While Reddit's merry band of Boromir memes, adorable pet pictures, and assorted animated GIFs are taking just a 12-hour hiatus, Wikipedia will be shutting down all its English-language sites for a full 24 hours in protest of both SOPA and PIPA legislation. The blackout starts Wednesday at midnight — "DC time," emphasized Wiki founder and staring contest master Jimmy Wales over Twitter. The pages will reportedly be replaced with a call to action for people to write and call Congress - Wales says he hopes to "melt phone systems" in Washington.
To quantify the scope of this move, Wales notes that the English-language Wikipedia sites get an estimated 25 million daily visitors globally, according to Comscore. Alexa currently ranks it as the sixth most popular site on the web, both globally and locally (behind Google, Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo!, and Amazon for the US, swap the retailer for Baidu to get the global rankings). Your homework, of course, is at risk — as is anyone looking to quickly impress friends with their knowledge of the Balkan Empires, Gothic Fiction, hypothetical Solar System objects, animals with fraudulent diplomas, perpetual motion machines in history, or rabbit show jumping.
The one infinitesimally small silver lining? Wednesday night bar trivia has never been more fair.
Student warning!Do your homework early.Wikipedia protesting bad law on Wednesday! #sopa
— Jimmy Wales (@jimmy_wales) January 16, 2012
@dmonniaux 24 hours, midnight Washington DC time until midnight.
— Jimmy Wales (@jimmy_wales) January 16, 2012
@Kim_Bruning Final details under consideration but consensus seems to be for "full" rather than "soft" blackout!
— Jimmy Wales (@jimmy_wales) January 16, 2012
This is going to be wow.I hope Wikipedia will melt phone systems in Washington on Wednesday.Tell everyone you know!
— Jimmy Wales (@jimmy_wales) January 16, 2012
There are 68 Comments. Add yours.
Wait, hasn’t SOPA been delayed/changed?
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:10 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Put on hold – could come back at any time. And PIPA’s still kickin’, which is just as bad to the internet.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:14 PM EST reply Recommend (20) Flag actions
It’s the companion bill, it’ll have to be reconciled with SOPA before it can become law (plus the whole signing malarky).
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:19 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
It’s just put on hold; politicians trying to be tricky and get it off our minds. We must rise up and KILL SOPA.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:17 PM EST reply Recommend (21) Flag actions
Agreed!
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 6:48 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
Agent 47, this is Diana. You have a new mission…
Posted on Jan 17, 2012 | 8:04 AM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
Will the blockout be country specific? I don’t live in the US and don’t have the powers to change your legislation.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:15 PM EST reply Recommend (10) Flag actions
Perhaps not, but you are aware that there are similar bills in consideration all around the world, including the one recently passed in Spain, right? American values are often taken/pushed onto other countries, and in this case, we’re talking about something that could affect the internet as a whole.
So while you cannot fight SOPA, you can educate your friends and loved ones about what it means, and take the time to find out if anyone in your country is proposing similar legislation and shut them down.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:25 PM EST reply Recommend (13) Flag actions
I doubt it. Whether Americans like to admit it or not, we do care what the rest of the world thinks of us, especially our government. I would imagine Wikipedia might try to leverage that to try and gain more support to stop SOPA.
And as operative.me said, most of the major nations in the world have similar bills on the table right now. Everyone has to fight it now. It isn’t isolated to just China or Australia, all of the internet is at stake now, regardless of where you live.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 7:09 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
From the current press release, it appears it’ll be over most languages, although the wording is quite vague.
Posted on Jan 17, 2012 | 3:18 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
If they left other English-speaking versions of Wikipedia online, Americans would just use them instead.
Posted on Jan 17, 2012 | 4:55 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Seems a little misguided. And all English pages? So the rest of the English speaking world counts for nothing? Seems like it’d be better to just shutdown the website to American visitors and spare the rest of the world of our bullshit (yes I’m American and I don’t like our SOPA bullshit either).
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:15 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
Raises the issue in a global perspective.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:17 PM EST reply Recommend (8) Flag actions
The law has global consequences, and the US government is trying to force SOPA/PIPA-like laws on all other countries.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:29 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Yeah but no-one in other countries can write to the senator can they?
They’re idiots if they do this world-wide (although realistically I expect it will be a click-through).
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 7:25 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
You can send an email from anywhere there is an internet connection.
Posted on Jan 17, 2012 | 8:20 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
US laws are often the framework for laws in other countries.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:39 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
How the hell are students supposed to research essays?!
