The English version of Wikipedia will shut down for 24 hours in protest of SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) beginning at 05:00 UTC on Wednesday, January 18, 2012.
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Eng ... A_blackout
Well, Wikipedia is only going to stage a 24 hour blackout. Yes, it's going to be inconvenient, but I support the 24 hour blackout in protest against the upcoming possible legislation by the House of Representatives and the US Senate.English Wikipedia anti-SOPA blackout
To: English Wikipedia Readers and Community
From: Sue Gardner, Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director
Date: January 16, 2012
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 (you can read the statement from the Wikimedia Foundation here). The blackout is a protest against proposed legislation in the United Statesâ??the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the PROTECTIP Act (PIPA) in the U.S. Senateâ??that, if passed, would seriously damage the free and open Internet, including Wikipedia.
This will be the first time the English Wikipedia has ever staged a public protest of this nature, and itâ??s a decision that wasnâ??t lightly made. Hereâ??s how itâ??s been described by the three Wikipedia administrators who formally facilitated the communityâ??s discussion. From the public statement, signed by User: NuclearWarfare, User: Risker and User: Billinghurst:
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 â??blackoutâ? 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.
In making this decision, Wikipedians will be criticized for seeming to abandon neutrality to take a political position. Thatâ??s a real, legitimate issue. We want people to trust Wikipedia, not worry that it is trying to propagandize them.
But although Wikipediaâ??s articles are neutral, its existence is not. As Wikimedia Foundation board member Kat Walsh wrote on one of our mailing lists recently.
We depend on a legal infrastructure that makes it possible for us to operate. And we depend on a legal infrastructure that also allows other sites to host user-contributed material, both information and expression. For the most part, Wikimedia projects are organizing and summarizing and collecting the worldâ??s knowledge. Weâ??re putting it in context, and showing people how to make to sense of it.
But that knowledge has to be published somewhere for anyone to find and use it. Where it can be censored without due process, it hurts the speaker, the public, and Wikimedia. Where you can only speak if you have sufficient resources to fight legal challenges, or, if your views are pre-approved by someone who does, the same narrow set of ideas already popular will continue to be all anyone has meaningful access to.
The decision to shut down the English Wikipedia wasnâ??t made by me; it was made by editors, through a consensus decision-making process. But I support it.
Like Kat and the rest of the Wikimedia Foundation Board, I have increasingly begun to think of Wikipediaâ??s public voice, and the goodwill people have for Wikipedia, as a resource that wants to be used for the benefit of the public. Readers trust Wikipedia because they know that despite its faults, Wikipediaâ??s heart is in the right place. Itâ??s not aiming to monetize their eyeballs or make them believe some particular thing, or sell them a product. Wikipedia has no hidden agenda: it just wants to be helpful.
Thatâ??s less true of other sites. Most are commercially motivated: their purpose is to make money. That doesnâ??t mean they donâ??t have a desire to make the world a better placeâ??many do!â??but it does mean that their positions and actions need to be understood in the context of conflicting interests.
My hope is that when Wikipedia shuts down on January 18, people will understand that weâ??re doing it for our readers. We support everyoneâ??s right to freedom of thought and freedom of expression. We think everyone should have access to educational material on a wide range of subjects, even if they canâ??t pay for it. We believe in a free and open Internet where information can be shared without impediment. We believe that new proposed laws like SOPA â??and PIPA, and other similar laws under discussion inside and outside the United Statesâ?? donâ??t advance the interests of the general public. You can read a very good list of reasons to oppose SOPA and PIPA here, from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Why is this a global action, rather than US-only? And why now, if some American legislators appear to be in tactical retreat on SOPA?
The reality is that we donâ??t think SOPA is going away, and PIPA is still quite active. Moreover, SOPA and PIPA are just indicators of a much broader problem. All around the world, weâ??re seeing the development of legislation seeking to regulate the Internet in other ways while hurting our online freedoms. Our concern extends beyond SOPA and PIPA: they are just part of the problem. We want the Internet to remain free and open, everywhere, for everyone.
On January 18, we hope youâ??ll agree with us, and will do what you can to make your own voice heard.
Sue Gardner,
Executive Director, Wikimedia Foundation
I'm sure it's mostly Republicans in both houses who are behind the legislation to impose censorship on the Internet.
They just can't stand the fact that ordinary citizens can have so much free access to information and knowledge. Yeah! It really sticks in their craw! Doesn't it?
RIGHT ON!We support everyoneâ??s right to freedom of thought and freedom of expression. We think everyone should have access to educational material on a wide range of subjects, even if they canâ??t pay for it.
I remember back in the 1980s during the Reagan Administration, when there was a lot of hoo-rah on the NEWS about book censorship, and the attempts by right-wing Christian Fundamentalists to have certain books removed from school and even public libraries.
I love public libraries because they are a source of FREE information and knowledge.
I also remember asking someone back in the 1980s, a person who sympathized with the religious right "What if I want to read a certain book and it's no longer available in my local public library?" and he answered that if I wanted to read a book bad enough that I should order it and pay for it, and if a book was too expensive for me, then TOO BAD!!!
He also said, I can get free answers from the Bible!
Well, FUCK THAT!!!
I believe information and knowledge should be available FOR FREE!!!
Another thing I love about the Internet, is that, if a particular book is not available in your local public library, you can access it online, and even copy it to a CD or DVD disc for your own personal reading pleasure.
Yeah! This really pisses off the Republicans!
Way back in the 1960s when I was in the 5th grade, I got into an argument with my teacher over an Astronomy book that he would not allow me to check out from the library, and he dragged me out into the hallway, and bashed my head against the corner of the concrete block wall as he pushed me back.
Too bad there was no Internet back in those days.
Now, the Republicans want to impose censorship on the Internet.
I feel like I'm getting my head bashed against the wall again!
The Republicans fear the Internet, and they fear the science education available on the Internet, because they fear that their religion is going to die because of the Internet.
Well, the Republicans can just take a hike, go off and live in the woods somewhere, and thump their little Bibles 'til their heart's content.
FUCK 'EM!!!
I'm fat and sassy! I love to sing & dance & stomp my feet & really rock your world!
