I've already tried to Wikipedia something about a dozen times only to hit the black screen. I think a day without easily accessible reference information is going to be more of a challenge than I realized.

bobbette: I've already tried to Wikipedia something about a dozen times only to hit the black screen. I think a day without easily accessible reference information is going to be more of a challenge than I realized.

It got me off my butt and emailing my senators and reps. Oh, and I figured out if hit reload then stop real fast, I could see the page as usual.

davidphogan: bobbette: I've already tried to Wikipedia something about a dozen times only to hit the black screen. I think a day without easily accessible reference information is going to be more of a challenge than I realized.

It got me off my butt and emailing my senators and reps. Oh, and I figured out if hit reload then stop real fast, I could see the page as usual.

It's easy to get around, but I'm treating it as an interesting experiment to see what life is like without Wikipedia. The absence of Wikipedia is more effective in demonstrating how much I rely on it than any number of personal appeals from Jimmy Wales.

bobbette: I've already tried to Wikipedia something about a dozen times only to hit the black screen. I think a day without easily accessible reference information is going to be more of a challenge than I realized.

Firefox with Noscript will allow you to access Wikipedia as normal.
Still, I fully support this idea, even if every site I tend to visit daily is going to be blacked out

/rockpapershotgun is already blacked out :(

Also: another SOPA thread already?

bobbette: I've already tried to Wikipedia something about a dozen times only to hit the black screen. I think a day without easily accessible reference information is going to be more of a challenge than I realized.

The mobile site works just fine for me.

███ █████ SOPA ██████ ██ ████ ███ ██ █████ ████ ██ ███

gadian: I'm much more cynical. The way I see it, the websites who are shut down in protest are proving to the SOPA supporters exactly how expendable they can be. They're doing exactly what the SOPA supporters want. Which will do nothing to actually dampen the support of SOPA, it will just annoy users to the extent of finding a new and perhaps better source for X web service. Perhaps permanently damaging the web traffic of sites who shut down. Better to be like google and protest symbolically.

Its not like the politicians who back this thing are actually going to listen to their constituents. Ever.

It is an election year and any too radical move from either party could turn off voters. Right now with the job market in a slump, there are more people who may go out an vote because they have more time on their hands. Like the writer of the article, I also wouldn't count SOPA dead but possibly shelved for the moment.

davidphogan: It got me off my butt and emailing my senators and reps. Oh, and I figured out if hit reload then stop real fast, I could see the page as usual.

Or you can just disable javascript...

=Smidge=
/Has noscript so didn't even notice until I was told about it
//Also, all the pages are locked from editing

It appears the people in the picture FTFA are more concerned over their StarCraft 2 match than this SOPA thing.

This won't stop Hollywood or the RIAA. This has already been paid for. It's gonna pass one way or another. Expect endorsements from those entities for the politician douchebags who will pass it.

Just keep a vigilant eye out. The Hollywood and recording industry suits spent a sh*tload on bribes to get this thing as far as it did, and they're NOT about to give up so easily.

As I've said before, expect this p.o.s. to be shelved till the ADD-addled public forget all about it and the heat blows over, and then watch it attached to some vital legislation that Obama HAS to sign in order the keep the country running.

muck4doo: This won't stop Hollywood or the RIAA. This has already been paid for. It's gonna pass one way or another. Expect endorsements from those entities for the politician douchebags who will pass it.

And then you will finally see the rapid, merciless bloodshed media pundits were predicting about the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Only this war will be real.

I'd just like to take this opportunity to remind any "live free or die" Vermont farkers that PIPA is the brainchild of Patrick Leahy.
Try to remember that in November.

As expected there is indeed an XKCD comic that suits the topic.

muck4doo:
This won't stop Hollywood or the RIAA. This has already been paid for. It's gonna pass one way or another.

They didn't get it passed fast enough - the rest of the business owners had time to find out just how many ways they could be screwed by SOPA, and a bunch of them are hitting their Congresscritters to tell them just how angry they'd be if this passes.

The tech guys finally got the lawyers to listen, the lawyers figured out just how exposed their companies would be for fairly minor transgressions (such as a company manager uploading a link to some copyrighted video), and the memos started flying. A lot of CEOs are pissed off about this one now...

People need to keep pushing on this one, though - and the number one person to yell at is the President. Between the RIAA, the MPAA, and the unions, it's his job to look them in the eye and say "no" for a change.

There's nowhere near enough support for SOPA to override a veto, so he can stop it easily. if he doesn't, well...

