News Wikipedia Calls for Anti-SOPA Blackout Jan 18

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Wikipedia's planned blackout on January 18 is a protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), which many believe threatens online freedoms and could lead to censorship. Critics argue that the protest's extreme stance may alienate potential supporters, as some feel it oversimplifies complex issues surrounding internet regulation. The law, as proposed, could hold websites liable for user-uploaded content, risking their operation if they fail to remove infringing material. Supporters of the blackout, including Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, assert that the legislation could severely impact the platform's ability to function. The discussion highlights a broader concern about the balance between copyright enforcement and maintaining a free and open internet.
  • #91
jhae2.718 said:
On the contrary, it's tremendously entertaining. Just sit back, get some popcorn, and enjoy the show.

Oh, of course it's entertaining... unless you're one of the gladiators.
 
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  • #92
Char. Limit said:
Soooo glad I got out of this thread before it got crazy.

Has the blackout happened yet? They should do that every night about the same time, such that I know when to go to bed. :smile:
 
  • #93
OmCheeto said:
Has the blackout happened yet? They should do that every night about the same time, such that I know when to go to bed. :smile:

You've got half an hour. Oh, I can't wait to hear the shrieks of panic as millions of dumb teenagers try to go to Wikipedia for help to find out they can't...
 
  • #94
Char. Limit said:
You've got half an hour. Oh, I can't wait to hear the shrieks of panic as millions of dumb teenagers try to go to Wikipedia for help to find out they can't...

:smile: It will be a good day to assign a take-home essay assignment and not have to check if they plagiarized Wikipedia.

I do agree there are problems with the implementation of SOPA, particularly with not having any requirement for notification or appeal prior to shutting down a site. I have no problem with enforcing copyright laws and holding website owners responsible for the content on their site, just a problem when there's no due process prior to shutting down the site. Not every infringement claim gets held up in court.

On the other hand, I really don't know what Wikipedia thinks they will accomplish with this stunt of theirs. The world existed before Wikipedia and at best, this seems like it might demonstrate we can also still survive without it now. I think they'll do more to hurt themselves than anyone else.
 
  • #95
Char. Limit said:
You've got half an hour. Oh, I can't wait to hear the shrieks of panic as millions of dumb teenagers try to go to Wikipedia for help to find out they can't...

Eek!

Everyone save and upload your most important wiki page to your homepage.

That way, we'll know what's what in the morning.

I'll start!

wiki

uh oh.

I see bugs in the source code in this idea.

Time for bed.

:eek:
 
  • #96
Moonbear said:
On the other hand, I really don't know what Wikipedia thinks they will accomplish with this stunt of theirs. The world existed before Wikipedia and at best, this seems like it might demonstrate we can also still survive without it now. I think they'll do more to hurt themselves than anyone else.

It'll bring attention to the issue, and possibly get people to call their representatives. I guarantee there will be news stories on the protest, too.
 
  • #97
Moonbear said:
On the other hand, I really don't know what Wikipedia thinks they will accomplish with this stunt of theirs. The world existed before Wikipedia and at best, this seems like it might demonstrate we can also still survive without it now. I think they'll do more to hurt themselves than anyone else.

They show that they are against.

They show what might happen if someone posted copyrighted material on wikipedia.

If I understand correctly the owners of wikipedia could be held personally accountable for copyright infringements, which might force them to take wikipedia offline themselves.


It should give people something to think about.
 
  • #98
Jack21222 said:
It'll bring attention to the issue, and possibly get people to call their representatives. I guarantee there will be news stories on the protest, too.

But there have already been news stories on it, and anyone who cares enough to call their representatives probably already has. I don't think it's going to bring the issue more attention than it's already gotten; it's already been all over the news, spread around Facebook, etc.
 
  • #99
I like Serena said:
They show that they are against.
Okay, but they don't need to go offline to show that.

They show what might happen if someone posted copyrighted material on wikipedia.
Yes, but at the risk that people realize they can get the information in other ways, and it's not really the end of the world if they can't access Wikipedia.

