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One Per Cent: A New Scientist Blog

How to access Wikipedia during the SOPA blackout

Jacob Aron, technology reporter

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The Wikipedia protest against US anti-piracy laws is in full swing, with the site blacked out until 5 am GMT on 19 January. But while millions are realising they might have to reach for those dusty Encarta DVDs, those in the know can still access the web's favourite encyclopaedia. Here are our top five ways to get your Wiki fix.

Mobile

While those visiting Wikipedia on their desktop or laptop will see a black page (pictured above), mobile users can access the site as normal. That means you can also view the mobile site on your regular PC - just point your browser at http://m.wikipedia.org/ for full access, albeit in shrunk-down form. Wikipedia says this was done intentionally, to allow access "during an emergency".

Apps

A Wikipedia app for your phone is normally an optional extra for those who don't like using the mobile site. But apps for the Apple or Android smartphones and tablets also avoid the blackout, since they should work as normal. Some apps even download Wikipedia content to read offline, which makes them immune to any future downtime.

Disable JavaScript

If you visit Wikipedia on a slow connection during the blackout, you might catch a glimpse of the regular page before it switches to protest page - that's because Wikipedia's developers have used JavaScript to block the page when it finishes loading. Disable JavaScript in your browser and you can use the site as normal, though other websites might stop working too.

Search Google's cache

Google keeps its own copy of most of the web, including Wikipedia, in a cache. That means you can read Google's version of a Wikipedia page, although it may be slightly out of date.

To find it, start your Google search with site:en.wikipedia.org, then hover over the desired result. Click the arrow that appears on the right, then click "Cached" and you'll be taken to a stored version of the relevant Wikipedia page. Here's a cached version of the Wikipedia home page, if you're wondering what it looks like.

Learn a second language - or think simply

Foreign versions of Wikipedia aren't taking part in the protest, so you could try one of the hundreds of alternatives if you are able to read another language. Another option is the Simple English Wikipedia, a version of the encyclopaedia that uses only basic English words to make it more accessible. Your experience will be limited, though, because the Simple English site only has around 75,000 articles versus the main site's 3.8 million.

Protest over?

This many ways to get around the blackout might make the protest seem futile, but one important function remains offline no matter what you do: editing, the ability for anyone to contribute that made Wikipedia what it is today. As the Wikipedia FAQ explains, the goal isn't a comprehensive blackout, but rather "a historic, measured, temporary action in protest against specific legislation which threatens the free and open Internet and, by extension, Wikipedia."

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15 Comments

Or just press escape as soon as you see the main article body on a PC?

 

Don't you think this completely undermines the protest? You should be ashamed!

 

....or you could hit the F5 key and then keep pressing the Esc key until the page has finished loading!!

 

Yep, there are certainly ways to get around it, as there would be if SOPA was introduced. The tech savvy and people who do pirate would circumvent it.

Interestingly I'd wager that if New Scientist posted this guide to circumvent SOPA blocked sites it would be enough for it to be shut down itself.

 

If Wikipedia would be legally blocked, NewScientist would be in breach of SOPA for posting these workarounds :)

 

Completely nullifying the point of the blackout in the first place...

 

Or you could just press escape key before the SOPA banner loads.
It's easier then you think.

 

or just add ?banner=none after the URL...

 

@Robert Clifton & LJ: The point of the blackout wasn't to keep people from using Wikipedia, it was to draw peoples attention to SOPA in a noticeable fashion. Most of the tips above are actually found on a page linked from the page explaining the blackout ( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/English_Wikipedia_SOPA_blackout/Technical_FAQ ). They're trying to make a statement, not rid people of their access to information :P

 

You guys gave a reason for not buying New Scientist anymore.

 

Shame on you NS

 

Regardless, part of the idea was to get people to feel what it would be like to live without Wikipedia. If they can just run a quick Google to get around it, then that goes to waste. Shame!

 

All you do is press the little "x" button to stop loading the page on the browser to view the article.

The black-out seems pointless to me since it is so simple to still access the site.

 

This is just myopic herd journalism, a juvenile impulse to circumvent everything even if what you're circumventing is in place to benefit you in the long term? Think before you write anything in the future will you please.

 

We must anti SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and Protect IP (PIPA). They want to destroy Google, Facebook, Twitter, Hulu and Blog also. We'll lost more than 70% website/blog around the WorldWideWeb! Join Us to Anti SOPA and PIPA!

 
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