Social Media Giants Try to Stop STOP

Image by The U.S. National Archives via FlickrThe Stop Online Piracy Act ("STOP")[H.R.3261], which aims to allow intellectual property holders to ward off infringing foreign Websites, has drawn spirited opposition from a Who's Who of social media behemoths, including Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Yahoo, AOL, eBay and Zynga, according to Findlaw's Technologist blog.

The social media moguls fear STOP will curtail job-creation and promote censorship. The measure would, among other things, empower the Attorney General to obtain court orders requiring ISPs to block access to offending Websites, prevent ISPs, advertisers and credit card companies from servicing infringing Websites if requested by a rights holder, and remove the safe harbor provision of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) that shield ISPs acting in good faith.

Facebook, Google et al. want continued protection under the DMCA, which they consider the "cornerstone of the U.S. Internet and technology industry's growth and success." Proponents of STOP argue the bill would facilitate the purchase of content and goods from legitimate Websites by users because it would block counterfeit sites.

Wrinkled Facebook?

Image via CrunchBaseAdam Hochberg had an interesting article today citing a new survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project that found seniors age 74 and older are among the fastest growing demographic group on social network sites, including Facebook and LinkedIn.

The Pew study concluded 16 percent of Internet users in that elderly age group visit social media sites, compared to only 4 percent of Web users 74 and older who were devotees in 2008. Further evidence of increased senior Web surfing, according to Hochberg, is found on the Facebook page of  AARP (formerly, the American Association of Retired Persons), which boasts more than 20,000 followers and a recently enhanced Web site that is social networking-friendly.

Apparently, the AARP site hosts more than 900 discussion groups, though "TUOL" wonders if it's actually just one discussion group that members keep forgetting they've already created. The news isn't all good for online "oldies" as the eons.com networking site, that was specifically created for those age 46 and older, recently jettisoned most of its staff.