses… an arsonist that used the camp as camouflage and almost a 20% increase in crime surrounding the encampment.”

Do you think police overstepped their authority in closing the park one hour early or should Occupy protesters at various locations around the country better understand city rules before occupying certain areas.

Occupy Portland Protesters Arrested After Clash With Police is a post from: The Inquisitr

The pepper spray incidence at the University of California-Davis has led students and faculty to ban together in demanding the resignation of school Chancellor Linda Katehi and now we have learned that she is refusing to leave her post.

Speaking to Good Morning America on Monday the Chancellor said of the schools current environment:

“I really feel confident at this point the university needs me.”

Katehi goes on to add:

“There are so many critical issues to be addressed and we really need to start the healing process and move forward.”

In the wake of the pepper spray incident which immediately went viral on YouTube the schools campus police chief has been put on administrative leave as were the two officers who were directly involved in the attack against protesters.

In a victory for protesters Katehi acknowledged that the protesters were not acting with any aggression prior to the pepper spray incident. The Chancellor did however appear at least in part to agree with her campus police in noting that the primary concern was that:

“It was a difficult situation for the campus to really strive to make sure the students are safe,” she said. “The biggest, most critical issue is the safety of the students who are using the campus, the facilities, who really want to learn in this environment.”

Police during the pepper spray incident said they couldn’t “get out” of the protest because the sidewalk was blocked however seconds before the incident occurred the officer who pepper sprayed the students easily stepped over a curled up student, a moment that was caught on tape from six different angles.

In a chilling event following the incident a large group of protesters waited outside of a UC Davis building for Katehi to head home at night, as she navigated her way through the throngs of students as they sat in silence to protest the pepper spray assault:

Do you think Linda Katehi needs to resign from her post or be ousted by the school’s governing board if she refuses to leave her post?

UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi Says University ‘Needs Her’ As Faculty Call For Her Resignation is a post from: The Inquisitr

Point, counterpoint.

[via Digg]

Fixed that for you, protest edition is a post from: The Inquisitr

The above photograph was taken in Washington DC in October 1967 and like another famous photograph from Kent State it became an iconic message of peace. The capture of a simple act of putting a flower in the barrel of the gun pointed at him became etched in the memories of a generation.

As horrifying as pictures of war can be they never seem to reach the same iconic status as those pictures of  standing up for the simple believe of freedom and peace. For the generation growing up in the shadow of the Internet and The Web the photo of one man before the tanks became on such photograph; and an ideal that became etched in our social memory.

In a generation that is growing up with questions about what privacy is, about what our rights are and all happening at speeds never before imagined one has to wonder if this last photograph will become a new generational iconic image.

image credits: Human Flower Project / Open Salon / Carlos Miller

Different generations, different tools, same wish: Peace is a post from: The Inquisitr

Forget healthcare. Let’s talk about what really matters.

[Flickr]

Best protest ever is a post from: The Inquisitr

They say that one picture is worth a thousand words. Well this picture is worth that and a lot more in my opinion.

via Technovia

One of the best pictures out of Iran is a post from: The Inquisitr