If I understand correctly the owners of wikipedia could be held personally accountable for copyright infringements, which might force them to take wikipedia offline themselves.
I have no problem with that aspect. If the material IS infringing on someone else's work, the owners ARE ultimately responsible. It's sort of like the driver of the car is responsible if there are drugs in their vehicle when they get caught by the cops, even if it was a "friend" who left them there. My only concern is they have an opportunity to remedy the problem by removing the copyrighted works as soon as it is brought to their attention, but there are too many sites that just want to flaunt the law and post anything and everything, even if it isn't theirs to post. If it is left to them to take the site offline to ameliorate a problem, that's how it should be.


It should give people something to think about.
In what way? Seems more like a child throwing a temper tantrum...doesn't give anything to think about other than to ignore the child until they get over themselves.
 
  • #100
Moonbear said:
Okay, but they don't need to go offline to show that.

Actually... It's all my fault.

I was the one that didn't donate $5 before midnight.

:cry:
 
  • #101
Moonbear said:
Yes, but at the risk that people realize they can get the information in other ways, and it's not really the end of the world if they can't access Wikipedia.

I believe there is world shifting trend that on the internet volunteers labor to help people around the world without thought of profit.
Wikipedia is a strong example of this, and it already is the number one encyclopedic resource.
I for one think this is a good trend.

It would be a bad thing if volunteer initiatives like wikipedia were forcibly shut down, or if the founders themselves would shut it down in fear of persecution.

It's not the end of the world, but wikipedia would certainly be missed.
 
  • #102
Check out Google there is a petition drive against the laws. A big black rectangle covers the word GOOGLE. Click on the box and the petition form opens.
 
  • #103
And actually, I think that's a very pretty image.
wikiblackout20120117.2100.jpg

I'm of the B&W era.

Infinite shades of grey, can be so beautiful.

Night all! :smile:
 
  • #104
If anyone is concerned, you can simply disable javascript or press your browsers stop button before the wikipedia censor page loads to access the site during the blackout.
 
  • #105
Google:
sopa12_hp.png


Google said:
Tell Congress: https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #106
I've added a notice near the top of PF. Linking to the wiki page to contact reps.
 
  • #108
Greg Bernhardt said:
I've added a notice near the top of PF. Linking to the wiki page to contact reps.

Is it just for logged in users?
 
  • #109
jhae2.718 said:
Is it just for logged in users?

thanks, fixed
 
  • #110
Greg Bernhardt said:
I've added a notice near the top of PF. Linking to the wiki page to contact reps.

Thanks, Greg! Glad to know what side you stand on!
 
  • #111
Thanks Greg.

I think this should be the thread to list all of the sites either blacking out or putting a notice up.

The webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal at www.smbc-comics.com has this up:
"Having DB problems (or down for SOPA)"

Every post on 4chan is black text on a black background, to make it look as if it were censored.

I was expecting xkcd to do something, but no new comic has been posted... and it's an hour late.

Boardgamegeek (www.boardgamegeek.com) has changed their front page to a big anti-SOPA thing.

*edit* Actually, a long list can be found here: http://sopastrike.com/
 
Last edited:
  • #112
Evo said:
The law is to stop piracy, in other words *theft*, something that we do not condone here, as per our guidelines.

Software and Media Piracy is not *theft*, or at least not the same as traditional theft, in that the pirate does not deprive the owner of copyrighted material, of said material, but instead infringes on the copyright. This is not stealing. YOU WOULDN'T STEAL A CAR to quote the ad. No I would not, but I will copy a song, I have been copying songs my whole life, and you know what, I own more than 1000 vinyl records, 500+ CDs, nearly all of which I purchased new. They are not losing money when I copy a song, they are potentially making more profit from me when I decide I like it and purchase a hard copy in high fidelity. Now I may not be in the majority, but I have a couple of other thoughts here:

Real music fans tend to enjoy buying music from their favourite artists, as well as going to the live show, buying merchandise, and all that jazz. That is the music scene. I've been active in it for almost two decades now, and I throw money at it like it's going out of fashion, so do my friends, so do all the people that pack out the venues that host the bands we love.

