Wikipedia to go dark Wednesday in protest against SOPA, PIPA

Wikipedia to go dark Wednesday in protest against SOPA, PIPA

content.usatoday.com

Joining the protest against two proposed federal Internet regulation bills, Wikipedia's English-language site will be blacked out for all of Wednesday, co-founder Jimmy Wales announced on Twitter today.

Beginning at midnight ET on Jan. 18, visitors will see a protest message for 24 hours, Wales tweeted. The move will affect 30 million to 40 million users, he said, correcting an initial figure of 100 million.

"This is going to be wow," read one of his tweets.

Related News Links:
redtape.msnbc.msn.com
Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
How SOPA (as written) might kill ATS and free speech online (UPDATED)
Boycott SOPA: An Android app that terrifies publishers and politicians

edit on 16-1-2012 by DancedWithWolves because: (no reason given)

edit on 16/1/2012 by ArMaP because: source link corrected

Thank you Wikipedia. This is a bold stand and very much a worthy stand. SOPA and PIPA are the wrong solution for trying to stop movie piracy. That legislation, if enacted, will kill the internet.

ATS members have been amazing in their unity of thought that SOPA and PIPA must be stopped. No website is its brother's keeper.

The internet is where we meet and freely exchange views, information and insight with our cyber neighbors. Let's keep it that way.

Congress faces much too steep a learning curve to pass any additional legislation without gaining more understanding of the world wide web neighborhood.

Scrub SOPA
Send PIPA packing

Awesome, I hope a few more big name sites do the same.. youtube? google? twitter?

Props to Wikipedia!

Good. They should put all the US senators/congressman phone numbers on their protest page so people call them to oppose those bills.

Every big site on the internet needs to do this...

Google, youtube, facebook, twitter... That would be neat.

Yeah , let's see this pick up the pace and snowball , more of the big boys need to jump into the maelstrom of SOPA for sure .

i also believe this is a good move..

and i also think other sites like google should do it too.

.... i was having trouble thinking of more websites,,,,but when i really think about it, most of them are probably already owned by people who WANT SOPA approved.

facebook? na
yahoo? na
youtube? maybe

the more (temporary) blackout the better, this needs to be advertised on TV for all the idiot-box watchers to see too

reply to post by Vitchilo


SOPA Opera: Where Do Your Members of Congress Stand on SOPA and PIPA?

Well-funded interests on either side of SOPA and PIPA are lining up support among members of Congress. This database keeps track of where members of Congress stand. Findings are based on two factors: whether a member is a sponsor of the proposed bills, and each member's voting record on the current bills' precursors and alternatives.

Source

Oh....this is just wrong....boo twitter.

CEO of Twitter Calls SOPA Protest ‘Foolish’

Dick Costolo the CEO of Twitter, is calling the planned shutting down of multiple major sites on January 18th as a protest against SOPA as Foolish.

He made the comment in reply to Jay Rosen’s tweet, stating that Wikipedia will be going dark on the 18th to protest SOPA.

Dick, seriously....

Sometimes it's worth giving a "twit" about a thing or two...

I'm so disappointed in that reaction from Twitter's CEO. It shows the difference between decisions made by community discussions like Wikipedia held and decisions made top down. That top down approach is so last century Dick. And I won't be tweeting about it either.


techfleece.com...

What's the deal? The White House opposes the bill and Congress has dropped it.

He's dead, Jim.

Source

reply to post by schuyler


Congress has not dropped it. PIPA (not the cute sister) is alive and well in the Senate.

The House has put SOPA on ice until they say they have more consensus...

She's ticking.

From your source -

While SOPA may be on the back burner for now, a similar bill called the Protect IP Act (PIPA) is still working its way through the Senate.

Congress seems to also have some experience in Cryonics and Defib.

reply to post by DancedWithWolves


The irony is that twitter could be shut down because of SOPA yet Costolo doesn't seem to understand, and thinks it's "stupid" to protest something that could ruin his business....

Originally posted by DancedWithWolves
reply to post by schuyler

 

Congress has not dropped it. PIPA (not the cute sister) is alive and well in the Senate.

The House has put SOPA on ice until they say they have more consensus...

She's ticking.

From your source -

While SOPA may be on the back burner for now, a similar bill called the Protect IP Act (PIPA) is still working its way through the Senate.

Congress seems to also have some experience in Cryonics and Defib.

edit on 16-1-2012 by DancedWithWolves because: (no reason given)

It's on life support and waiting for someone to pull the plug.

reply to post by schuyler


Well I weigh about 110 so by all means the more tugging the merrier. Bet Murdoch hasn't seen the red shirt he's wearing punching his tricorder in his own twitter war.

May your words be the fat lady's premonition.

Peace.

what's going on with Rockafeller's internet bill?, anyone know?

reply to post by DancedWithWolves


Good, more power to them! Their sister website, Uncyclopedia, is also blacking its front page (uncy is a satire site which looks like wikipedia and has many thousands of very good articles and thousands of horrible ones). Many others will be joining them. Wikipedia's participation should make global news all day Wednesday.

(I first posted this on a newer thread which will probably be directed here. Viva wikipedia!)

Who cares?Wikipedia?Really?One of the most unreliable sites on the internet? Not news.Not surprised it's on ATS though.

Originally posted by ReadyPower
Awesome, I hope a few more big name sites do the same.. youtube? google? twitter?

Props to Wikipedia!

Andddddddddddddddddd my point has been proven with this post.Bye bye youtube,google,wikipedia...and oh my god,no not TWITTER! What ever will the world do without you? Give me a break!!

Originally posted by DancedWithWolves
Oh....this is just wrong....boo twitter.

CEO of Twitter Calls SOPA Protest ‘Foolish’

Dick Costolo the CEO of Twitter, is calling the planned shutting down of multiple major sites on January 18th as a protest against SOPA as Foolish.

He made the comment in reply to Jay Rosen’s tweet, stating that Wikipedia will be going dark on the 18th to protest SOPA.

Dick, seriously....

Sometimes it's worth giving a "twit" about a thing or two...

I'm so disappointed in that reaction from Twitter's CEO. It shows the difference between decisions made by community discussions like Wikipedia held and decisions made top down. That top down approach is so last century Dick. And I won't be tweeting about it either.


techfleece.com...

edit on 16-1-2012 by DancedWithWolves because: (no reason given)

i hate selfish pricks like this that has no idea how this bill could affect them in the future. i don't tweet but now this gives me a good reason not to start.

Originally posted by nightstalker78

Originally posted by ReadyPower
Awesome, I hope a few more big name sites do the same.. youtube? google? twitter?

Props to Wikipedia!

Andddddddddddddddddd my point has been proven with this post.Bye bye youtube,google,wikipedia...and oh my god,no not TWITTER! What ever will the world do without you? Give me a break!!

you are missing the point. sites that people recognize and use everyday need to get their messages across. when this bill passes, it gives the doj the power to shut down any site they please. jesus, are you stupid or what?

I'm all for this. Its not just the internet but multiple other industries will be affected, including the gaming industry. Big companies like Nvidia, AMD, Bethesda, Blizzard have all signed against this.