Wikipedia Goes Black in Protest of SOPA

From Mashable:

As announced, Wikipedia’s main page is “blackened” today in protest of the controversial Stop online privacy act (SOPA).

“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,” says the message on the page.

The actual articles on Wikipedia are actually accessible for a short period of time, after which they redirect the visitor to the blackened main page.

Boing Boing has done something similar and Google has blacked out their logo.

Comments

16 Comments so far. Leave a comment below.
  1. Ninabi,

    Raw Story and Reddit as well.

    Facebook should have done the same, as it reaches a huge chunk of the population.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0

    • pvc,

      Facebook should do it permanently.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 0

    • Rampage_Rick,

      If Facebook blacked out for 24 hours, anyone affiliated with SOPA/PIPA would be hung by their fingernails by hoards of housewives and possibly roasted on a spit.

      “Might I offer you a horn of ale and a shank of senator?”

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 0

  2. If you slap a ?banner=none on the url, wiki’s wide open.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0

    • Rampage_Rick,

      Well that’s the irony – part of the reason people are protesting SOPA is because the way it purports to block piracy is incredibly easy to circumvent, but there’s the potential for a ton of collateral damage.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0

  3. S.Norman,

    It seems it’s just the English page. You can go to the German Wiki and then hit translate.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

  4. Cornjob,

    Now where am I going to get my incorrect information today?!? Damn you Interwebs! {Pounding fists into the sand}… Damn you all to Hell!!!!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 2

    • You’ll have to do it the old fashioned way. Go to church, watch Fox News, read the tabloids, consult the rumor mill…

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 0

  5. Venture free,

    Did you know that Abraham Lincoln was the first president with a black belt in ninjutsu? Seriously, I read that on Wikipedia. Go check it out.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1

    • ange,

      Thanks for the info, now I can complete my senior thesis! I’ll just add you as a reference :)

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0

  6. pvc,

    And is Cynical-C doing anything like this today?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

  7. FlamingAtheist,

    I have circumvented the black out by toting a hand truck with 48 volumes of Encyclopedia Britannica with me. The search engine is a bit slow though.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0

  8. FlamingAtheist,

    Also The Oatmeal has a great GIF image with a good summary of what SOPA/PIPA could mean.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0

  9. People like me that spend all day every day on the internet are well aware of SOPA, so I was amused at how many users were completely oblivious to the bills before today. It does take the weight of the powerhouse sites like Wikipedia to get their attention. Reddit did a lot of legwork, but their users were already aware.

    The MPAA’s response is amusing.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0

  10. Mike K,

    All of the English Wikipedia pages are working for me, and I’m in the USA. I even did a search and clicked some of their links.

    Aliens!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0


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