Internet Culture

Porn site SpankWire blocks logo but not the goods

Free porn sites don’t like SOPA either. But porn does not go down for the protest.

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Fernando Alfonso III

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Of all the content providers on the Internet, few stand to lose more than free porn websites.

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Sites like xhamster, redtube, and pornhub receive more than 43 million visitors a month combined, providing free, often user-submitted content, funded by advertising.

   

One porn site that’s been particularly vocal is SpankWire, which receives more than 35 million visitors a month. In solidarity with sites like Google, Spankwire has had its logo blacked out since November but like Twitter, the porn site did not go completely black.

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“SOPA is far from acceptable. Its definition is much too loose, its approach is flawed from the core, and many of its sponsors have publicly admitted technological ignorance,” wrote SpankWire in a statement provided to the Daily Dot. “Like most Internet companies, we believe that there are more intelligent and targeted ways to shut down rogue websites without censoring the internet as a whole.”

About two months ago the porn industry found allies on Reddit, where they were eloquently dubbed “porn patriots.” In a recent front page post, redditors urged their community to message more than 20 different porn sites to join them in blackout out their sites. Most declined such action but one in particular, The Big List of Porn, faded out all its links “to show what could be lost,” said Greg from TBLOP in a statement provided to the Daily Dot.

“I am completely against both of these bills,” Greg said. “Hopefully together we can stop this before it becomes law.”

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The Daily Dot