Wikipedia Plans Blackout to Protest SOPA: Is It a Good Idea?

by SodaHead News Posted 2012/01/17 14:00:00

Related Topics: Wikipedia, Wikipedia Blackout, Sopa, Stop Online Piracy Act, Reddit, Twitter, Costolo, Protest, Blackout, Legislation, Google, Facebook, Free, Student, United States, Online, Free Speech, Media, Video

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	Yes	1,010 votes	82%
	No	222 votes	18%

The great anti-SOPA blackout protest inspired by social news site Reddit is spreading. Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales warned students to do their homework early, because Wikipedia will be offline along with Reddit on Wednesday. The Stop Online Piracy Act has elicited concern from many of the largest websites in the world, like Google and Facebook, and this is how they plan to get the government's attention.

Wales wrote, "Today Wikipedians from around the world have spoken about their opposition to this destructive legislation. This is an extraordinary action for our community to take – and while we regret having to prevent the world from having access to Wikipedia for even a second, we simply cannot ignore the fact that Sopa and PIPA endanger free speech both in the United States and abroad, and set a frightening precedent of Internet censorship for the world."

But not everyone thinks the blackout is a good idea. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo tweeted in response, "That's just silly. Closing a global business in reaction to single-issue national politics is foolish." Critics point out that the act defies one of Wikipedia's self-described "core content policies": Neutral point of view.

+56

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Flamingolady 2012/01/17 14:18:35

Yes

+29
Unless everyone bows down to accept our government's attempt to control everything in your life, from privacy, to who you follow, to what websites you browse, then this is one way to fight the damned SOPA law. We have given up enough of our freedoms already. The founding fathers of this country must be rolling in their graves to see what is happening here today. And then there is the lightbulb debacle. Who wants mercury in their lightbulbs? Anyone??
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lafolle1404 2012/03/21 22:56:43

No

I say NO because if artists write a song and don't sell, they will lose their jobs and run out of money. I kn

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Firestartah 2012/02/12 21:12:47

Yes

DOWN TO SOPA!! <3

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TTT 2012/01/29 19:00:21

Yes

+1
It certainly helped prove a point...

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Nekogirl 2012/01/23 07:34:33

Yes

+1
heck yeah! I wont even touch my laptop tomorrow, (that's like not eating to me) lol

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PeW to Nekogirl 2012/01/23 21:20:31

+1
Just let them keep regulating and we won't need to use them anymore (computers, internet, etc.)

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Nekogirl to PeW 2012/01/24 03:56:33

+1
but I cant live without animes or music!!! and I see them in the interet!!! XD

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John Freeman 2012/01/23 03:09:47

Yes

+2
f*** SOPA, SOPA sucks

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josh 2012/01/22 21:25:10

Yes

+1
absoultely just the fact that discussion about sopa is spreading is a great sign. for a while there it looked like it would pass without even making headlines. now word spreading and before too long it'll be stopped completely.

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His Love 2012/01/22 15:35:27

Yes

+1
unfortuanetly it appears that is where the govt of US is heading- The internet is the most unsecured way of communicating. Invasion of privacy in more ways then one. It seems the motive is moving toward communism-dictatorship- inside and outside the box.
whether its a good idea or not? it will take the people to fight back - watch who your ip is it seems alot of them have been working with the invadors to shut down sites. The US gov't needs to attend to more serious issues- rather than invade trivial issues that threaten small and larger websites.

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Aran Smeallie 2012/01/22 12:17:03

Yes

good idea...meeeh more like an effective one, though i rather they didnt but opposition to SOPA is still acer in my books

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KitKat 2012/01/21 01:49:19

Yes

+1
We're doing what we gotta do! :P Bitch, give me my freedom and privacy back!

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kiki 2012/01/21 00:49:42

Yes

Well I love the idea if sopa continues it will block out most of the Internet

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Sabrena Heimes 2012/01/20 23:32:15

Yes

Anything to protest!

