English language Wikipedia to shut down for 24 hours in protest

[Ursus sapien]

In a protest against proposed US legislation, English language Wikipedia is shutting down for 24 hours, starting tomorrow. Firefox and Google had protests of their own last month.

from the web announcement:
"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. ... "

[jobber604]

I read about that a few days ago. I live and die obtaining information via wikipedia. Great to have a website with such a wide array of information for everyone to build on their knowledge.
Boggles my mind how the constituents of Lamar Smith (R-TX), Head of the US judicial committee can introduce this in US congress without fearing for his seat in congress. Oh, that's right....his constituents are hardworking farmers in Texas.

[Morainy]

Good for Wikipedia!

[effox]

Right on. If I wanted to have a censored internet I'd move to China.

[Illbuyourcatfish]

I hope SOPA passes.
A good read.

[StickS]

I hope SOPA passes.
A good read.

It's sad but true.

Love this part though:
Neurotically recycling every single shred of garbage in your home makes a difference. It doesn't. Even if you, your neighbors, and everyone you've ever met recycled everything and reduced your waste output to zero, it wouldn't even make an observable impact on overall waste production in the world. Household waste and garden residue account for less than 3% of all waste produced in the US. That's less than the average statistical margin of error, and most people don't even come close to producing zero waste.

Thought it was Maddox while reading it. Saw it was him afterwards lol.

[neven]

I hope SOPA passes.
A good read.

great link, i want that guys book. I love child art work critiques!

[Ursus sapien]

A good read, and the corporate list is a terrific assest, but I strongly disagree with the cynical notion that protests and petitions are ineffective. Amnesty Anternation and Avaaz disprove that claim in spades.
That sort of action is extremely affective at raising public awarness and motivating regular folk to speak up.