NY Tech Meetup Hosts Protest Against Sopa @Portfolio

“How many of you are working at companies that are hiring?” asked Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian of the crowd of an estimated 2,000 protestors who gathered outside the midtown Manhattan offices of Chuck Schumer and Katherine Gillibrand to protest their sponsorship the Protect IP Addresses Act (PIPA), the Senate's version of SOPA.

Hundreds of hands went up in the air, many belonging to employees at tech companies and startups throughout the New York area as well, presumably as entrepreneurs launching new businesses.

“Look at all the companies America that are looking to hire Americans right now!” continued Ohanian. “Sign up for Codecademy, learn how to program, this industry is hiring, it is innovating, and it is doing things to get this economy and America going again. And yet we have legislation that is threatening to stop it.”