Was this article on HN front page not true "SOPA to be shelved.." http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2012_01/pu... ?
If Wikipedia is still going to shut down then I'm not sure about the veracity of that article.
Wikipedia to Shut Down on Wednesday to Protest SOPA
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Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down on Wednesday to Protest SOPA
#52So, what happens when I call my Congressman after learning about this on wikipedia and his office says "oh SOPA, that bill has been put on hold already since last week"? Won't many people get pissed at wikipedia? Edit: I actually think they should call it off at the last moment . Save the nuclear option for another time.
It's no longer about sopa, it is about notifying everyone in the world that there are governments all over the world trying to centralize and censor the internet, and that this is a very very bad thing. It isn't enough that we slap their hand for trying to break the internet on account of complete ignorance. The odds are 1 that Congress will try this again, we need to let the world know that the people who built the most powerful tool on earth today are concerned that governments are going to set us back 100 years and prevent an explosion of progress by turning the internet into a place only the fat cats can afford to participate in.
Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down on Wednesday to Protest SOPA
#53So, what happens when I call my Congressman after learning about this on wikipedia and his office says "oh SOPA, that bill has been put on hold already since last week"? Won't many people get pissed at wikipedia? Edit: I actually think they should call it off at the last moment . Save the nuclear option for another time.
Even with SOPA being put on hold, I still feel like the general public needs to be made aware of the fact that there are people in the government who are threatening to censor the internet. Wikipedia shutting down for a day will go a long way in demonstrating what a possible consequence of a censored internet could be and I think that'll be invaluable to the fight against a censored internet.
With that being said, I think the websites that are protesting on the 18th need to be evangelists for a free internet and not just deliver an anti-SOPA message.
Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down on Wednesday to Protest SOPA
#54So, what happens when I call my Congressman after learning about this on wikipedia and his office says "oh SOPA, that bill has been put on hold already since last week"? Won't many people get pissed at wikipedia? Edit: I actually think they should call it off at the last moment . Save the nuclear option for another time.
Supporters of this censorship should be shamed and humiliated to set an example for future attempts. Make them regret their willingness to sell the American public.
Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down on Wednesday to Protest SOPA
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
The politicians will claim it is dead, then name it something else or not name it anything at all and just tack it onto the end of some other legislation and pass it when no one is watching. In the USA, they're bought and paid for.
they may be able to keep the people from knowing about it until it happens, but with all this outrage it seems unlikely they'll be able to keep it quiet after the fact. Then they'll have to answer to this behavior come election time.
They don't care. They honor those who buy the lobster dinners and give them 30 dollar cigars. When you vote them out, they'll have several six or seven figure cushy job offers to pick from.
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From wikipedia: In February 2011, despite "repeatedly and categorically insisting that he would not work as a lobbyist,"[22][23] [senator Chris] Dodd was identified by The New York Times as the likely replacement for Dan Glickman as chairman and chief lobbyist for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).[24] The hiring was officially announced on March 1, 2011.[25]
Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down on Wednesday to Protest SOPA
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree. Taking a stand and putting up a banner, or a click-through page, etc is fine. But information services like Google and Wikipedia shouldn't actually be shut off in a way that makes the information inaccessible.
> But information services like Google and Wikipedia shouldn't actually be shut off in a way that makes the information inaccessible. And that's exactly what SOPA would do. Permanently . Nobody is preventing you from accessing today's Wikipedia content on your own this Wednesday - go download a copy of their db right now if you're that scared and fearful of a day without it. The point is a strong demonstration of wha…
So shutting off information services is evil, and we're going to show it by committing the same evil? By that token we should teach everyone how bad genocide is by executing a random member of their family.
We should certainly get people's attention by doing something very overt like replacing every article with a big dark SOPA message, but there really should still be a way to click through to the information.
> We should certainly get people's attention by doing something very overt like replacing every article with a big dark SOPA message, but there really should still be a way to click through to the information.
That's fine for us mega-nerds, but what about everyone else?
Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down on Wednesday to Protest SOPA
#57Was this article on HN front page not true "SOPA to be shelved.." http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2012_01/pu... ? If Wikipedia is still going to shut down then I'm not sure about the veracity of that article.
"Shelved" is not enough - they'll just find a backdoor for it.
I don't think they expected such opposition, unlike other laws like the Patriot Act that mostly went unnoticed.
But they are just regrouping. It ain't over.
Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down on Wednesday to Protest SOPA
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
> But information services like Google and Wikipedia shouldn't actually be shut off in a way that makes the information inaccessible. And that's exactly what SOPA would do. Permanently . Nobody is preventing you from accessing today's Wikipedia content on your own this Wednesday - go download a copy of their db right now if you're that scared and fearful of a day without it. The point is a strong demonstration of wha…
So shutting off information services is evil, and we're going to show it by committing the same evil? By that token we should teach everyone how bad genocide is by executing a random member of their family. We should certainly get people's attention by doing something very overt like replacing every article with a big dark SOPA message, but there really should still be a way to click through to the information. > We…
> By that token we should teach everyone how bad genocide is by executing a random member of their family.
Uh, no. That's not the same token at all.
Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down on Wednesday to Protest SOPA
#59I know there's a lot of cynicism about whether SOPA law is really being abandoned, or whether it's just being temporarily shelved, but I'm really excited about how opponents have banded together, and how organizations like Reddit and Wikipedia have been willing to sacrifice page views and revenue to show their support and to increase public awareness. In the future, when someone advocates opposing an unjust law and s…
They should capitalize on the momentum and create an organization that can get everyone mobilized quickly in the future. Politicians kiss up to tiny groups just because they are somewhat influential...think of billions going to subsidies for farmers or even tiny 1 issue groups. Surely together, the tech community is much more influential than them.
I think you're describing moveon.org.
EDIT: I was unclear. "create an organization that can get everyone mobilized quickly in the future." From the wiki page of moveon.org: "They started by passing around a petition asking Congress to 'censure President Clinton and move on', as opposed to impeaching him." It was a single-issue online activism group that grew into an organization known for quickly mobilizing lots of people for political causes. I should have been more specific! :)
Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down on Wednesday to Protest SOPA
#60I'm tired of these acronyms, it got confusing today. Are politicians just trying to smuggle it through under a different name at this point? I can't think of a name from recent events with more negative connotations than SOPA, which seems to be why it was abandoned. Are these anti-SOPA messages worth the cost of downtime at this point?