Wikipedia Offline to protest SOPA by AnthonyT

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Wikipedia Offline to protest SOPA

POSTED BY: ANTHONYT
UPDATED: Thursday, January 19, 2012 11:48
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VIEWED: 1301
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Tuesday, January 17, 2012 9:21 PM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

I'm not sure when their 24 hour blackout began, but they are offline to protest SOPA and similar internet censorship legislation.

When confronted with their black screen, I suddenly wondered what it would be like if they went offline forever. Then I wondered about the internet, and what it would be like if it was suddenly carved up into acceptable and unacceptable pieces by the powers that be.

They're voting to burn the library at Alexandria. It won't be a casual error or a tragic accident. They're lighting the torches on purpose. It's a book burning the likes of which the world has never seen before.

I wonder if we can stop them, or if it's too late?

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

"In every war, the state enacts a tax of freedom upon the citizenry. The unspoken promise is that the tax shall be revoked at war's end. Endless war holds no such promise. Hence, Eternal War is Eternal Slavery." --Admiral Robert J. Henner

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Wednesday, January 18, 2012 2:47 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Already got burned once by this ,too. My guess is that is started midnight last night...

" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "

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Wednesday, January 18, 2012 4:39 AM

GEEZER

Keep the Shiny side up

Without Wikipedia available, I cannot do the research needed to respond to this thread.

"Keep the Shiny side up"

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Wednesday, January 18, 2012 4:58 AM

BYTEMITE

lawl -|-ro77in @ {br}47n{dr}47n

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Wednesday, January 18, 2012 8:13 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Apparently a number of others are doing so, as well, in protest against SOPA. Hope they make an impact. Heard the co-founder of Wiki being interviewed last night; he was eloquent, on point, and I respect him...and am grateful to him for Wiki, I've found it invaluable from time to time.

Again, as with fracking: The more things are brought to the attention of the public, the better.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2012 10:07 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

As with most of the time where govt is concerned, it starts w/ a valid, well intentioned concern, but then goes about it all the wrong way in trying to 'fix' the problem.

So goes w/ healthcare, it goes w/ intellectual property on the internet. The govt is monolithic in its treatment here, and completely out of step w/ how the real world works.

" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "

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Wednesday, January 18, 2012 1:37 PM

WHOZIT

Quote:
Originally posted by Geezer:
Without Wikipedia available, I cannot do the research needed to respond to this thread.

"Keep the Shiny side up"

It's likely the facts and dates would be wrong.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2012 2:19 PM

WISHIMAY

You know anybody else that consistently gets them RIGHT??

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Wednesday, January 18, 2012 3:44 PM

DREAMTROVE

I walked into this trap twice, and I was aware about it both times, but forgot and went there anyway to look something up. I guess it's effective.

That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2012 6:28 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

craigslist is offline too, or at least it was yesterday. Laugh all you want but craigslist is big in OR, we can find everything from cars to jobs to dates there.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Thursday, January 19, 2012 2:42 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

So is Enenews, one of my "go to" websites for all things Fukushima.

So, do YOU know what SOPA. PIPA is about? And, if so, did YOU contact your Congresspeeps?

And if not... now you know why democracy is failing.

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Thursday, January 19, 2012 4:09 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
So is Enenews, one of my "go to" websites for all things Fukushima.

So, do YOU know what SOPA. PIPA is about? And, if so, did YOU contact your Congresspeeps?

And if not... now you know why democracy is failing.

I wrote my Congressman, did you ?

" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "

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Thursday, January 19, 2012 5:24 AM

BYTEMITE

I live in Utah. Talking to Utahan representatives has no impact on what they do or whether they get elected again. You'd really have to live here to understand why it's so pointless.

I have tried calling congressmen and women from other states and donating, but that's ultimately kind of pointless too. I'm not part of their constituency, and any money I might attempt to give them is a pittance, and all spent and more on sending me printed material trying to get me to donate more money or vote for them.

I have doubts that it was any such deluge of calls that convinced anyone, but ultimately the efforts of the internet blackout in protest that did it.

Democracy will always fail, it's oligarchy with better PR.

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Thursday, January 19, 2012 8:18 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Quote:
As with most of the time where govt is concerned, it starts w/ a valid, well intentioned concern, but then goes about it all the wrong way in trying to 'fix' the problem.

A valid point, tho' I'd say "much" rather than "most".

Apparently it worked:

Quote:
Some lawmakers are rethinking their support of controversial anti-piracy bills that led to some websites shutting down in protest.

The protest was in response to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) bill, a piece of proposed legislation that is working its way through Congress. A Senate committee approved a similar bill in May called the Protect IP Act (PIPA), which is now pending before the full Senate.

The protest seemed to change the minds of lawmakers, including those that had strongly backed the bills in the past.

"We can find a solution that will protect lawful content. But this bill is flawed & that's why I'm withdrawing my support. #SOPA #PIPA," Republican Sen. Roy Blunt wrote on his official Twitter page.

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who was an initial co-sponsor of PIPA, reversed his position.

"I have decided to withdraw my support for the Protect IP Act. Furthermore, I encourage Senator Reid to abandon his plan to rush the bill to the floor. Instead, we should take more time to address the concerns raised by all sides, and come up with new legislation that addresses Internet piracy while protecting free and open access to the Internet," Rubio wrote on a Facebook post.

