Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Wikipedia Closes its Doors for the next 24 Hours
I apologize, sort of, for my flurry of posts today, but the past 24 hours has been quite a noteworthy day for news.  In light of the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act), Wikipedia has chosen to raise awareness about the bills, which will be voted on by the senate on January 24, by blocking access to its vast database for the next 24 hours.  Concern among these acts is quite apparent online, and even Google has attempted to raise awareness by fashioning a black censorship banner over its flagship logo.  While these acts are meant to crack down on piracy, there is concern that the passing of these bills will give government power to censor the web and take down websites on a whim.  Personally, I applaud Wikipedia for taking a stand in this issue, which reveals the massive influence of the web and how it can greatly affect government and politics. Unfortunately if you want to learn more about SOPA and PIPA, you may have to dig around a bit since, you know, Wikipedia is not operational...Oh wait Wikipedia conveniently provides a link explaining the acts and its effects (along with the artices on SOPA and PIPA) here!

Here is another reading on the Wikipedia shutdown:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/with-sopapipa-blackout-some-rest-for-the-wikied/2012/01/17/gIQATE6Y6P_story.html?tid=pm_lifestyle_pop
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4 comments:

Shawn Murphy-Hockett said...

Even though Wikipedia is my life, I'm glad they are taking a stand to protest censorship on the internet. I think that with big internet companies like Wikipedia and Google "blacking out" will lead others to learn more about SOPA and PIPA and follow their lead. Last night on facebook there were people who were beginning to change their profile pictures to black to protest as well. With Wikipedia being shut down, I think that many will complain and take action to stop these bills from being passed.

January 18, 2012 at 10:37 AM
Allyson Kiefer said...

SOPA and PIPA would completely alter the internet as we know it, making it difficult for people to share information, ideas and talent on popular websites like Wikipedia, Google, Flickr and YouTube. I agree with Shawn - hopefully Wikipedia's blackout, and the protests of other companies like it, will raise enough awareness about the bills to stop them from being passed. Congress should take another look at SOPA and PIPA and determine just how much they would affect peoples' lives before forcing them onto the population.

January 19, 2012 at 3:47 AM
Ivan Wang said...

Indeed, piracy is an issue for the entertainment industry, but curbing it should not come at the price of curbing creativity and freedom on the Internet. Wikipedia's message has surely helped, as supporters of the acts are dwindling in number. Let's just hope the next act, if there is one, does not infringe on the better parts of cyberspace again.

January 20, 2012 at 10:46 PM
SimoneJacobs said...

In case anyone is interested, here's a really helpful video explaining SOPA and PIPA!
http://www.khanacademy.org/video/sopa-and-pipa?playlist=American+Civics

January 23, 2012 at 10:26 PM

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