Some may think the world's coming to an end in December 2012, but the end of the Internet as we know it may come even sooner! And we'll be getting a preview during a 24-hour Wikipedia blackout that begins tomorrow. It's not just the online encyclopedia giant that's going to be temporarily erased from the web ... Reddit and Boing Boing, among other sites, plan to go dark on Wednesday. And whoa -- Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr seem tempted to do the same.
That's because these huge sites are rightfully pissed off about a couple of new bills floating around in Congress called SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act), which pretty much aim to please the entertainment industry. The bills make it so your Internet provider would have to block websites involved in (or thought to be involved in) digital file sharing, leading to massive Internet censorship ... aka the END of the web as we know it.
For the record, those who like to cluck about Obama being so into big government should note that the White House is not supporting SOPA (introduced by a Republican Representative) or PIPA (introduced by a Democratic Senator). In fact, they've issued a statement noting that they "will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet." Right on!
Still, it couldn't hurt for Wikipedia and other sites to stage this protest to make their point. At the very least, it should teach us all a valuable lesson by showing us what the world would be like without Wikipedia.
Think about it ... without Wiki at our fingertips, we'd have to actually go to a library to use dusty old encyclopedias. Or, OMG, we may have to dig up those old discs that have Microsoft Encarta software on them. (Remember that?!) Man, Encyclopedia Britannica might be back in business again, going door to door! But pfft ... none of those sources would have any of the most up-to-date info we usually search Wikipedia for. Whatever would we do without the Real Housewives' "Personal Life" sections or Oscar nominees' Filmography sections? IMDb only gets you so far, you know. I don't even know what students would do to write essays or do their homework.
Let's face it. In a world without Wikipedia, we'd all be screwed. As it is, tomorrow's blackout will put us all in the dark on some of our most coveted info. But hopefully it'll also bring more people's attention to these asinine bills, which we should hope -- and do our best to make sure! -- never get passed.
How would you feel about a world without Wikipedia -- or even some of your favorite sites (Facebook, Google), which could be shut down thanks to SOPA/PIPA?
Image via cisc1970/Flickr
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Comments 7
I can't believe Congress is even entertaining bills like this. Our economy is in the toilet, people are losing jobs, and they want to worry about what websites I'm accessing? If I can put it as delicately as I can....PISS OFF. Stop being so concerned about what's going on in our private business and start worrying about the regular old American family, just trying to scrape by, and start worrying about how we're going to bring more jobs back to the USA instead of sending them all to China or India.
^^^Agreed!!!
At this point, I don't see why anyone would be surprised that the government is only out to make more money and life easier for themselves and the 1%. The real American people, the ones who vote and work and raise their families in this rapidly declining joke of a democracy, don't amount to jack anymore. All SOPA and other proposals like it are is a way for companies that are already trying to screw us out of more money than what their products are worth create an environment where they have 100% control of everything. Why? To make more money, of course. While I agree that every artist has a right to protect their ideas and the fruition of them, doesn't it cease to be art when you are price gouging an entire nation in order to partake in it? That is what has been known for decades amongst real artists as "selling out". Art is cheapened when it's only available to those who are willing to pay top dollar for it. It loses it's purpose and it's beauty. Then again, I don't think that matters anymore. There are very few people left that do anything for the love of doing it. They do it for the love of cold hard cash.
I am 100% against these bills and I've been writing senators and Congress and signing petitions out the ass over it. It seems to me that most people are against this so they'd do well to, ya know, LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE. NOT CORPORATIONS.
I agree with all the previous commenters and would like to say one thing...Wikipedia is highly frowned upon to be used for Homework and essays...