Flickr joins SOPA protests, allows users to darken photos

PanARMENIAN.Net - Online photo sharing site Flickr joined the growing number of web companies protesting the SOPA and PIPA legislation, which now include Google, Wikipedia, Reddit, Mozilla, and others, TechCrunch reports.

For a 24-hour period, Flickr is letting its members darken their own photos in an effort to raise awareness about the legislation. But that’s not all – Flickr is going a step further, and will allow users to darken other members’ photos, too, the report says.

Congress is considering two bills, the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, which would effectively censor the web. They’re the result of seriously misguided attempts to fight online piracy, which, if enacted, would eliminate due process and fundamentally change how the Internet works.

Flickr’s solution for awareness-raising is one of the more creative, according to TechCrunch. Instead of taking its whole website down, as Wikipedia did, it’s allowing members to practice, and feel the effects of web censorship directly. Anyone can darken their own photos, but the kicker is that others’ can darken your own photos, too. That’s something that hits closer to home than web banners, blog posts, andcute videos.

Flickr’s announcement says members can only darken up to 10 photos, then the option will be taken away.