FTFA:

"...Ben Cardin (D-Md.), once a co-sponsor, now opposes the bill..."

That's hilarious.

muck4doo: This won't stop Hollywood or the RIAA. This has already been paid for. It's gonna pass one way or another. Expect endorsements from those entities for the politician douchebags who will pass it.

So if it passes, will I finally be able to watch American TV shows without pirating them?
Or will I still get the "We're sorry, this content is unavailable outside of the United States," bullshart.

Farktards. Make it easy to get and inexpensive, and I would have been paying you for years.

zipperlip: I'd just like to take this opportunity to remind any "live free or die" Vermont farkers that PIPA is the brainchild of Patrick Leahy.
Try to remember that in November.



You really think that people who cherish freedom are the same people who vote for shiatstains like Patrick Leahy? You've got a lot to learn about politics, son.

I remember a lot of sites going with black backgrounds in 1998 or so, protesting the Communications Decency Act that would make it a crime to use dirty language online. Looking back, though, I think that was a distraction from the rules over media ownership being removed, and so we ended up with Clear Channel and Newscorp all over the place.

The Oatmeal weighs in on SOPA: Link (new window)

Love it!

cc_rider: The Oatmeal weighs in on SOPA: Link (new window)

Love it!

Good find.

Funny how anyone can think the RIAA and MPAA are anywhere near as powerful as the internet. Google by itself probably makes more money than the RIAA and MPAA combined. I don't understand why the Congress would push for something that is potentially toxic to voters, shows how out of touch they are and why they are so unpopular in the first place.

Obama would regain much needed respect in my eyes if he fights tooth and nail against this, maybe enough to forget his other mishaps (bail outs, NDAA, Eric Holder, etc). At least my congresswoman is against this bill, but that's expected from the San Jose representative (Mike Honda, the other Silicon Valley rep, I'm not sure about). I was going to write an email to her but realized her opposition. I hope the rest of you guys outside the Bay Area write your reps.

So was WIKI only down while I slept? It was up when I went to bed and it`s up now. I thought 24 hours was longer than that. Hang on, I`ll WIKI it.



yup 24 hours is a day but not the length of daylight.

It's also cool that Wikipedia didn't blackout the articles on SOPA and PIPA..

cc_rider: The Oatmeal weighs in on SOPA: Link (new window)

Love it!

Never heard of that site, but I love what I see there now.

Actually less than impressed by the Wikipedia blackout, for two reasons.

1) It is worldwide. I don't have a congressman, I don't have any say in what the Americans get up to, but I am being blocked as a political action.

2) Its just javascript anyhow. if you normally surf with javascript disabled, you won't even see it...

and one that would allow the government to block certain Web searches.

No.
That's part of the point of the protests. We know that the slippery slope is not a fallacy when it comes to governments and this sort of thing.
You guys try to do this and we'll farking come and kill you. It's a preventative measure.

First they came for OLGA, and I did not speak out, because I could already play Smoke on the Water,
Then they came for Wikipedia, and I did not speak out, because I already knew how many freckles Howdy Doody had,
Then they came for Zombo.com, and there was no one left to speak, and, as it turns out, the only limit was myself...

Laugh at them if you want, but if it informs a few J6P's about whats going on, then its worth it. Sure I've seen SOPA discussed here, on a few forums, and Youtube vids, but theres been a shameful lack of coverage in any of the mainstream media. Here in Seattle theres been exactly ONE mention on the local newspapers editorial page since this first came out back before Christmas.

muck4doo: This won't stop Hollywood or the RIAA. This has already been paid for. It's gonna pass one way or another. Expect endorsements from those entities for the politician douchebags who will pass it.

The RIAA is toast. And they know it. This bill amounts to nothing more than a last ditch effort to steal away with as much money as possible before the blade drops.

The MPAA I have a bit more respect for, but not much. Film studios have been slow to embrace technology, but there are some good alternatives out there. I bought the Blu-Ray of "Contagion" last week and got a digital copy of the flick with it through their Ultraviolet service for free. Smart move on their part.

The RIAA, however, has managed to fark themselves every step of the way. From their pisspoor PR in the form of lawsuits to their obvious scamming of artists, I have no farking sympathy for them. They're that fatassed greaseball in the back of an Italian restaurant who's been skimming a casino drop for 50 years. Only now that the game has changed, the greaseball can't peel himself off of the chair to adapt. Too fat and full from years of excessive consumption.