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:16 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Haha, I’m heeding to Jimmy’s advice and doing all of my history homework and an English paper as we speak.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:18 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
Absolutely. Do you know how hard it is to do say, calculus or organic chemistry without wiki? Granted, I don’t use it much now, but a few years ago I lived off of the site.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 6:08 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Try researching essays after a few months after SOPA is enacted!
Would love to see the other top 6 go black as well. One day to save the future integrity of the Internet, I’ll gladly pay that price.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:19 PM EST reply Recommend (7) Flag actions
Google, Facebook, and Twitter would be massive. Too bad their egos won’t allow it. Sometimes I think they deserve SOPA.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:20 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
Actually, Zuckerberg and, I believe, Eric Schmidt have spoken about doing a similar blackout. They have a lot more to lose, though, so I doubt it would be a full 24 hour period. Every little bit would help, though.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 7:12 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
http://bit.ly/z73AQa
Unless you know something the internet doesn’t know – Zuckerberg has not said anything. They are holding a press release the same day as the Wikipedia blackout but that’s it.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 10:18 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
Imagine if all of them would do it at the same time. Market collapse, dogs and cats living together… Mass hysteria!
Posted on Jan 17, 2012 | 9:10 AM EST via mobile reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
This better be US only. Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand… need I go on? SOPA has nothing to do with rest of world, I hope Wikipedia realise that.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:17 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
It’s their English site only. Do a little bit of research maybe?
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:17 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
I think the point is that all those countries speak English, but aren’t in the United States of America.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:20 PM EST reply Recommend (9) Flag actions
But we would still be affected as the company is American. Wherever you are in the world, those laws will affect you as the major services you use today are based in the USA.
Posted on Jan 17, 2012 | 9:06 AM EST via mobile reply Recommend Flag actions
I know Americans have a reputation for not understanding the world but this brings it to a new low and manages to ignore the large Spanish speaking population of the US at the same time.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:25 PM EST reply Recommend (3) Flag actions
I’m pretty sure it’s all English pages, worldwide, although I may be mistaken.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:17 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120104/04252517273/spanish-government-adopts-its-own-version-sopa-sinde-law-approved.shtml
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:23 PM EST reply Recommend (2) Flag actions
Except that SOPA does have a lot to do with the rest of the world; a large amount of internet infrastructure and traffic is based in the USA – another reason why SOPA will be so damaging if it passes.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:26 PM EST reply Recommend (9) Flag actions
And ad providers and payment providers, so a non-US site getting blocked under SOPA can hit it hard.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:30 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
Really? Ask Spain about the Sinde law.
Just because it’s not called “SOPA” doesn’t mean that there isn’t similar legislation in other countries.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:27 PM EST reply Recommend (5) Flag actions
Get your own wikipedia then?
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 6:14 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
If the rest of the world sees how awful it is then they won’t pass the same laws spain did, and the U.S. is trying to pass now and force canada to pass as well.
Don’t act like it’ll only be a problem here, this is being addressed all over. I honestly think they should do it in every language, and explain why other countries shouldn’t pull crap like this too, and why if they already have it should be done away with.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 6:27 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Australia already has a law that far surpasses anything that SOPA or PIPA could do. Only China, North Korea, and maybe Iran have stronger laws.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 7:27 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Actually, stronger laws were proposed in Australia, but it’s likely they will never actually pass. I think there is some form of censorship, but it’s more on the same level as France. It’s nowhere near as bad as what China or North Korea has.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_by_country
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 8:57 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
SOPA Won’t Stop Internet Piracy. Great Service Will
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:21 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
SOPA won’t stop all piracy but it will affect the sites Google, MegaUpload and the rest are making big money on. That’s why they’re paying people to spread misinformation and trying to get the internet community in a frenzy.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:58 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Google makes money on advertisements. I’m confident that their profits from illegal ads are a very small amount of their revenues. So no, they aren’t making “big money” on piracy. But keep listening to the people paid by the CONTENT industry to spread misinformation.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 6:07 PM EST reply Recommend (2) Flag actions
Actually sites like MegaUpload, RapidShare and other make almost all of their money on piracy, as do the link farms and link forums and almost all f them are using AdSense. I’m not saying that the majority of Google’s profits are from these sites, but it’s a big enough chunk that they deem it necessary to their business.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 6:19 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
I live in England and I support this just because SOPA is only American it doesn’t mean that similair legislation wouldnt come to England for example. We need to make a stand now worldwide to show governments that they can’t pass legislation into law with such massive and dangerous implications to the Internet as we know it.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:29 PM EST via mobile reply Recommend Flag actions
They should edit all the governors articles to make their last name McWeinerface. Then lock the articles.
