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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIn less than 6 hours, Wikipedia goes dark for a day
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 States the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the U.S. Senate 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 its a decision that wasnt lightly made. Heres how its been described by the three Wikipedia administrators who formally facilitated the communitys discussion. From the public statement, signed by User:NuclearWarfare, User:Risker and User:Billinghurst:
<more>
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/English_Wikipedia_anti-SOPA_blackout
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 States the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the U.S. Senate 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 its a decision that wasnt lightly made. Heres how its been described by the three Wikipedia administrators who formally facilitated the communitys 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 blackout 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.
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 blackout 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.
<more>
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/English_Wikipedia_anti-SOPA_blackout
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In less than 6 hours, Wikipedia goes dark for a day (Original Post)
krispos42
Jan 2012
OP
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)1. yep. other websites also. what about DU?
graywarrior
(59,440 posts)2. I was wondering about that today
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)5. DU should
but I am not sure of their stance on these issues.
They may support it. Not sure.
I believe I will give up Facebook for the day.
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)3. K and R (nt)
Robb
(39,665 posts)4. Whole lotta folks gonna seem a little dumber tomorrow. (nt)
Lint Head
(15,064 posts)6. This is good! Will give me a chance to concentrate on my song writing.
Or maybe finish reading the Mark Twain biography. Googlers will be lost.
I bet people will complaining to their IP's.
MadHound
(34,179 posts)7. A shame it's not for good.
While I appreciate the political protest that the Wiki folks are making, the fact of the matter is that the world would be better off without Wiki. It has directly contributed to intellectual laziness and dishonesty both in schools and out.
krispos42
(49,445 posts)9. If not Wiki, then Google would be doing it instead
At least with Wikipedia, you can go back and see all the edits from the article's creation. Try doing that with Google!
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)10. My point exactly! You can also see the sources as well. nt
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)8. Solamente en ingles
Busque en espanol manana.
http://es.wikipedia.org
EFerrari
(163,986 posts)12. I thought you were riffing on "Solamente una vez"
ThoughtCriminal
(14,049 posts)11. I guess I'll have to use Conservapedia for a day
And wake up extra special stupid.
krispos42
(49,445 posts)15. You mean you DON'T think that Jesus slaughtered the pagans while riding a dinosaur-drawn chariot?
HEATHEN!!!!!
Cal33
(7,018 posts)13. Yeah, we've got to fight back!
flamingdem
(39,328 posts)14. Also archive.org
would hate to lose that site