Wikipedia 24 hour blackout in protest of SOPA

[JUL3]

​

Today, the Wikipedia community announced its decision to black out the English-language Wikipedia for 24 hours, worldwide, beginning at 05:00 UTC on Wednesday, January 18. The blackout is a protest against proposed legislation in the United States—the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the U.S. Senate—that, if passed, would seriously damage the free and open Internet, including Wikipedia

"It is the opinion of the English Wikipedia community that both of these bills, if passed, would be devastating to the free and open web.

Over the course of the past 72 hours, over 1800 Wikipedians have joined together to discuss proposed actions that the community might wish to take against SOPA and PIPA. This is by far the largest level of participation in a community discussion ever seen on Wikipedia, which illustrates the level of concern that Wikipedians feel about this proposed legislation. The overwhelming majority of participants support community action to encourage greater public action in response to these two bills. Of the proposals considered by Wikipedians, those that would result in a “blackout” of the English Wikipedia, in concert with similar blackouts on other websites opposed to SOPA and PIPA, received the strongest support.

On careful review of this discussion, the closing administrators note the broad-based support for action from Wikipedians around the world, not just from within the United States. The primary objection to a global blackout came from those who preferred that the blackout be limited to readers from the United States, with the rest of the world seeing a simple banner notice instead. We also noted that roughly 55% of those supporting a blackout preferred that it be a global one, with many pointing to concerns about similar legislation in other nations."

 

[Naph]

Exhilarating. I'm glad it's not just Reddit that is blacking-out.
Wonder if Facebook might do the same.

 

[Sloth]

I think Facebook would loose too much money and their target audience has no idea what SOPA really is.

Glad Wikipedia is doing it, should gain some strength against the bill

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

I would think they'd need to do longer than 24hours though. That's just me though. Doesn't seem like a good length. Cool that they are doing it though.

 

[Naph]

I think Facebook would loose too much money and their target audience has no idea what SOPA really is.

And the confirmed blacked-out sites don't lose money? Facebook following the blackouts would do the most damage to the act. Having an audience that 'has no idea' and possible the biggest audience, removing them would definitely get more attention to SOPA.
However to be reasonable, it wouldn't happen. The public wouldn't expect a black-out because it values those twenty-four hours so they have no real support.

Pity.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Oh no but what if I need to look up some semi-obscure band's discography tomorrow.

 

[The Monkey]

If only Twatter had followed suit...

 

[Raziaar]

I would think they'd need to do longer than 24hours though. That's just me though. Doesn't seem like a good length. Cool that they are doing it though.

Yeah. Do it for much longer.

 

[Sloth]

And the confirmed blacked-out sites don't lose money? Facebook following the blackouts would do the most damage to the act. Having an audience that 'has no idea' and possible the biggest audience, removing them would definitely get more attention to SOPA.
However to be reasonable, it wouldn't happen. The public wouldn't expect a black-out because it values those twenty-four hours so they have no real support.

Pity.

I just don't think that the values that underpin Facebook extend to something like this. It seems to be a venture for consumer information and advertising dollars rather than reddit or wikipedia, whose value systems are more about knowledge and entertainment. I think Facebook should do a blackout or some other action against SOPA, I just don't ever think they would

 

[Krynn72]

I demand an HL2.net blackout!

 

[Hectic Glenn]

The site is down often enough that it will probably coincide with the black out at some point.

 

[Dinnesch]

to black out the English-language Wikipedia

Yay, I will still be able to spend the 18th learning stuff I don't have to learn rather than stuff I do have to learn.

 

[Lucid]

I would be more impressed if sites like Yahoo and Google went down for 24 hours.

 

[Unfocused]

The site is down often enough that it will probably coincide with the black out at some point.

Hah, I was about to say the same. What's the deal with that BTW, it seems there's a few a month?

 

[AtomicSpark]

The site is down often enough that it will probably coincide with the black out at some point.

This.

Hah, I was about to say the same. What's the deal with that BTW, it seems there's a few a month?

