Imagine a World
Without Free Knowledge

For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open internet. For 24
hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia. Learn more.

SOPA and PIPA - Learn more
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
< Wikipedia:SOPA initiative


About the action

The Wikipedia community has blacked out the English version of Wikipedia for 24 hours on January 18th to raise awareness about legislation being proposed by the U.S. Congress the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the U.S. Senate -- and to encourage readers to speak out against it. This legislation, if
passed, will harm the free and open Internet. If you are in the United
States, let your congressional representative know what you think of the proposed legislation by clicking here.

The blackout will last 24 hours - from midnight to midnight EST (05:00
UTC Wed to 05:00 UTC Thu).

This decision was made by Wikipedias global community of editors -- the people who built Wikipedia. The Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit organization that operates Wikipedia, also opposes SOPA and PIPA, and
supports the editors' blackout.

SOPA and PIPA are real threats to the free and open Internet. Although recent media reports have suggested that the bills are losing support, they
are not dead. On January 17th, SOPA's sponsor said the bill will be discussed and pushed forward in early February. PIPA could be debated in the U.S.
Senate as soon as next week. There is a need to send a strong message that bills like SOPA and PIPA must not move forward: they will cause too much damage.

Although the bills have been amended since their introduction, they are still deeply problematic. Among other serious problems in the current draft
of the bills, the requirement exists for US-based sites to actively police links to purported infringing sites. These kinds of self-policing activities are non-sustainable for large, global sites - including ones like Wikipedia. The legislative language is ambiguous and overly broad, even though it
touches on protected speech. Congress says it's trying to protect the rights
of copyright owners, but the "cure" that SOPA and PIPA represent is worse
than the disease.

$ The Millionaire $
Park Avenue Place
Surrey, B.C., Canada Û  Û


---
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Re: Wikipedia
By: The Millionaire to All on Tue Jan 17 2012 21:24:13

As much as I support that action, not being able to access Wikipedia today has surprisingly been annoying. I think I've tried 8 times, on automatic, to look something up before the black screen reminded me it wasn't available. Hopefully SOPA doesn't pass and things like that won't become permanent problems.
Though, I did read an article today that said SOPA was being suspended indefinitely.. http://www.games.on.net/article/14675/SOPA_Shelved_Until_Consens us_is_Found

---
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Hi Interloper,

As much as I support that action, not being able to access Wikipedia today has
surprisingly been annoying. I think I've tried 8 times, on automatic, to look something up before the black screen reminded me it wasn't available. Hopefully
SOPA doesn't pass and things like that won't become permanent problems. Though, I did read an article today that said SOPA was being suspended indefinitely.. http://www.games.on.net/article/14675/SOPA_Shelved_Until_Consens
us_is_Found

Wikipedia's leadership team are playing a fine line between being the
most trusted and comprehensive knowledge resources and playing in US
politics. Do we want our encyclopedias to have poilitical views?

--
Cheers,
Alex Kemp (ajk) telnet://norbertbbs.org

---
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Re: Wikipedia
By: Interloper to The Millionaire on Wed Jan 18 2012 02:08 pm

Re: Wikipedia
By: The Millionaire to All on Tue Jan 17 2012 21:24:13

As much as I support that action, not being able to access Wikipedia today h surprisingly been annoying. I think I've tried 8 times, on automatic, to loo something up before the black screen reminded me it wasn't available. Hopefu SOPA doesn't pass and things like that won't become permanent problems. Though, I did read an article today that said SOPA was being suspended indefinitely.. http://www.games.on.net/article/14675/SOPA_Shelved_Until_Cons us_is_Found

Hope it stays that way otherwise they will shut the whole internet down eventually.

$ The Millionaire $
Park Avenue Place
Surrey, B.C., Canada Û  Û


---
þ Synchronet þ Park Avenue Place - parkave.synchro.net

Re: Re: Wikipedia
By: Ajk to Interloper on Wed Jan 18 2012 06:44 pm

Hi Interloper,

As much as I support that action, not being able to access Wikipedia today surprisingly been annoying. I think I've tried 8 times, on automatic, to l something up before the black screen reminded me it wasn't available. Hope SOPA doesn't pass and things like that won't become permanent problems. Though, I did read an article today that said SOPA was being suspended indefinitely.. http://www.games.on.net/article/14675/SOPA_Shelved_Until_Co us_is_Found

Wikipedia's leadership team are playing a fine line between being the
most trusted and comprehensive knowledge resources and playing in US politics. Do we want our encyclopedias to have poilitical views?