I’m sure that is what you’d do too.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:38 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
The protest Wikipedia page should contain some explanations of why SOPA and PIPA are bad, as well as easy ways to contact their federal representatives.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:39 PM EST reply Recommend (2) Flag actions
Yeah, link links to the wikipedia pages for SOPA and PIPA, so I can learn all about it.
oh wait…
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 9:52 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Damn, 24 hours of completely unchecked information that is wrong half of the time. Whatever will I do.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:45 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
But I’m entitled to everything for free, don’t want to pay for Britannica, and besides everyone else should do my work for me.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:56 PM EST reply Recommend (6) Flag actions
Exam on Wednesday :/
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:53 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
Abandoning GoDaddy and calling for a day-long blackout proves Wikipedia is the real deal when it comes to promoting Internet freedom.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5:59 PM EST reply Recommend (4) Flag actions
Yes this effects the whole world. For a variety of reasons biggest is that if the US Leads in these type of laws other countries will follow suit. Ask spain. And yes it will still effect you because most of the worlds internet infrastructure and data is located right in the USA. If it still hurts you that bad foreign users get your own wikipedia. You have no right to tell an American based company what to do.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 6:17 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
If Wikipedia, Digg, and the rest cut off their services on Wednesday, I will NOT be using the time to call Congress about SOPA, but instead will be advocating against those organizations.
They will be cutting us off NOT because of anything we’ve done wrong, but in an attempt to bully us into retaliating against a third party.
They will be violating our trust, proving themselves unreliable and corrupt.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 6:20 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
Have fun. Is a day without Wikipedia going to hurt anybody? … probably not. This is done to educate people, not to punish them. There can always be various opinions on a matter, but it seems to me that advocating against organizations trying to educate the public on an important law that would affect them would be a waste of time and hot air.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 6:31 PM EST reply Recommend (4) Flag actions
Really? Really? Violating your trust? How so? These websites either wouldn’t exist in the same capacity or at all if SOPA passed.
If you’re the type of customer to pull a complete 180 on how you view a company if they shut down for one day, well I think they are better off without you as a customer.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 7:03 PM EST reply Recommend (3) Flag actions
This ^^
@Kazvorpal Pretty sure you never gave a cent to the organization nor contributed in its content either.
Posted on Jan 17, 2012 | 9:32 AM EST via mobile reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
21st december comes early this year.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 6:30 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
The Verge, and all other major technology blogs should join this protest.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 7:15 PM EST via mobile reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
That would never work for the sole reason that the general public doesn’t give a shit about technology blogs and the people who do give a shit about technology blogs already know about SOPA and hate the fuck out of it.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 10:20 PM EST reply Recommend (3) Flag actions
I applaud them. I hope it helps raise awareness. Now will you please take down the pleading ads at the top of every page already!
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 7:21 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
in all fairness to wikipedia, they don’t advertise and rely solely on donations to stay alive. i’d rather that than shitty banner ads that plague most websites!
Posted on Jan 17, 2012 | 1:50 AM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
I’m pretty angry at this. I’m in Canada, so I really couldn’t care less about all of this SOPA crap. Yeah, yeah, it might eventually affect me or whatever, but by the time our government gets around to making something like SOPA, I’ll probably be really old. They shouldn’t let their national interests negatively affect the user experience of english speakers from around the world. Keep your problems to yourself, thanks.
Anyone know any good wikipedia alternatives?
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 9:50 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
If you think you’ll be really old by the time Canada does what America tells it to do… You must be 59 years and 357 days old.
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 10:32 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Damn, and here I thought I was gonna do my English 102 homework that’s due on Thursday, Wednesday night . Wikipedia force my hand now I can’t procrastinate .
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 10:19 PM EST via mobile reply Recommend Flag actions
People, please also look at the OPEN bill that is also in Congress, it is just as bad as PIPA and SOPA if not worse. If we just keep talking about PIPA and SOPA, they might quietly past OPEN. OPEN is the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act and is proposed by Darrel Issa. Please read the bill and oppose it. Here is a link explaining it. http://blog.curry.com/stories/2012/01/16/sopaIsARedHerring.html
Posted on Jan 17, 2012 | 12:58 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
leave my internet alone, SOPA!
Posted on Jan 17, 2012 | 1:51 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
So can I just go to non-English wiki and use the inbuilt google translate in Chrome to sate my need for a jumping board for ultimate knowledge?
Posted on Jan 17, 2012 | 5:04 AM EST via mobile reply Recommend Flag actions
The people running Wikipedia have lost the plot. An action like this shouldn’t be any part of the site.
Posted on Jan 17, 2012 | 6:21 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
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