Technology TED Talks

What we’re doing about PIPA/SOPA: Talking about it

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Today, several of our favorite websites are going dark or blacking out their homepages to raise awareness of two bills, in the US House and Senate, that threaten people’s ability to share on the web. In the past week, we’ve pondered what TED.com should be doing to help raise awareness of the PIPA and SOPA bills, and concluded that our best option was to do what we do best: share knowledge.

So we’ve lined up two TEDTalks today, to cover two important facets of this issue.

This morning, we’re posting a powerful TEDx talk from Mikko Hypponen. Last summer, Mikko talked to us about cybercrime. Now, at TEDxBrussels, he takes on a broader topic: threats to the web as we know it — threats to our privacy, our data, our ability to network. Some of those threats come from criminals, and some from government. But the takeaway is: The web is ours to defend.

And we are premiering a brand-new talk from Clay Shirky. Yesterday, Clay came in to the TED office to share his thoughts about what PIPA/SOPA means to our shareable world. And he delivered a proper manifesto — a call to defend our freedom to create, discuss, link and share, rather than passively consume. The video is being edited right this minute, and we’ll post it as soon as we can.

Let us know what you think.

UPDATE: See the comments below for more great suggestions of TEDTalks and TEDxTalks that touch on this issue.