--
Cheers,
Alex Kemp (ajk) telnet://norbertbbs.org

Already does. They have political writeups in their encyclopedia system.

$ The Millionaire $
Park Avenue Place
Surrey, B.C., Canada Û  Û


---
þ Synchronet þ Park Avenue Place - parkave.synchro.net

On 19/01/2012 5:44 AM, Ajk wrote:

Hi Interloper,

As much as I support that action, not being able to access Wikipedia
today has
surprisingly been annoying. I think I've tried 8 times, on automatic,
to look
something up before the black screen reminded me it wasn't available.
Hopefully
SOPA doesn't pass and things like that won't become permanent problems.
Though, I did read an article today that said SOPA was being suspended
indefinitely..
http://www.games.on.net/article/14675/SOPA_Shelved_Until_Consens
us_is_Found

Wikipedia's leadership team are playing a fine line between being the
most trusted and comprehensive knowledge resources and playing in US politics. Do we want our encyclopedias to have poilitical views?

Well I read the "community" perspective on this somewhere, recently.
Normally they'd like to stay neutral, which yes, I'd consider a good
thing, but this could cause an ASSLOAD of hassle for Wikipedia to
function effectively. They cite everything you can think of, and have
images and sound files for anything imaginable, and I'd wager a guess
that most of it would be unlicensed material, used under fair use
legislation. SOPA could put a brick through that window.

--
Interloper
www.kyletowns.com

---
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On 19/01/2012 8:19 AM, The Millionaire wrote:

Re: Wikipedia
By: Interloper to The Millionaire on Wed Jan 18 2012 02:08 pm

> Re: Wikipedia
> By: The Millionaire to All on Tue Jan 17 2012 21:24:13
>
> As much as I support that action, not being able to access Wikipedia today h
> surprisingly been annoying. I think I've tried 8 times, on automatic, to loo
> something up before the black screen reminded me it wasn't available. Hopefu
> SOPA doesn't pass and things like that won't become permanent problems.
> Though, I did read an article today that said SOPA was being suspended
> indefinitely.. http://www.games.on.net/article/14675/SOPA_Shelved_Until_Cons
> us_is_Found
>
Hope it stays that way otherwise they will shut the whole internet down eventually.

$ The Millionaire $
Park Avenue Place
Surrey, B.C., Canada �  �

---
� Synchronet � Park Avenue Place - parkave.synchro.net

I never liked the smell of the Occupy movement.. too socialist for me.
But this I can get behind.

--
Interloper
www.kyletowns.com

---
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Re: Wikipedia
By: Interloper to The Millionaire on Wed Jan 18 2012 14:08:03

Hey Interloper,

As much as I support that action, not being able to access Wikipedia today surprisingly been annoying. I think I've tried 8 times, on automatic, to something up before the black screen reminded me it wasn't available.
SOPA doesn't pass and things like that won't become permanent problems. Though, I did read an article today that said SOPA was being suspended indefinitely..

The next time this happens, you might be able to access the cached pages from google. An example cached wikipedia page:

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=wikipedia%20gonad&source=web&cd=1&ved= 0CCgQIDAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwebcache.googleusercontent.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dcache% 3AhGDdtXs2vE4J%3Aen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FHuman_gonad%2Bwikipedia%2Bgonad%26cd %3D1%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Duk&ei=p9oXT_X6BdPW8QO9q827Cw&usg=AFQjCNGw3udl tdoVT-7ujiKM_dW9zg91TA&sig2=vMB8QoQE6PnLdHnZGlZh8g

Bit.ly'd: http://bit.ly/yCmvsz

Hope that helps,

art@fatcatsbbsdotcom

---/ desafortunadamente :: fortune cookie /---
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"Poker? That a game of some sort?"
-- Doctor Mendoza and Riker in ST:TNG "The Price"

---
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Re: Re: Wikipedia
By: Ajk to Interloper on Wed Jan 18 2012 06:44 pm

Hi Interloper,

As much as I support that action, not being able to access Wikipedia today surprisingly been annoying. I think I've tried 8 times, on automatic, to l something up before the black screen reminded me it wasn't available. Hope SOPA doesn't pass and things like that won't become permanent problems. Though, I did read an article today that said SOPA was being suspended indefinitely.. http://www.games.on.net/article/14675/SOPA_Shelved_Until_Co us_is_Found

Wikipedia's leadership team are playing a fine line between being the
most trusted and comprehensive knowledge resources and playing in US politics. Do we want our encyclopedias to have poilitical views?