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Margaret Jacobson 2012/01/20 20:04:23

Yes

+2
FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...

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Rhio2k 2012/01/20 10:44:05

No

+2
Sopa is being pushed by people who don't understand or use the internet in the first place. It is advocated heavily by people who count everyone who doesn't purchase their product out of a simple wish to not be ripped off (nearly 20$ for an album with only 1 good song) as "lost revenue" when in fact they never had that revenue to begin with. Nobody is stealing money from these companies. Most downloaders couldn't care less about their product, but MANY end up buying the products, such as movies after trying them out and realizing they actually want them. They wouldn't have purchased the movie/s if they hadn't ad the chance to try them for free in the first place to realize they liked it. Mpaa can somewhat fix this by allowing more than just 2 minutes of random parts of films to be seen by people online. Let them rent the movie file from the studio before the dvd version becomes available for a small fee, for a 24-hour period upon completion of the download in a special video viewer you have to install, or make the video only viewable from the studio's website with a short-term access pass.

But why I said no is that the people who are greedily pushing for SOPA are the ones with the most money from people who buy CRAP without a care, and those who are against it are either afra...

Sopa is being pushed by people who don't understand or use the internet in the first place. It is advocated heavily by people who count everyone who doesn't purchase their product out of a simple wish to not be ripped off (nearly 20$ for an album with only 1 good song) as "lost revenue" when in fact they never had that revenue to begin with. Nobody is stealing money from these companies. Most downloaders couldn't care less about their product, but MANY end up buying the products, such as movies after trying them out and realizing they actually want them. They wouldn't have purchased the movie/s if they hadn't ad the chance to try them for free in the first place to realize they liked it. Mpaa can somewhat fix this by allowing more than just 2 minutes of random parts of films to be seen by people online. Let them rent the movie file from the studio before the dvd version becomes available for a small fee, for a 24-hour period upon completion of the download in a special video viewer you have to install, or make the video only viewable from the studio's website with a short-term access pass.

But why I said no is that the people who are greedily pushing for SOPA are the ones with the most money from people who buy CRAP without a care, and those who are against it are either afraid to say anything for fear of pissing off their funders (Capcom and other videogame companies), or simply don't have the influence to do anything about it. We need internet analysts to sit down at a congressional hearing and explain this to the technological dinosaurs and greedy old men who want to pass SOPA.
(more)

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josh to Rhio2k 2012/01/22 21:28:37

they dont understnad the internet but they do understand the danger in being against a popular movement. thats why some of the backers of the bill (bothe lobbyist and congressmen) have already denounced the bill.

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MadamAqua2100 2012/01/20 10:23:04

Yes

+1
I don't get why SOPA wants to do something so dim minded. Everyone that would be on Facebook shares links and, even myself, would have picture's of random things from a game or movie.

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EmoMcParland 2012/01/20 08:09:30

No

I don't have all the answers; I'm a guitarist and if I was good enough to make a CD; I would want to be paid for my work.i would be upset if one UC Davis student bought my music; and 200 have a copy. I don"t have a solution other than paying for what I listen to or watch.

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NoName to EmoMcPa... 2012/01/20 16:54:50

+1
So, you'd be upset if that happened - how does that justify SOPA?

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EmoMcPa... to NoName 2012/01/21 05:32:51

+1
It doesn't justify SOPA. I don't know how to regulate piracy. I know we don't want the government to be involved. thanks

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Cherry ... to EmoMcPa... 2012/01/21 11:50:51

what you may not be aware of is that SOPA has the potential to take the government and due process out of the picture and allow the Hollywood bigwigs the desired judicial power to control and block content on the internet without any restrictions.

