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Wikipedia will be blacked out!

scotrace

Head Bartender
Staff member
Messages
14,392
Location
Small Town Ohio, USA
We are very much watching these pieces of legislation, which seem to be il-conceived, even if they target a real problem. It would certainly cause The Fedora Lounge to take a very hard look at whether or not we could continue to keep the doors open. our pockets are hardly deep. Heck, they hardly qualify as shallow. Convex maybe. So we would not be able to risk legal entanglements due to user-posted content.
Wikipedia has accomplished an applaudable goal: Angry, blocked users have taken to the phones and let the Congress know that they disapprove. And congresspeople do, indeed, listen to the folks back home.

As written, it would kill us.
 

sheeplady

I'll Lock Up
Bartender
Messages
4,479
Location
Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, USA
There's also a concern (because, frankly, the internet is a global phenomeon) that the legislation would have sweeping impacts all over the world. It wouldn't just be the US controlling the content created by or posted by or hosted by US citizens and residents, but it would also be the US government controlling, blocking, and impending users in other nations from accessing, building, and sharing content, including their own. Entire websites, no matter their origin, could be blocked from search engines if they violate SOPA.

In my opinion, it's actually two steps worse than the regulations placed on the internet in China. China's only interested in blocking and controlling what their own citizens see and create (and therefore "broadcast to the world"); they don't really care about trying to block what the rest of us see and create. We would be quite upset if they did.

The US shouldn't be able to dictate to the rest of the world what they get access to. It's ethnocentric and it's unethical.
 

DJH

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,355
Location
Ft Worth, TX
Am I the only one who finds that hilarious? Support the protest, but only to the point where it doesn't inconvenience you?

Not really; following the SOPA/PIPA link on the Wikipedia homepage leads to details of how to access the site.

As they say, they really just wanted to make sure everyone saw the message. More here
 

Jaguar66

A-List Customer
Messages
358
Location
San Rafael, CA
This was the statement on the page posted by Wikipedia.

Wikipedia said:
Is it still possible to access Wikipedia in any way? Yes. During the blackout, Wikipedia is accessible on mobile devices and smart phones. You can also view Wikipedia normally by disabling JavaScript in your browser, as explained on this Technical FAQ page. Our purpose here isn't to make it completely impossible for people to read Wikipedia, and it's okay for you to circumvent the blackout. We just want to make sure you see our message.
 
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Messages
13,460
Location
Orange County, CA
The looming spectre of SOPA/PIPA is already having an effect. While browsing YouTube I've noticed a lot of "This Video Has Been Removed by the User" lately.
 
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Feraud

Bartender
Messages
17,190
Location
Hardlucksville, NY
Glad to see it. Either people behave themselves on the internet or someone will do it for you.
Instead of running scared I'd like to think people are wising up and policing themselves.
 

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