--
Cheers,
Alex Kemp (ajk) telnet://norbertbbs.org

It's not a political view. When you are fighting for your right to exist, it is no longer a political issue.

Wikipedia feels the that this bill is a direct threat to their existance. In fighting this threat, they are not taking a political position, but one of
self defence.


---
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Re: Wikipedia
By: art to Interloper on Thu Jan 19 2012 08:57:17

The next time this happens, you might be able to access the cached pages fro google. An example cached wikipedia page:

Disabling javascript in my browser took care of it for me, although that got to be too annoying, so I just went without Wikipedia for a day. :|

echicken
electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com - 416-273-7230

---
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Hi,

It's not a political view. When you are fighting for your right to exist, it is no longer a political issue.

Wikipedia feels the that this bill is a direct threat to their existance. In fighting this threat, they are not taking a political position, but one of self defence.

I really don't see the problem - we live in a global economy and if the
US government are stupid enough to limit the activities of Wikipedia to function then they can just leave the country. No problem. Many other countries (including the UK) would welcome this organisation with open
arms. I am very disaponinted that Wikipedia have become so involved in
US domestic politics.

--
Cheers,
Alex Kemp (ajk) telnet://norbertbbs.org

---
þ Synchronet þ Norbert BBS - norbertbbs.org

Re: Re: Wikipedia
By: Ajk to Boraxman on Thu Jan 19 2012 08:01 pm

Hi,

It's not a political view. When you are fighting for your right to exist, is no longer a political issue.

Wikipedia feels the that this bill is a direct threat to their existance. fighting this threat, they are not taking a political position, but one of self defence.

I really don't see the problem - we live in a global economy and if the
US government are stupid enough to limit the activities of Wikipedia to function then they can just leave the country. No problem. Many other countries (including the UK) would welcome this organisation with open
arms. I am very disaponinted that Wikipedia have become so involved in
US domestic politics.

--
Cheers,
Alex Kemp (ajk) telnet://norbertbbs.org

Is this going to affect DM's listing on Wiki too?

$ The Millionaire $
Park Avenue Place
Surrey, B.C., Canada Û  Û


---
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Re: Wikipedia
By: Interloper to The Millionaire on Wed Jan 18 2012 02:08 pm

Re: Wikipedia
By: The Millionaire to All on Tue Jan 17 2012 21:24:13

As much as I support that action, not being able to access Wikipedia today has surprisingly been annoying. I think I've tried 8 times, on automatic,
to look something up before the black screen reminded me it wasn't available. Hopefully SOPA doesn't pass and things like that won't become permanent problems. Though, I did read an article today that said SOPA was being suspended indefinitely.. http://www.games.on.net/article/14675/SOPA_Shelved_Until_Consens
us_is_Found

Sorry to hear you didn't find one of the many workarounds to the blackout, which Wikipedia made particularly easy in case of a "wikipedia emergency" (a concept I find a bit terrifying to be honest...). All the blackout was was a javascript that brought you to their anti-SOPA page. Disabling Javascript in your browser, using NoScript (firefox) or NotScripts (chrome/chromium) would have solved your problem, as would using their mobile site, which was unaffected. This wasn't the case with all of the sites engaging in the blackout, but Wikipedia was set up in such a way as that I had to whitelist their scripting just to even notice it was blacked out.

Anyway, they didn't say this outright (though it was pointed out in various media sources), so I can't blame you for not stumbling upon it as i did. I might suggest using Noscript/Notscripts though, as they're quite handy to ensure avoiding malicious or other unwanted javascript from running in your browser...

cykros
Discordia BBS: An apple a day keeps the goddess at play...fnord. telnet://discordia.dyndns.info

---
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Re: Re: Wikipedia
By: Ajk to Interloper on Wed Jan 18 2012 06:44 pm

Wikipedia's leadership team are playing a fine line between being the
most trusted and comprehensive knowledge resources and playing in US politics. Do we want our encyclopedias to have poilitical views?

