Wikipedia Mulls Total Blackout to Oppose SOPA

Cerpin Taxt · 12-12-2011, 09:00 PM

http://torrentfreak.com/wikipedia-mu...orrentfreak%29

Quote:

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales wants to blank out all pages of the online encyclopedia to oppose the pending SOPA anti-piracy bill in the US. Wales, who has asked the Wikipedia community for input on the idea, fears the bill could seriously hurt the Internet and thinks that blanking out Wikipedia will send a strong message to lawmakers.

Later this week, the Senate’s House Judiciary Committee will vote on the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA).

Supporters of the bill say it’s needed to safeguard the interests of rightsholders who claim their businesses are threatened by online piracy. Those opposing are worried that the unprecedented censorship tools it introduces will take out many websites on baseless or faulty claims of copyright infringement.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales belongs to the latter group, and behind the scenes he is mulling plans to blank out all Wikipedia pages in protest against the pending SOPA bill. On Saturday he posted a message on his user page asking the community for input on the idea.

Wales explains that the idea of a ‘self-censorship’ protest is inspired by a campaign the Italian Wikipedia community ran earlier this year.

“A few months ago, the Italian Wikipedia community made a decision to blank all of Italian Wikipedia for a short period in order to protest a law which would infringe on their editorial independence. The Italian Parliament backed down immediately,” he writes.

“As Wikipedians may or may not be aware, a much worse law going under the misleading title of ‘Stop Online Piracy Act’ is working its way through [the Senate] on a bit of a fast track.”

“I may be attending a meeting at the White House on Monday along with executives from many other top Internet firms, and I thought this would be a good time to take a quick reading of the community feeling on this issue.”

By blanking out one of the most-visited sites on the Internet, the Wikipedia founder believes the community can send a strong message to their representatives in Washington. With billions of pageviews a month, a Wikipedia protest will definitely be noticed.

“My own view is that a community strike was very powerful and successful in Italy and could be even more powerful in this case,” Wales says.

The response from Wikipedia users to Wales’ plan has been overwhelmingly supportive. However, several users also placed critical notes and wondered whether Wikipedia is the right platform for a political protest.

“I oppose the legislation, but that’s a political view. I don’t ever want Wikipedia to take a political view, no matter how much I agree with it,” Ntsimp writes for example.

Others think that blanking out entire pages might not be an ideal solution, and call for alternative forms of protest such as displaying a black background.

In an update today, Wales responds to some of the points raised in response to the idea. However, he still stands behind the blanking out protest and says that something has to be done quickly before the bill is rammed through in Washington.

“Time is not on our side here,” he says.

Yes please!

Roach · 12-12-2011, 10:37 PM

I like the sentiment, but American businesses will insist that the bill will pass.

Italy doesn't lose much money due to piracy.

So I doubt the scenario is the same, and hence would not have the same effect.

Couldn't hurt to try it tho.

Terry · 12-12-2011, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roach

Italy doesn't lose much money due to piracy.

Yea but neither do we.

fenderbender · 12-12-2011, 11:18 PM

love it

of course others will follow suit as well.

Roach · 12-13-2011, 12:32 AM

Quote:

Yea but neither do we.

Well I don't personally.

but movie producers/financiers lose a few nickles here and there.

and I suppose some music money is lost.

I actually believe any loss from piracy should be written off as advertising.

But when some countries make their own business out of pirated materials, the dollar amounts lost are greatly increased.

eldizle · 12-13-2011, 05:34 AM

actually, i only see the appeals for donations at the tops of the article pages-if this is something we can send in letters of support, or take a poll, feel free to link to it, because my stoned ass is not finding it anywhere.

~1~ · 12-13-2011, 07:45 AM

國會不得制定的任何法律，尊重設立宗教或禁止自由的行使;或剝奪言論自由或新聞自由; ，或人民的權利，和平集會和向政府請願伸冤的。

And yes, I consider 'piracy' of ones and zeros free speech.

deadhead94 · 12-13-2011, 08:06 AM

Pirates are cool. Not as cool as robots, but cooler than ninjas.

sn00ze · 12-13-2011, 06:54 PM

Go wiki ! this may work.... especially if other big sites follow suit.

Roach · 12-13-2011, 10:18 PM

everyone who uses torrents should be knowledgable.

http://torrentfreak.com/the-mysterio...g-site-100427/

BBC News - Net pirate monitoring firm hacked

there's also a new monitoring site I recently read about, I'll try to find.

always use a properly setup tor network for illegal downloads.

12-12-2011, 10:37 PM	#2 (permalink)
Roach Victoria Aut Mors Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7,184 Thanks: 2,372 Thanked 1,987 Times in 1,509 Posts	I like the sentiment, but American businesses will insist that the bill will pass. Italy doesn't lose much money due to piracy. So I doubt the scenario is the same, and hence would not have the same effect. Couldn't hurt to try it tho. __________________ לזיין את הקופים

12-13-2011, 07:45 AM	#7 (permalink)
~1~ Successful Failure Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: where 'they' can't see. Posts: 10,925 Thanks: 466 Thanked 1,581 Times in 925 Posts	國會不得制定的任何法律，尊重設立宗教或禁止自由的行使;或剝奪言論自由或新聞自由; ，或人民的權利，和平集會和向政府請願伸冤的。 And yes, I consider 'piracy' of ones and zeros free speech. __________________ "And those who are successful, be always on your guard. Success walks hand in hand with failure, along Hollywood Boulevard" Ray Davies --------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Click Here Asshole

12-13-2011, 10:18 PM	#10 (permalink)
Roach Victoria Aut Mors Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7,184 Thanks: 2,372 Thanked 1,987 Times in 1,509 Posts	everyone who uses torrents should be knowledgable. http://torrentfreak.com/the-mysterio...g-site-100427/ BBC News - Net pirate monitoring firm hacked there's also a new monitoring site I recently read about, I'll try to find. always use a properly setup tor network for illegal downloads. __________________ לזיין את הקופים

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12-13-2011, 05:34 AM	#6 (permalink)
eldizle Love. Share it. Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Inside a Microgram Scale Posts: 5,207 Thanks: 978 Thanked 591 Times in 423 Posts	actually, i only see the appeals for donations at the tops of the article pages-if this is something we can send in letters of support, or take a poll, feel free to link to it, because my stoned ass is not finding it anywhere.

12-13-2011, 06:54 PM	#9 (permalink)
sn00ze sn00ze Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 9 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Go wiki ! this may work.... especially if other big sites follow suit.

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