Wiki blackout.

Digital Economy Act 2010 and Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 combined the 2 have the same effect that SOPA has yet there is no outrage against them? These are law in the UK :(
 
Maybe if Google took YouTube offline for a day the infrastructure could have a bandwidth breather.

On topic though, I think Ars Technica's approach to this is a bit more sensible. Going dark gets the point across though.
 
Stolen from Reddit. Apparently what google looks like in the US. Not sure why the doodle isn't worldwide.

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Robbo said:
Which is what makes this all a bit silly. They haven't actually taken it down, just put an easily circumventable overlay over the entire site.

They may as well not have bothered.
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I can only assume you're trolling. Because of this action the first time today nearly every visitor to wikipedia goes there they'll see this page, the point is to raise awareness and promote their point of view on why this is wrong to a massive audience, many of which probably don't know the details (because until it's made relevant to them they don't care).

How you can equate that with "may as well not have bothered" is beyond me.
 
RDM said:
But it wouldn't have. YouTube's own lawyers would have stopped it from happening. Before we can have a sensible conversation about copyright and the interent then both sides really need to stop the hypberbole. I quite agree that the legislation in question is pretty poor, but it isn't the internet apocalypse that some are making it out to be.
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If you read the bill, YouTube clearly falls under this bill as a site that 'wilfully infringes' by 'facilitating' theft of property.

Besides, even if YouTube had the resources to fight back with lawyers, what of the sites that don't have the resources to pay for the lawyers and lawsuits?

The bill is mainly supported by the entertainment industry, who aren't adapting their business models to fit the modern age of the Internet. This is just a bill to protect their arses, does that sound like a good justification for passing a bill? There is a huge amount of opposition, not from the average person and journalist website, but also from big tech companies.
 
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Mattey1 said:
Seems like a waste of time that does.

Might as well have took a hit on money for the day & took all Google services down.
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Thats just stupid - its just there to improve awareness. Its not like you are going to avoid it, until youve actually noticed it/felt its effect, so in that respect its done what its set out to do - actually stopping service just would lead to further moaning and backlash that actually isnt directed at the cause they are trying publicise..

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
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LordSplodge said:
Bypassing the blackout kind of defeats the point.

However you think they would have done a better job like some other sites. I like the 2600.com one.
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The whole point is to raise awareness, which they've done, the point is not to annoy people by completely taking the entire site down.

Robbo said:
I just checked that on a US proxy and it is indeed true.

It should be worldwide though as you say.
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SOPA is a US that's why. Not a lot we can do.
 
bam0 said:
I can only assume you're trolling. Because of this action the first time today nearly every visitor to wikipedia goes there they'll see this page, the point is to raise awareness and promote their point of view on why this is wrong to a massive audience, many of which probably don't know the details (because until it's made relevant to them they don't care).

How you can equate that with "may as well not have bothered" is beyond me.
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I'm not trolling. :confused:

I agree it raises awareness but don't most people know about it anyway by now?

I'm merely pointing out that the website giants don't have the bottle to actually take their sites down properly in support of this, which is a bit sad.

Longbow said:
SOPA is a US that's why. Not a lot we can do.
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Immense pressure from the rest of the world should help at least.
 
ps3ud0 said:
Thats just stupid - its just there to improve awareness. Its not like you are going to avoid it, until youve actually noticed it/felt its effect, so in that respect its done what its set out to do - actually stopping service just would lead to further moaning and backlash that actually isnt directed at the cause they are trying publicise..

ps3ud0 :cool:
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I know it is stupid but it would raise even more awareness than the tiny link they have put at the bottom of the page now which most people will ignore anyway.

The way Wiki & some of the other sites have done it is much better. Even if it can be bypassed its still shoved in your face until you stop it.

But i understand your last part & that is most likely the reason Google have done it the way they have.
 
Robbo said:
I'm not trolling. :confused:

I agree it raises awareness but don't most people know about it anyway by now?

I'm merely pointing out that the website giants don't have the bottle to actually take their sites down properly in support of this, which is a bit sad.
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You said they may as well have not bothered, I really don't think the outcome of their actions will be the same as if they'd done nothing.

A lot of people may have heard about Sopa and Pipa, but not know what they entail or why wikipedia and others are against it. A lot of non technical people use wikipedia so relating the implications of this legislation to something they appreciate is a great way to win support to your side.
The supporters of these laws are framing the anti side as pro-piracy and thieves, this is part of an attempt to reframe the discussion.

I don't think it's about having the bottle, I don't think taking the website down completely would have done anything more to assist their cause.
 
bam0 said:
You said they may as well have not bothered, I really don't think the outcome of their actions will be the same as if they'd done nothing.

A lot of people may have heard about Sopa and Pipa, but not know what they entail or why wikipedia and others are against it. A lot of non technical people use wikipedia so relating the implications of this legislation to something they appreciate is a great way to win support to your side.
The supporters of these laws are framing the anti side as pro-piracy and thieves, this is part of an attempt to reframe the discussion.

I don't think it's about having the bottle, I don't think taking the website down completely would have done anything more to assist their cause.
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I agree that, on reflection, saying "they may as well not have bothered" was perhaps a bit strong.
 
Mattey1 said:
I know it is stupid but it would raise even more awareness than the tiny link they have put at the bottom of the page now which most people will ignore anyway.

The way Wiki & some of the other sites have done it is much better. Even if it can be bypassed its still shoved in your face until you stop it.

But i understand your last part & that is most likely the reason Google have done it the way they have.
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Think Googles USP as a clean search engine probably meant any support wouldnt impede users actually using the site.

Hell considering how many browsers have inbuilt search bars how often do you actually land on the main google page anyway, outside of someone noticing a new doodle. In that respect looking at the threads that pop up with 'look at Googles doodle' todays support is apt and most likely effective...

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
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