~wish granted

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Nekogirl to EmoMcPa... 2012/01/23 07:32:04 (edited)

+1
I respect ur point, I wanna be a singer, but there are people that cant afford a disc so I would gladly make my music free, 'cause I do it from the heart, not to get paid

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Luke Warga 2012/01/20 04:56:09

No

nope. megaupload was just shut down by the feds. this will just lead up to SOPA

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travele... to Luke Warga 2012/01/20 11:58:24

+2
Googlel has just announced that if you don't post your real full name on your profile by July, it will be deleted. How hard is it to find out who your are from there? Whose side are they on? Google has never been my side.

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NoName to Luke Warga 2012/01/20 16:54:12

Even though those who THINK, unlike those still in our govt still pushing for SOPA, realizes that this recent event proves that SOPA is not needed - or at least supports the idea.

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Cherry ... to Luke Warga 2012/01/21 11:52:10

megaupload was shut down without help from SOPA. this cements the reality that we don't need more laws when the current ones are more than effective.

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GutReac... to Luke Warga 2012/01/25 20:51:27

From what I heard, SOPA wasn't needed. The feds just went out and did what they felt like and shut down Megaupload without due process anyway.
It's loike the mindset during the Bush years. "If the president does it, it's legal."

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Kristin Porter 2012/01/20 02:27:54

Yes

In regards to Wiki's, "Neutral point of view," that this bit comments on, Wiki can't exactly continue in that neutral point of view if they let the government shut them down. I think they're entitled to a little self-preservation and many a researching student would agree.

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Cherry ... to Kristin... 2012/01/21 11:53:51

wiki's neutrality is about it's content, not on it's impact.

SOPA threatens to eliminate that neutrality and it's impact.

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Artic_fox1 2012/01/20 01:14:42

Yes

sure it was a pain in not being able to wikipedia anything yesterday but atleast it lest people know what it would be like when and if we have to pay for the internet

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Terrance Earle 2012/01/20 00:12:55

Yes

I don't like the idea because I depend and love the site significantly! However that outcome proves that losing it to censorship would be far worse. I rather lose it for a day then my whole life!

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Nerusky1995 2012/01/19 21:55:05

No

Nope because i won't be able to use Piratebay anymore

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Persephone to Nerusky... 2012/01/20 03:31:02

+2
Pirate Bay is pretty much untouchable, they say so themselves. "SOPA can't do anything to stop TPB. Worst case we'll change top level domain from our current .org to one of the
hundreds of other names that we already also use." Link for their press release: http://static.thepiratebay.or...

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Rhio2k to Nerusky... 2012/01/20 10:47:13

+1
Why would you WANT to? It's a paysite now...PAY for torrents?! Go to hell. I can see paying for direct downloads (which are guaranteed), but for torrents, where seeders can drop out and you lose all chances of scoring that hard-to-find animated series you loved as a kid the 80's because of it?! Madness.

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dimitri to Nerusky... 2012/01/21 01:40:20

your answer and statement contradict themselves. if you want to use piratebay you should have answered yes.

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art1ej to Nerusky... 2012/01/21 22:06:39

i use it to but voting no means they can be taken down...

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brittany 2012/01/19 18:45:21

Yes

+1
Gosh I hope so but with the way that the gov is taking over I'm not too sure that it'll work

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Paul Turner 2012/01/19 18:12:05

Yes

+1
Censorship is alive and well on the internet. We do NOT need or want a further.
burying of alternative websites. I believe this is a "shock and awe" movement from
the puppet masters and while behind the scene, the search for valid alternate news will
continue to become harder to find whether or not such draconian laws are agreed
upon by our shadow government. The truths about history and health we now find
on the internet - be it text, video, or audio - need to be saved locally on our own
hardrives to be able to share in the future.

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Paul Tu... to Paul Tu... 2012/01/19 18:23:28

+1
We also need to be watchful for the Bills being renamed and stuck in some spending bill at further down the road...

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travele... to Paul Tu... 2012/01/19 19:29:27

We have to be on guard. And it may have been a partly good thing if it woke up enough people to band together and do something. They'll keep trying. We can count on it.

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