Disposable pop is exactly what it sounds like. Disposable and popular. They should sell it in a way that reflects that. Really cheap. Rhianna is not making music for posterity, you will not show this crap to your grandchildren, sure she's ... doing something, and I guess she deserves to get paid, but for goodness sake, it's a $0.50 song AT MOST, make it so, make your profit on iTunes, and shut the hell up (Big Media).

Big Media needs to stop swimming against the torrent and embrace the internet for what it is, the most amazing marketing machine ever conceived. Make it cheap, make it easy, and continue swimming in your silo of money. Stop trying to ruin the whole world so you can squeeze the last billion dollars out of us, greedy bastards, its not like the artists are even going to see any of it. Oooooh, I hate them so much!

I hate them so much!
 
  • #113
Copyright infringement isn't theft. It's copyright infringement. Those things have formal, legal definitions and are not interchangeable. If you infringe on a copyright, you will be charged with copyright infringement, not larceny.

The crimes are related in the sense that the perpetrator obtains some property illegally, but they aren't the same crime.
 
  • #114
Hurkyl said:
When I see things like this, one of the first things I look for is whether they are taking a reasonable position, or if they are taking an infeasible cartoonish position.

If you are disappointed then I am not sure what you expected! Their goal is to capture the attention of millions of average people, inform them, and persuade them in the 5-10 seconds they are likely to spend on the page.

A splash page like they have would definitely not be the right place for a breakdown of what regulations they would or would not support.
 
  • #115
...and now it's turned into a google blackout...a google logo blackout that is.. :)
 
  • #116
What always gets to me is how unfairly the system is tilted in favour of the copyright mafia (or as some call them, the MAFIAA, parodying both the RIAA and the MPAA). Filesharers do something wrong - they go medieval on their posteriors. Academic hackers come up with interesting findings related to cryptographic schemes (which have implications on copy-protection) - like deCSS Jon and Dmitri Sklyarov - and they get shut down by ridiculous legislation like the US DMCA, and harassed by the law and the copyright MAFIAA alike.

But when the copyright MAFIAA does something egregiously, horribly wrong, like worming rootkits onto people's PCs, they get away with a mere slap on the wrist (except in some states like Texas).

It's not like the MAFIAA is zealously supporting the rights of artists, anyway - enough artists have already spoken out against them to demolish that myth.

Most of the really ridiculous copyright and copyright-related legislation comes out of the US - the DMCA, and now SOPA/PIPA. Customs and Border agents in the US and affiliated countries (the UK and Australia come to mind) can probe your laptop with impunity for porn and copyrighted material. The US also strongarms other countries into accepting near-facsimiles of US copyright legislation under the guise of the Free Trade Agreements. So, even if I'm not in the US, it does affect me. US policy affects the whole world.

So, please, guys - help nip ridiculous new legislation in the bud. DMCA was bad enough, now this new stuff enables the copyright MAFIAA to do far more with impunity than they were able to get away with before. This new law is going to be as ridiculous as prohibition. Problem is, people ultimately saw sense and prohi was repealed. With the way things seem to be going, I don't think we're going to be as lucky if SOPA is passed.

I support Wiki 100%.
 
  • #117
I've noticed a lot of talk about music and movies and such, but no one really has mentioned the fact that books can be pirated too. It's very easy to find PDFs, and even instructional videos on these sites. I paid over $200 dollars for a calculus book that was replaced by an updated edition the very next semester. And that's just for one class. Now really... who is and has been ripping off who?
 
  • #118
How can some student from a poor country buy a 200 dollars textbook while his father's salary does not exceed 100 dollars per month ??. They should better block porn not knowledge .Why not blocking porn websites ? They are more dangerous than downloading textbooks
 
  • #119
In case you guys haven't heard about it already via Twitter or Facebook if you press escape just as wikipedia opens you can get passed the blackout. I just tried it and it worked.
 

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