--
Cheers,
Alex Kemp (ajk) telnet://norbertbbs.org

Well, I'd certainly hope any traditional encyclopedia would be morally opposed and outspoken against a regime that was attempting to burn books... Wikipedia stepping up to defend the Internet is hardly any different in that regard. I'm glad they don't get involved in politics normally (frankly, I can see some other areas that I might not be opposed to, but also don't blame them for maintaining professional silence about), but in this case, it was a matter of the very medium they use for their existence being threatened. That's not politics; it's self-preservation.

Piracy is a problem (and to those who don't agree with me based on "industry" cases we've grown weary of, consider cases where the GPL is violated by companies attempting to use open-source GPL code in a proprietary product). SOPA/PIPA, however, were/are NOT an acceptable answer, given the amount of damage they do to the very essence of the Internet. This is a little off topic, but I might suggest checking out an effort known as OPEN ( http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2399070,00.asp ), which is a much more tolerable attempt at curbing piracy/counterfeit products while maintaining the infrastructure of the Internet.

cykros
Discordia BBS: An apple a day keeps the goddess at play...fnord. telnet://discordia.dyndns.info

---
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Re: Wikipedia
By: Cykros to Interloper on Thu Jan 19 2012 09:13 pm

Re: Wikipedia
By: Interloper to The Millionaire on Wed Jan 18 2012 02:08 pm

Re: Wikipedia
By: The Millionaire to All on Tue Jan 17 2012 21:24:13

As much as I support that action, not being able to access Wikipedia toda has surprisingly been annoying. I think I've tried 8 times, on automatic, to look something up before the black screen reminded me it wasn't available. Hopefully SOPA doesn't pass and things like that won't become permanent problems. Though, I did read an article today that said SOPA wa being suspended indefinitely.. http://www.games.on.net/article/14675/SOPA_Shelved_Until_Consens us_is_Found

Sorry to hear you didn't find one of the many workarounds to the blackout, which Wikipedia made particularly easy in case of a "wikipedia emergency" (a concept I find a bit terrifying to be honest...). All the blackout was was javascript that brought you to their anti-SOPA page. Disabling Javascript i your browser, using NoScript (firefox) or NotScripts (chrome/chromium) would have solved your problem, as would using their mobile site, which was unaffected. This wasn't the case with all of the sites engaging in the blackout, but Wikipedia was set up in such a way as that I had to whitelist their scripting just to even notice it was blacked out.

Anyway, they didn't say this outright (though it was pointed out in various media sources), so I can't blame you for not stumbling upon it as i did. I might suggest using Noscript/Notscripts though, as they're quite handy to ensure avoiding malicious or other unwanted javascript from running in your browser...

cykros
Discordia BBS: An apple a day keeps the goddess at play...fnord. telnet://discordia.dyndns.info

Why would I hack an open source site to begin with? Open source sites are run by community groups just you and I are on Dove-Net.

$ The Millionaire $
Park Avenue Place
Surrey, B.C., Canada Û  Û


---
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Re: Re: Wikipedia
By: Ajk to Boraxman on Thu Jan 19 2012 08:01 pm

Hi,

It's not a political view. When you are fighting for your right to exist, is no longer a political issue.

Wikipedia feels the that this bill is a direct threat to their existance. fighting this threat, they are not taking a political position, but one of self defence.

I really don't see the problem - we live in a global economy and if the
US government are stupid enough to limit the activities of Wikipedia to function then they can just leave the country. No problem. Many other countries (including the UK) would welcome this organisation with open
arms. I am very disaponinted that Wikipedia have become so involved in
US domestic politics.

--
Cheers,
Alex Kemp (ajk) telnet://norbertbbs.org

Wikipedia have little choice. They have to get involved. You can't stay neutral in a manner like that.

---
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Re: Re: Wikipedia
By: Boraxman to Ajk on Fri Jan 20 2012 07:24 pm

Re: Re: Wikipedia
By: Ajk to Boraxman on Thu Jan 19 2012 08:01 pm

Hi,

It's not a political view. When you are fighting for your right to exi is no longer a political issue.

Wikipedia feels the that this bill is a direct threat to their existanc fighting this threat, they are not taking a political position, but one self defence.

I really don't see the problem - we live in a global economy and if the US government are stupid enough to limit the activities of Wikipedia to function then they can just leave the country. No problem. Many other countries (including the UK) would welcome this organisation with open arms. I am very disaponinted that Wikipedia have become so involved in
US domestic politics.