Basically, the server is underpowered. Captain, she can't take any more!

 

[Vegeta897]

I've never seen Wikipedia down. Guess I don't use it enough.

/just finished spending an hour article hopping

 

[The Monkey]

Well, you can still use Simple English Wikipedia, right? That place is a laugh; trolling goes undetected for weeks.

 

[Sulkdodds]

Great god, we can all get work done tomorrow.

 

[sixteenth]

Great god, we can all get work done tomorrow.

Reddit and Wikipedia down?

This will be the most productive day ever.

 

[Tony]

Now who will do my essays for me?!

 

[PvtRyan]

I've never seen Wikipedia down. Guess I don't use it enough.

/just finished spending an hour article hopping

I was confused for a second too but then I realized Glenn meant HL2.net.

Also, hoping to see something by Google.

 

[Eejit]

Maybe tvtropes will follow suit, increasing global productivity drastically.

 

[JUL3]

This blackout is making me realise how much I rely on Wikipedia just for minor information about random crap. 3 times in the past hour I've searched for something in my Wikipedia search bar, read the first line and been redirected to the blackout page. Bizarre.

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

Maybe tvtropes will follow suit, increasing global productivity drastically.

Tvtropes is the bane of my existence.

 

[morgs]

If you press the 'x' before it goes to the blackout screen you can still browse normally.

 

[Moto]

Just use NoScript you nubs.

 

[Stylo]

Is it still possible to access Wikipedia in any way?

The Wikipedia community, as part of their request to the Wikimedia Foundation to carry out this protest, asked us to ensure that we make English Wikipedia accessible in some way during an emergency. The English Wikipedia will be accessible on mobile devices and smart phones. You can also view Wikipedia normally by completely disabling JavaScript in your browser

I did forget this was happening today and got the blackout screen when I searched, though. Heh.

 

[Bad^Hat]

It's weird to think that Wikipedia has become so integral that they need to put in something like that for "an emergency."

 

[ríomhaire]

Without wikipedia how will I learn useless facts like how Wales has a non-ridiculous flag that they don't use?

Also, I just learned that turning off javascript ****s up the forums.

 

[Vegeta897]

#mw-sopaOverlay {
display: none;
}

#content, #mw-head, #mw-panel, #mw-page-base, #mw-head-base, #footer {
display: block;
}

 

[ríomhaire]

I just disabled javascript for all of wikipedia.

 

[The Monkey]

When are you gonna change that Arthur C. Clarke, Rimfire? It's not very profound the 500th time you're reading it.

 

[Shem]

Did we already join in on the blackout? Everything on this forum resembles the night sky.

 

[mechanicallizard]

**** YOU WIKIPEDIA its midnight in europe end this shit so i can search again

 

[Vegeta897]

**** YOU WIKIPEDIA its midnight in europe end this shit so i can search again

There are several ways to circumvent the block. Google it.

 

[mechanicallizard]

Im still angry




Thank you

 

[AKIRA]

There are several ways to circumvent the block. Google it.

I think staying off of these sites will send a better message to everyone about the seriousness of this. Everyone seems to be posting alternatives but come on, it was "blacked out" for a reason.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

I was wondering why Wikipedia was still up, turns out that blocking shit GOT blocked by noscript. If I allowed "wikimedia" then it brings up the blackout message.

 

[Krynn72]

I think staying off of these sites will send a better message to everyone about the seriousness of this. Everyone seems to be posting alternatives but come on, it was "blacked out" for a reason.

Yeah, and that reason was to bring SOPA to your attention. If you know of the black out and are seeking workarounds then you likely know the reason of the black out, and thus the blackout has served its purpose. Its not like the act of not using the site is magically making you more aware of the issue.

 

[Stylo]

Yeah, and that reason was to bring SOPA to your attention. If you know of the black out and are seeking workarounds then you likely know the reason of the black out, and thus the blackout has served its purpose. Its not like the act of not using the site is magically making you more aware of the issue.

This ^ - Staying off the sites is akin to boycotting them, which isn't the point.