Sopa

Internet defenders, assemble! Months after the success of the virtual protests against the SOPA online piracy bill, the nonprofit group Fight for the Future is forming the Internet Defense League -- an organization of people who support Internet freedom and have pledged to fight for it using whatever powers they have. "The Internet Blackout was just the beginning," the league founders write on a Web page announcing the project. "Together, our websites and personal networks can mobilize the planet to defend the Internet from bad laws and monopolies.

It's blackout time for Wikipedia in Russian. On Tuesday, the Russian version of Wikipedia went dark for 24 hours to protest a bill making its way through the Russian parliament that Wikipedia says could "create real censorship of the Internet" in the country. Wikimedia, the nonprofit that oversees Wikipedia, said that the law would make it possible to create "a thing like the great Chinese firewall," giving the Russian government control over the blacklisting and filtering of sites.

In spite of their hopes, Internet activists are finding that their efforts to keep the digital world free of further regulation did not end with SOPA's defeat. The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011 is working its way through Congress, and is the latest proposed legislation to raise concerns among privacy activists. Introduced in November by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), the stated goal of CISPA is to create new channels for communication between government intelligence entities and private firms regarding potential and emerging cyber-security threats.

Internet defenders, assemble! Months after the success of the virtual protests against the SOPA online piracy bill, the nonprofit group Fight for the Future is forming the Internet Defense League -- an organization of people who support Internet freedom and have pledged to fight for it using whatever powers they have. "The Internet Blackout was just the beginning," the league founders write on a Web page announcing the project. "Together, our websites and personal networks can mobilize the planet to defend the Internet from bad laws and monopolies.

In the first strike of its kind, thousands of popular sites such as Wikipedia, Reddit and Boing Boing shut down for up to 24 hours Wednesday to protest a pair of federal antipiracy bills that they said amounted to censorship of the Internet. The online grass-roots campaign is directed at the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act, which aim to crack down on foreign websites that traffic in pirated movies, music and counterfeit goods. To protest the bills before they go to a vote, pages on Wikipedia's English language encyclopedia site have gone dark and now feature a short note that tells visitors to "Imagine a World Without Free Knowledge.

Watching mastodons of commerce do battle with each other can be awfully entertaining, as long as one's vantage point is well out of trampling range. The contest unfolding in Washington between a coalition of entertainment conglomerates and drug companies on the one hand and Google and its fellow Internet giants on the other, however, is of more than academic interest. Too much is at stake. The fight is over a pair of bills designed, theoretically, to shut down "rogue websites" devoted to pitching pirated or counterfeit movies, music, medicines and other goods at American consumers from overseas.

It's blackout time for Wikipedia in Russian. On Tuesday, the Russian version of Wikipedia went dark for 24 hours to protest a bill making its way through the Russian parliament that Wikipedia says could "create real censorship of the Internet" in the country. Wikimedia, the nonprofit that oversees Wikipedia, said that the law would make it possible to create "a thing like the great Chinese firewall," giving the Russian government control over the blacklisting and filtering of sites.

Watching from China, where web censorship is practically a national hallmark, some can't help but smirk and crack jokes about the controversy raging over Internet freedom in the U.S. “Now the U.S. government is copying us and starting to build their own firewall,” wrote one micro-blogger, relating China's chief censorship tool to the U.S. plan to block sites that trade in pirated material. The Relevant Organs , an anonymous Twitter account (presumably) pretending to be the voice of the Chinese communist leadership, quipped: “Don't understand the hoopla over Wikipedia blackout in the U.S. today.

Total time: 2 hours, 10 minutes Servings: 6 Note: Crustacean shells (shrimp, lobster or crab) give this soup real depth of flavor, so, if possible, choose shrimp with heads and shells. 1 pound whole, small shrimp 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided 2 leeks, chopped 1 onion, chopped 1 carrot, chopped 1/4 cup brandy 1/2 cup white wine 8 cups simple fish stock, divided 1 cup diced tomatoes Pinch of ground cayenne pepper Salt to taste Pinch of crushed saffron threads 2 slices toasted bread, broken into pieces 1 1/2 pounds boneless monkfish, cut into 1-inch pieces and/or lobster chunks 1/2 pound Manila or littleneck clams (or ¼ cup shucked clams)

A foodie rite of passage here in Los Angeles is to walk the pupusa mile: that stretch of Beverly Boulevard where Koreatown's northeastern fringe pans to a scramble of auto services, a hostess club or two, and Central American restaurants and bakeries. This is the old-guard Salvadoran restaurant row, but these days a new wave of restaurants is revealing a wealth of regional dishes beyond that well-trod corridor. The pupusa may be El Salvador's national dish, but Sonsonate Grill , El Santiagueño and Mis Raices , located in two lesser-known Salvadoran enclaves — between the Vernon-Main neighborhood and Jefferson Park in central L.A., and an area straddling Lake Balboa and Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley — are showcasing recipes worthy of their greatest culinary symbol, the delectable izote flower.