Rep Lee Terry (R-Neb.), an original co-sponsor of SOPA, also said he had changed his view.

"Thank you for your concern about #SOPA. I have asked to have my name removed from the bill. However, the economic impact of IP theft is real and a solution is needed," Terry wrote on Facebook.

Wikipedia, one of the websites that shut down on Wednesday, returned Thursday with the message: "Thank you for protecting Wikipedia. We're not done yet."

Clicking on that message takes a Wikipedia viewer to a thank you letter and instructions on how to continue fighting against anti-piracy bills that critics say could amount to censorship.

"Your voice was loud and strong," the message said. "Millions of people have spoken in defense of a free and open Internet." http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/19/tech/sopa-blackouts/?hpt=hp_bn3 about the reversals last night; seems they're running as fast backwards as they can, and I think it partly has to do with the fact that legislators often don't read the bills they back, and/or don't recognize the potentials. I'm glad it's had an effect and hope they both die quickly and quietly.

Details on what SOPA and PIPA do and the potential effects can be found at http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57360665-503544/sopa-pipa-what-
you-need-to-know/

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Thursday, January 19, 2012 9:04 AM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

I'm glad those guys are deciding to vote against this stuff.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Thursday, January 19, 2012 9:43 AM

BYTEMITE

Who are all these Republicans who initially supported this Bill on one hand, and claim to be in support of a free market on the other?

I don't like piracy, but there's also some measures included that are about counterfeit products. I don't see the point in being concerned about counterfeit products.

If Ambercrombie and Fitch makes a shirt that costs $100, and someone else makes a similar shirt and sells it for $15 dollars, they probably have a better and more efficient production process and deserve to be successful. See also Apple products and smart phone counterfeits in Asia - most of which don't have annoying program locks or a pre-set phone company. Protecting the "IP" of big guys is nonsense when the little guys are simply making a better product. Which seems to be a big reason behind these bills. Reducing competition through government regulation, what does THAT sound like?

Of course, the other obvious problem is the language they use defining "foreign" "criminal" sites. That's pretty broad.

And there's also the problem that sites can be delisted if someone can pay to bring a court case in their favor - who does that benefit? When people worry this could allow big movie, tv, or music studios to shut down independent work and art, I think that's a legitimate concern.

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Thursday, January 19, 2012 10:59 AM

STORYMARK

Quote:
Originally posted by Bytemite:

If Ambercrombie and Fitch makes a shirt that costs $100, and someone else makes a similar shirt and sells it for $15 dollars, they probably have a better and more efficient production process and deserve to be successful.

Not that I support SOPA, but that's not really an apt comparison. Media pirates aren't producing their own product that is remarkably simmilar to someone else's - they are distributing the actual films/music/books/etc.

"Goram it kid, let's frak this thing and go home! Engage!"

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Thursday, January 19, 2012 11:07 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

My congressman's response...

Quote:

Thank you for contacting me about H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and S. 968, the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA).

Protecting intellectual property on the Internet is a complicated issue with several different proposals pending before Congress. The bills which have received the most attention -- SOPA and PIPA -- are pending before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, on which I do not serve.

I understand your concerns about the importance of protecting intellectual property without harming free speech, innovation, or creativity. This is a delicate balance to strike and I am committed to ensuring no Americans' rights or freedoms are infringed upon. I believe that a consensus on the issue between the content and technology industries is achievable. Until this is achieved, I cannot support the current forms of SOPA or PIPA

The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the bill with witnesses from all sides of the debate in November and began marking up the bill last December. After two days of discussion and amendments, the House Judiciary Committee indefinitely delayed action on SOPA.

Recently, the House Speaker announced that this legislation will not be considered in the full House of Representatives until consensus is reached, and the many outstanding issues are resolved. It is unclear what, if any, action is expected in the Senate. In order for a bill to be signed into law, the identical legislation must pass through both bodies of Congress and much work remains.

Again, thank you for taking the time to share your concerns with me; I truly value your perspective on this important issue. As always, please feel free to visit my web site at -

http://www.house.gov/johnlewis for more information on legislation that interests you.

Sincerely,

John Lewis
Member of Congress

" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "

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Thursday, January 19, 2012 11:48 AM

BYTEMITE

Quote:
Not that I support SOPA, but that's not really an apt comparison. Media pirates aren't producing their own product that is remarkably simmilar to someone else's - they are distributing the actual films/music/books/etc.

Again, the bill in question doesn't just address piracy, but also web stores for counterfeit products. I am of course talking about the later one.

"rogue websites dedicated to infringing or counterfeit goods" -PIPA

"The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is a law (bill) of the United States proposed in 2011 to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods." -SOPA

Definition of counterfeit goods in a similar bill which this is based off of:

"(ii) to sell or distribute goods, services, or materials bearing a counterfeit mark, as that term is defined in section 34(d) of the Act entitled 'An Act to provide for the registration and protection of trademarks used in commerce, to carry out the provisions of certain international conventions, and for other purposes', approved July 5, 1946 (commonly referred to as the 'Trademark Act of 1946' or the 'Lanham Act'; 15 U.S.C. § 1116(d))"

So, yeah, actually the two scenarios I mentioned are exactly an example.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOPA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PROTECT_IP_Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combating_Online_Infringement_and_Counter
feits_Act

A problem also exists where an Indy movie studio and big movie studio could be producing similar movies, and the big movie studio could shut the other down because of it.

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