Major League Gaming's home page, mlgpro.com, was among the websites taking part today in a voluntary blackout to protest the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives and its Senate counterpart the Protect IP Act (PIPA). Numerous large sports and entertainment entities have lent support to SOPA and PIPA, including MLB, the NFL, ESPN, the USTA and USOC. But an upswell of online entities have countered that the proposed anti-piracy legislation, as currently written, is overly broad and could force some independent outlets to cease operations.
"I understand and support the desire to curb piracy, but the legislation as it stands now is so wide in its potential consequences, that it’s not worth the risk," said MLG CEO Sundance DiGiovanni. "Streaming and grassroots news are very important, obviously, to what we do and gaming in general that what we're trying to do is educate our fanbase, and encourage them to read up on the legislation and become better informed." Other sports sites, including SB Nation and Baseball Reference, did not shutter content today but issued anti-SOPA and anti-PIPA statements, and in some cases, blacked out their logos similar to how Google.com appears today.
Vox Media, SB Nation's parent entity, released a statement that reads in part: "Dealing with SOPA will cost us time, money, and energy that would be better spent serving our readers with quality journalism and empowering our communities with innovative technology. Whatever heightened protection SOPA might offer to content owners is not worth that price."