--
Cheers,
Alex Kemp (ajk) telnet://norbertbbs.org

Wikipedia have little choice. They have to get involved. You can't stay neutral in a manner like that.

Neither do blogs either.

$ The Millionaire $
Park Avenue Place
Surrey, B.C., Canada Û  Û


---
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Ajk wrote to Interloper <=-

@VIA: VERT/NORBERTB
@MSGID: <4F17132C.1015.dove-int@norbertbbs.org>
@REPLY: <4F16D243.1014.dove-int@norbertbbs.org>
Hi Interloper,

As much as I support that action, not being able to access Wikipedia today

has

surprisingly been annoying. I think I've tried 8 times, on automatic, to

ook

something up before the black screen reminded me it wasn't available.

Hopefull

y

SOPA doesn't pass and things like that won't become permanent problems. Though, I did read an article today that said SOPA was being suspended indefinitely..

http://www.games.on.net/article/14675/SOPA_Shelved_Until_Consen

s

us_is_Found

Wikipedia's leadership team are playing a fine line between being the
most trusted and comprehensive knowledge resources and playing in US politics. Do we want our encyclopedias to have poilitical views?

No. Political facts are fine but I live in America not Korea.

--
Cheers,
Alex Kemp (ajk) telnet://norbertbbs.org

---
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Ajk wrote to Boraxman <=-

@VIA: VERT/NORBERTB
@MSGID: <4F1876BA.1024.dove-int@norbertbbs.org>
@REPLY: <4F180687.1449.dove-int@bbs.mozysswamp.org>
Hi,

It's not a political view. When you are fighting for your right to exist,

t

is no longer a political issue.

Wikipedia feels the that this bill is a direct threat to their existance.

n

fighting this threat, they are not taking a political position, but one of self defence.

I really don't see the problem - we live in a global economy and if the
US government are stupid enough to limit the activities of Wikipedia to function then they can just leave the country. No problem. Many other countries (including the UK) would welcome this organisation with open arms. I am very disaponinted that Wikipedia have become so involved in
US domestic politics.

Its not just a wikipedia issue, its a country wide issue. Wikipiedia has so many viewers as well as stakes within the US they can easily make this issue known to many people and specially those connecting to their site. Most bills on the floor I have no clue about, but when google chimed in with a petition for me to click, I quickly became aware and I was able to voice my opinion. That matters to internet users in the US at the IP level, not just wikipedia. I'm glad they have their hands on this issue because I don't agree with the two bills.

--
Cheers,
Alex Kemp (ajk) telnet://norbertbbs.org

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Cykros wrote to Ajk <=-

@VIA: VERT/ERIS
@MSGID: <4F18CF1D.1027.dove-int@discordia.dyndns.info>
@REPLY: <4F17132C.1015.dove-int@norbertbbs.org>
Re: Re: Wikipedia
By: Ajk to Interloper on Wed Jan 18 2012 06:44 pm

Wikipedia's leadership team are playing a fine line between being the
most trusted and comprehensive knowledge resources and playing in US politics. Do we want our encyclopedias to have poilitical views?

--
Cheers,
Alex Kemp (ajk) telnet://norbertbbs.org

Piracy is a problem (and to those who don't agree with me based on

Piracy was for something long ago and had no concept of a globally interconnected community with a medium that can be readily duplicated with perfection and re-used similarly to how I can copy a formula and reuse it or learn a song in my head and repeat it (spread information). I'm certain if I could copy a bar of gold or other element or even food for that matter to feed the world nobody would stand for it to be stopped by who in my view are similar to the mob. 0101 is really easy to copy. "Piracy" as it is termed with computers will never ever ever ever ever go away, and trying to stop it is a waste of time and resources. Its been tried over and over again, so some folks want to put people in jail for the bits on my computer in my home on my hardware that I own. So lame. I hope the idea of copying and sharing evolves and the others die out.

"industry" cases we've grown weary of, consider cases where the GPL is violated by companies attempting to use open-source GPL code in a proprietary product). SOPA/PIPA, however, were/are NOT an acceptable answer, given the amount of damage they do to the very essence of the Internet. This is a little off topic, but I might suggest checking out
an effort known as OPEN ( http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2399070,00.asp ), which is a much more tolerable attempt at curbing piracy/counterfeit products while maintaining the infrastructure of the Internet.

cykros
Discordia BBS: An apple a day keeps the goddess at play...fnord. telnet://discordia.dyndns.info

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