What exactly is going on with Wikipedia?

1. 74

   David 470posted 12 years ago

   I heard that Wikipedia is going to close down it's site because it does not agree with the bills that Congress is trying to pass.
   
   I also heard that other sites such as reddit are going to close down too, in effort to protest bills Congress is trying to pass or something.

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      Hollie Thomasposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Apparently one of the bills has already been vetoed by the President.

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2. 74

   David 470posted 12 years ago

   From the Washington post:
   
   "Wikipedia will black out its Web site Wednesday to protest SOPA, the of anti-piracy legislation that’s being considered by Congress.
   
   Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales made the announcement on Twitter on Monday, saying the site would shut down English versions of the crowd-sourced online encyclopedia at midnight Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday until midnight Wednesday."
   
   http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blo … _blog.html

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3. 67

   relacheposted 12 years ago

   Those bills are so badly conceived and worded, here's how they would work in relation to HubPages if passed:  If a single user on the entire site violated someone's copyright in any way just once and a complaint was filed to the ISP, the entirety of HubPages would be shut down. 
   
   Protesting SOPA and PIPA is very important to every single American who uses the Internet.
   
   To learn more, please visit http://americancensorship.org/

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      lukeukposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      its not just Americans though. Since so many sites are hosted from the US then everyone that uses it from anywhere in the world would suffer.

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      1. 78

         H.C Porterposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I have received 18 phone calls and I dont know how many emails from companies wanting me to rewrite their online content (in the past 36 hours). This bill is scaring the shit out of some pretty big faces on the internet... and will harm everyone with any type of online presence that utilizes Social Media. It is ridiculous...

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      Hollie Thomasposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Imagine, they would have a devastating effect on the economy, not to mention corporations.

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         melbelposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Many corporations, GoDaddy included (many people have stopped using GoDaddy services because GoDaddy supports PIPA and SOPA) have a lot to gain from this terrible bill being passed.
         
         Think about it, a lot of major corps can easily knock out the little guy.

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   3. 75

      skyfireposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Not just americans but other countries which are in good relationship with united states are going to pass their own version of it, if they see united states put forward steps into that direction. e.g. India, EU nations are in process to pass similar bill.

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         recommend1posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Exactly - this is just the next western step of ensuring that only big corporations control everything.  Nobody can stop this happening in one way or another without changing the way governments operate, changing the governments just puts others of the same in power who will continue the general march toward total control.   
         
         It is almost funny being here in China where online freedoms are being rapidly expanded by micro-blogging  and the government advisors are talking about removing even the current restrictions.
         
         This is especially funny in the context of my various online spats with some American mouths just a few months ago about freedom, human rights etc.  Now it is threatening at home they have crept off and have nothing to say - YOUR rights are being taken away openly and obviously and it is time to stand up and object.

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4. 78

   H.C Porterposted 12 years ago

   There are various websites and platforms that are protesting the PIPA and SOPA Legislature that is set to be voted on January 24th.
   Many websites are publicly opposing the bill and are threatening to initiate an "Internet Blackout'. These sites include Google, Facebook, PayPal, Wikipedia, Twitter and Amazon. They are threatening this to emphasize the damaging effects that SOPA could impose on the internet.
   
   If SOPA is passed- Sites like LinkedIn, YouTube and all that I mentioned above, will be in turmoil, so to the hundreds/thousands of links and amount of content that is posted to them daily. The idea behind the legislature is to protect online writers/ musicians, artists and anyone in danger of having content/work stolen, unfortunately it will hurt the masses in an unpredictable way, and sites will only be able to fight the decision to remove content and blacklisting them-after the fact....

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      David 470posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Whoa, that is not good. I understand the idea behind the bill, but this would hurt way more than it would help!
      
      This bill better not be passed....

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5. 68

   Cheeky Girlposted 12 years ago

   SOPA is the dumbest Law the U.S. Govt ever let itself get talked into passing by vested Business Interests. Everyone know now who runs things in the USA. SOPA is a threat to Internet freedom, and a threat to everyone who uses the internet.

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6. 75

   Richieb799posted 12 years ago

   If Wikipedia closed down, where would Jimmy Wales post his Modeling Photos?

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      David 470posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      LOL

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7. 79

   Greekgeekposted 12 years ago

   The president has not vetoed the bills, as Congress hasn't voted on them yet. The White House just released a statement saying that the bills in their current form would be vetoed.
   
   Which they have to be.
   
