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On a day of protest that saw Web sites around the world go dark in opposition to the restrictions Stop Online Piracy (SOPA) bill would enact, more than 200 people gathered in San Francisco to rally against the legislation.
Dozens of hands went up when organizer Jonathan Nelson asked the crowd who would rather be coding. Start-up founders, programmers, and those just starting fledgling business are worried the legislation might cramp the creativity and growth of the Internet.
Tech celebrities like Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake, Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle, and representatives from Mozilla were on hand, along with MC Hammer, who urged lawmakers not to stifle artists and hinder creativity, but instead to "solve problems with technology, not against technology."
