If Google and Facebook were to demonstrate that power once, on an issue that most of their users will agree with, the industry would get a lot more respect in D.C.
More seriously, Facebook alone doing a single-day blackout would be powerful. I guess its a question of how much money they'd be losing by doing it.
That said, it'd be in their best interest to stop this now, because even if this doesn't impact them, slowly but surely the laws will be amended to apply to everyone.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c112:1:./temp/~c112dI2...:
(a) Definition- For purposes of this section, a foreign Internet site or portion thereof is a `foreign infringing site' if--
(1) the Internet site or portion thereof is a U.S.-directed site and is used by users in the United States;
(2) the owner or operator of such Internet site is committing or facilitating the commission of criminal violations punishable under section 2318, 2319, 2319A, 2319B, or 2320, or chapter 90, of title 18, United States Code; and
(3) the Internet site would, by reason of acts described in paragraph (1), be subject to seizure in the United States in an action brought by the Attorney General if such site were a domestic Internet site.
`foreign infringing site' = "if such site were a domestic Internet site"
The only reasonable response to that is WTF.
I would imagine a two-phase approach: phase one would be the black-bar-type-doodle logo, phase two would be shutting things down. Whether phase two would happen would depend on how likely the bill is to pass, how well phase one went, and how much it would cost to police if it passed.
The Internet companies hold even much more power then traditional mass media. They just don't realize it.
most American voters will have forgotten
about it by then
An analogy would be a voter refusing to vote because representatives are not representing the voter. Self-reinforcing view (or exiology).
Are you meaning to endorse congress restricting or regulating such influence?
I'd see that as a far worse threat than SOPA. (Maybe you don't disagree.)
If such conservative influence against congress was regulated, then the reputation cost of such blackouts would rise a lot due to the perception that such interests are trying to influence congress. ergo, uneconomical to blackout.
It's lazy because the answer is so painfully obvious: we don't want corporates to have such strength. But they do. In fact, this is pretty much the only real way to have any lasting effect right now. So should we keep on a downward spiral out of some misplaced principle and poor understanding of what hypocrisy actually is or should we use the only tool potentially available to use to affect change?
Sometimes the best way to fight fire is with fire, sometimes the best way to weaken lobbying is through lobbying.