   Not ONLY could any domain be shut down if anyone files a copyright complaint about ANY content on it -- before the claim has actually been investigated, it could be shut down, violating due process --
   
   Not ONLY does this threaten any website anywhere that allows comments or user-submitted content, since a user could post something that gets past the filters and the whole site would be blacklisted --
   
   Not ONLY do these bills actually tinker with the system that makes the internet run, causing security loopholes and instability such that the engineers who invented and maintain the internet have posted an open letter begging Congress not to screw up the internet with this bill --
   
   Not ONLY do these bills grant legal immunity to websites that voluntarily censor and remove material to avoid complaints (legit or otherwise), but will fine and blacklist domains if they fail to monitor and censor all users' submissions to make sure there's no copyright violations anywhere --
   
   Not ONLY do these bills require EMAIL providers to filter out links to domains that have been blacklisted, so that even our email would be censored --
   
   The best part?
   
   SOPA and PIPA were put together by lobbyists in the pay of the film and music industry, which has paid every single congressional rep hundreds to thousands of dollars to get these bills passed. Yet the bills DON'T WORK for stopping movie and music piracy.
   
   SOPA and PIPA block domain names of suspected sites from search engines and web browsers, so that URLs, links, and domain names don't work. But pirates don't have to use domain names or links -- they'll just bypass the problem by accessing file sharing websites through their IP addresses, instead! (It's a bit like the police removing all street signs from crime-prone areas of the city so that gangs won't be able to find their hideouts. Won't stop the gangs, but will make navigation impossible for most people.)
   
   It's called the "Stop Online Piracy Act," but it's better named the Stop Online Publishing Act, as i said when I wrote my congressional reps about it before Christmas. Have you written to yours?  Get informed and tell them. Congress keeps claiming these bills will save jobs -- in Hollywood, at least -- but they threaten most of the jobs, businesses, and entrepreneurship of the internet, which is one of the few places where our economy is growing.

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      amilypittposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      yah exactly the name should be "stop online publishing act"..because this is not able to stop the piracy, but disturbing the other ones work.

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      David 470posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Greatly detailed reply. Show this to congress lol.
      
      I do not understand why Congress wants to do this. Is it really to stop piracy or is there another purpose that their hiding? Some people on youtube speculate that it's because they want censorship.

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      supplies expertposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Know what's even sadder... say this does happen, who will regulate the black lists and other things of that nature... A whole new division of the government workers in SOPA or PIPA? So a bunch of overpaid federal workers with pensions and all that other stuff will then be hired and our taxes will pay for them... In a perfect world the fines I guess would pay for their salaries, but we all know that would get lost somewhere throughout the upper management and corrupt politicians.

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8. 85

   Marisa Wrightposted 12 years ago

   That's a great explanation, Greekgeek.
   
   In principle it sounds like a great idea to stop piracy, and I'm not even that worried if it spells the end of bookmarking sites - in some ways that would be a relief! 
   
   However the fact that websites are guilty until proven innocent is not fair or reasonable.

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      EmpressFelicityposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      It's the thin end of a very nasty and painful wedge. Not to mention that it would surely give unscrupulous competitors a very easy way to remove you from the picture.

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9. 76

   Wesman Todd Shawposted 12 years ago

   Personally, I'm very proud of anyone and everyone that protest the most corrupt congress in the world's most corrupt nation.
   
   I'd be down with it if Hubpages shut it on down for as long as was needed - fuck SOPA and fuck the US criminal congress.

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10. 84

    sparksterposted 12 years ago

    Check out hub 'The Stop SOPA Campaign' for more info on this topic.  As it is, the Obama administration have refused several issues raised in the SOPA bill, they claim freedom of speech as one of the issues that could be affected.  The White House have made some good relevant points.
    
    If the bill was to go ahead as it is, it would be the end of the internet as we know it.

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11. 75

    skyfireposted 12 years ago

    Hats off to Americans and Europeans for the protest against SOPA and PIPA.
    
    Here in India, we have our own version of censorship after February 6th and the protest and the interests of people towards it is so poor, I might get flamed here if i post about it. I am pulling out of from aff companies which are supporting these two bills, this includes Godaddy, I don't mind if this decision turns out to be emotional move. Money is not bigger than freedom of speech. Our action decides the future of others.
    
    Whatever may be the result of protest, it's good to see people around the world united for a cause.

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12. 72

    Reality Bytesposted 12 years ago

    

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13. 72

    Reality Bytesposted 12 years ago

    Millions of Americans oppose SOPA and PIPA because these bills would censor the Internet and slow economic growth in the U.S.
    Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose SOPA and PIPA.
    
    The Senate will begin voting on January 24th. Please let them know how you feel. Sign this petition urging Congress to vote NO on PIPA and SOPA before it is too late.
    
    
    https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

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