# List of sites (and alternatives?) going dark in protest of SOPA/PIPA? \[NAF!\]
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 18, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864 "2012-01-18T02:45:50Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864/1 "2012-01-18T02:45:50Z")
Crap, crap, crippity crap. I’m up all night fighting a deadline on a report and rely on Google and Wiki (basic direction and links) to speed things along. A bit circularly exacerbating things, if a site is down I won’t be able to Google an alternative.
Is Bing going dark? Does Yahoo still have a search engine or is it all mail and fluffery “news” articles?
---
### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2012, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864/2 "2012-01-18T06:16:03Z")
Google is still functional-- Their “going dark” is just their logo.
---
### Author:  [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2012, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864/3 "2012-01-18T06:34:34Z")
Thanks. I noticed the Variation on a Doodle shortly after midnight and realized that I was over-reading the “going dark” idea.
---
### Author:  [@kombatminipig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kombatminipig)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2012, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864/4 "2012-01-18T07:41:40Z")
Wikipedia haven’t actually taken their servers down, they’ve just added a javascript to the page that puts a big splash screen over the content. If you download the noscripts-plugin for Firefox, it lets you get around that.
---
### Author:  [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2012, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864/5 "2012-01-18T08:01:14Z")
> [@kombatminipig](#):
>
> Wikipedia haven’t actually taken their servers down, they’ve just added a javascript to the page that puts a big splash screen over the content. **If you download the noscripts-plugin for Firefox** , it lets you get around that.
No wonder I haven’t seen it. I thought they were waiting until midnight Pacific time or something like that.
So this black-out isn’t really anything of the sort? A minor hiccup and awareness-raising, but not a Critical Mass-like interruption.
---
### Author:  [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2012, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864/6 "2012-01-18T08:07:07Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#):
>
> No wonder I haven’t seen it. I thought they were waiting until midnight Pacific time or something like that.
I was wondering the same thing. I stayed up till midnight Pacific to watch it change, then… nothing…
---
### Author:  [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2012, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864/7 "2012-01-18T08:07:21Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#):
>
> So this black-out isn’t really anything of the sort? A minor hiccup and awareness-raising, but not a Critical Mass-like interruption.
Well, it is and it isn’t. Don’t forget that the vast majority of users will be unaware how simple it is to work round the blackout and wouldn’t even try.
---
### Author:  [@iamnotbatman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamnotbatman)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2012, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864/8 "2012-01-18T08:12:37Z")
I was actually interested in what sites were doing what. Googling turned up this list:
[http://technorati.com/technology/article/list-of-sites-going-dark-today/](http://technorati.com/technology/article/list-of-sites-going-dark-today/)
---
### Author:  [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2012, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864/9 "2012-01-18T08:26:47Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#):
>
> Crap, crap, crippity crap. I’m up all night fighting a deadline on a report and rely on Google and Wiki (basic direction and links) to speed things along.
The [mobile version of Wikipedia](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/) will be up throughout the duration of the blackout if you don’t want to install the noscript extension mentioned above.
---
### Author:  [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2012, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864/10 "2012-01-18T08:55:27Z")
Oh, to be mobile! No, I’ll be stuck here at my desk for the duration … by my count I have about 80 hours of work due by Friday. :dubious:
I think it’s time to hire.
---
### Author:  [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2012, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864/11 "2012-01-18T11:50:36Z")
The [Simple English](http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) version is also up, if you don’t mind being talked to like a 7-year-old.
---
### Author:  [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2012, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864/12 "2012-01-18T11:53:13Z")
[xkcd.com](http://xkcd.com) put up a protest cartoon.
---
### Author:  [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864/13 "2012-01-18T17:41:51Z")
Per the forums the black hat guy is in the background. I see it in the forums but can’t figure out how to get it to work on my screen.
---
### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864/14 "2012-01-18T17:44:49Z")
As mentioned in another thread, all you have to do is wait for the text to come up and hit escape to get around the Wiki blackout.
---
### Author:  [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864/15 "2012-01-18T17:47:16Z")
> [@kombatminipig](#):
>
> Wikipedia haven’t actually taken their servers down, they’ve just added a javascript to the page that puts a big splash screen over the content. If you download the noscripts-plugin for Firefox, it lets you get around that.
You don’t even have to do that:
Go to the wikipedia main page.
Type in the term you want
As it loads (when you can see the text), hit escape.
Whups, Joey beat me to it.
---
### Author:  [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864/16 "2012-01-18T17:54:10Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#):
>
> Oh, to be mobile! No, I’ll be stuck here at my desk for the duration … by my count I have about 80 hours of work due by Friday. :dubious:
> I think it’s time to hire.
You can use the mobile version from your regular computer. Just click on **standingwave’s** link.
---
### Author:  [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864/17 "2012-01-18T18:01:32Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#):
>
> As mentioned in another thread, all you have to do is wait for the text to come up and hit escape to get around the Wiki blackout.
You have to time it just right, though. Too fast and the entire page won’t load. Too slow and the script kicks in. It’s easier to just temporarily block scripts on that domain until the blackout is lifted.
---
### Author:  [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864/18 "2012-01-18T18:07:33Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#):
>
> [xkcd.com](http://xkcd.com) put up a protest cartoon.
Not just A protest cartoon - all the cartoon links go to the blacked-out protest cartoon today.
---
### Author:  [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864/19 "2012-01-18T18:13:54Z")
> [@standingwave](#):
>
> The [mobile version of Wikipedia](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/) will be up throughout the duration of the blackout if you don’t want to install the noscript extension mentioned above.
Typing anything in the search box takes you to the non-mobile version, however.
---
### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864/20 "2012-01-18T18:50:10Z")
So, hit Escape, disable javascript or use the (actual) mobile version (on an actual mobile phone). It seems to me this was kind of a half assed blackout. I suppose with only 24 hours, not that many people will figure this out, they’ll just see the blackout screen and be on their way. But I would have rather they just shut down the servers for the day. Even then we’d still have the Google Cache (maybe they could have asked Google to turn off those links for one day).
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-sites-and-alternatives-going-dark-in-protest-of-sopa-pipa-naf/609864.md?page=2)