Total time: 2 hours, 10 minutes Servings: 6 Note: Crustacean shells (shrimp, lobster or crab) give this soup real depth of flavor, so, if possible, choose shrimp with heads and shells. 1 pound whole, small shrimp 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided 2 leeks, chopped 1 onion, chopped 1 carrot, chopped 1/4 cup brandy 1/2 cup white wine 8 cups simple fish stock, divided 1 cup diced tomatoes Pinch of ground cayenne pepper Salt to taste Pinch of crushed saffron threads 2 slices toasted bread, broken into pieces 1 1/2 pounds boneless monkfish, cut into 1-inch pieces and/or lobster chunks 1/2 pound Manila or littleneck clams (or ¼ cup shucked clams)

In spite of their hopes, Internet activists are finding that their efforts to keep the digital world free of further regulation did not end with SOPA's defeat. The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011 is working its way through Congress, and is the latest proposed legislation to raise concerns among privacy activists. Introduced in November by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), the stated goal of CISPA is to create new channels for communication between government intelligence entities and private firms regarding potential and emerging cyber-security threats.

The derailing of long-sought legislation to combat digital piracy is a troubling sign for the entertainment industry, whose insider lobbyists were routed by technology companies armed with the brute-force power of the Internet. Tech still lags behind Hollywood in campaign contributions, but its leaders showed this week that they could mobilize opposition against bills that threatened the Web's wide-open borders. Lawmakers' ears were still ringing Thursday from the thousands of calls and emails that flooded Capitol Hill on Wednesday, the day Wikipedia led about 10,000 websites in a blackout to protest the legislation.

Wikipedia went dark for a day. Google hid its logo under a black shroud. And hundreds of other websites darkened their pages temporarily in a massive, coordinated protest against a pair of bills that would step up enforcement of copyrights and trademarks. Wednesday's demonstration provoked such an intense backlash against the Protect IP Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act (better known as PIPA and SOPA) that by the end of the week, more than 100 lawmakers had declared their opposition and both bills had been placed on hold.

Watching from China, where web censorship is practically a national hallmark, some can't help but smirk and crack jokes about the controversy raging over Internet freedom in the U.S. “Now the U.S. government is copying us and starting to build their own firewall,” wrote one micro-blogger, relating China's chief censorship tool to the U.S. plan to block sites that trade in pirated material. The Relevant Organs , an anonymous Twitter account (presumably) pretending to be the voice of the Chinese communist leadership, quipped: “Don't understand the hoopla over Wikipedia blackout in the U.S. today.

In the first strike of its kind, thousands of popular sites such as Wikipedia, Reddit and Boing Boing shut down for up to 24 hours Wednesday to protest a pair of federal antipiracy bills that they said amounted to censorship of the Internet. The online grass-roots campaign is directed at the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act, which aim to crack down on foreign websites that traffic in pirated movies, music and counterfeit goods. To protest the bills before they go to a vote, pages on Wikipedia's English language encyclopedia site have gone dark and now feature a short note that tells visitors to "Imagine a World Without Free Knowledge.

Dear SOS: I wonder if you could check your files for a recipe I've partially lost--Sopa de Albondigas. I have only the first four ingredients, starting with three-quarters of a pound each of ground beef and pork. Thanks. --KATHY Dear Kathy: Thank you for noting some of the ingredients. They helped us locate the exact recipe from the vast file of soups. Actually, Sopa de Albondigas is one of those terrific soups to keep in mind for open-house entertaining.

DEAR SOS: I've had many different kinds of tamales, but my favorite has to be the green corn tamales at El Cholo on Western Avenue. Could you possibly get the recipe? --MARY DEAR MARY: El Cholo's chef, Roberto Juarez, sent us this recipe, which we tested and enjoyed. And just in time for the holiday season, when tamales are a tradition for some in Southern California.

Most people probably haven't paid much attention to the huge corporations waging war in Washington over legislation designed to crack down on online theft of movies, music and other content. But the conflict will hit consumers in the face Wednesday, when Wikipedia and a number of other websites intend to go dark to protest the proposed changes. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales announced Monday that the hugely popular online encyclopedia would be unavailable for 24 hours to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act and related legislation, which opponents say could lead to censorship or the complete shutdown of some websites.

Watching mastodons of commerce do battle with each other can be awfully entertaining, as long as one's vantage point is well out of trampling range. The contest unfolding in Washington between a coalition of entertainment conglomerates and drug companies on the one hand and Google and its fellow Internet giants on the other, however, is of more than academic interest. Too much is at stake. The fight is over a pair of bills designed, theoretically, to shut down "rogue websites" devoted to pitching pirated or counterfeit movies, music, medicines and other goods at American consumers from overseas.