1. Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian won’t invest in Facebook due to its CISPA support [Published: May 7 2012]
Bring together two of the Internet’s biggest topics and the attention is obvious, especially when it concerns one of the men behind the ‘front page of the Internet’.
Following the ongoing issues around Web copyright and ownership issues, which raged in the US in late 2011 through SOPA and PIPA, CISPA (Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act) rose from the ashes to concern Web users across the US and the rest of the world.
At the same time, Facebook’s IPO was moving closer to being (little did we know how that would go), and the Menlo Park-based firm moved to support for the bill, that would give the US government new powers to secure their networks, turned Ohanian away from investing in the firm.
CISPA was seen by many as being too vague, with critics claiming authorities could use the powers to carry out a range of shady activity, such as spying. But, equally of interest, Ohanian’s decision sprouted a series of doubters who casted their ‘less positive’ opinions about the IPO.
I felt like one of the few voices on TV bearish about facebook on IPO day, visiting the studios of CNBC and BloombergTV to cover the countdown.