# OK, Wikipedia, we get it. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 18, 2012, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-wikipedia-we-get-it/609897 "2012-01-18T13:00:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-wikipedia-we-get-it/609897/1 "2012-01-18T13:00:40Z")
Your little hijack of flashing the article we’re looking up, then your little protest screen is all very well done. But couldn’t you have done this on the weekend, when I don’t need to reference you for my tutoring work? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-wikipedia-we-get-it/609897/2 "2012-01-18T13:02:15Z")
Turn off Javascript when you’re on Wikipedia. Problem solved. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-wikipedia-we-get-it/609897/3 "2012-01-18T13:03:18Z")
Use the Google cache. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-wikipedia-we-get-it/609897/4 "2012-01-18T13:06:05Z")
Thanks for the assist. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-wikipedia-we-get-it/609897/5 "2012-01-18T13:58:37Z")
I assume they didn’t want to do it on a weekend so it would come to the attention of as many people as possible. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-wikipedia-we-get-it/609897/6 "2012-01-18T14:58:37Z")
I’m a wikipedia junkie, but I can’t bring myself to get upset over the guys who own it deciding what to do with a free service. And I can’t believe I didn’t think about using the cache feature. Brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-wikipedia-we-get-it/609897/7 "2012-01-18T15:18:08Z")
You don’t have to turn off java script. Go to the wikipedia main page. Type in the term you want As it loads (when you can see the text), hit escape. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-wikipedia-we-get-it/609897/8 "2012-01-18T15:21:47Z")
Sorry, no. They’re entitled, and the middle of a week is _great_ time to do this, so people can realise how intrusive SOPA actually would be. Inconveniencing you _is_ the whole point. And if you’re using Wikipedia as your reference for tutoring, I’m glad I’m not in your class. I love Wikipedia, but I’d expect a better academic standard from my tutors. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-wikipedia-we-get-it/609897/9 "2012-01-18T15:27:08Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > so people can realise how intrusive SOPA actually would be. It’s not at all clear to me that this would be an actual effect of this bill. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-wikipedia-we-get-it/609897/10 "2012-01-18T15:47:32Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > And if you’re using Wikipedia as your reference for tutoring, I’m glad I’m not in your class. Wikipedia is a reference point, not a reference. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-wikipedia-we-get-it/609897/11 "2012-01-18T16:02:03Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > I assume they didn’t want to do it on a weekend so it would come to the attention of as many people as possible. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-wikipedia-we-get-it/609897/12 "2012-01-18T16:25:36Z")
Why don’t you actually _do_ something about it then? (Presuming you’re in the US as is statistically likely (and indicated in your profile), and not in some other country where, to be frank, our influence on US politics is near-zero) A huge amount about US copyright law affects people in other countries, from legal threats to foreign DNS seizures to ridiculous harmonization attempts, and I can do _jack_ about it. (and since I just noticed this is the pit): **Fuck you and your whining! Pick up a goddamn pen or your phone or something!** :mad: ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-wikipedia-we-get-it/609897/13 "2012-01-18T16:30:33Z")
another thread > **[List of sites (and alternatives?) going dark in protest of SOPA/PIPA? \[NAF!\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=638862)** > > 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... participants are major information providers. ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-wikipedia-we-get-it/609897/14 "2012-01-18T16:33:13Z")
Sign the petition and stop whining, people survived without Wiki for centuries you can last one day. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-wikipedia-we-get-it/609897/15 "2012-01-18T16:34:02Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > It’s not at all clear to me that this would be an actual effect of this bill. Wikipedia is generally pretty good about enforcing copyright, but there have been instances in the past where a person or institution claims they’re breaking copyright and wikipedia decides that they’re in the right and keep it up. For example, a few years back a museum claimed that images of paintings put on their website were under their copywrite while wikipedia disagreed, since the paintings themselves were several hundred years old an obviously in the public domain. So its hardly inconceivable that should SOPA pass, it could be used to delist wikipedia, at least until things got sorted out. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-wikipedia-we-get-it/609897/16 "2012-01-18T17:09:46Z")
> [@AWB](#): > > But couldn’t you have done this on the weekend, when I don’t need to reference you for my tutoring work? That would have been kind of stupid. The House Judiciary Committee was supposed to hold hearings on the bill today, which is why Wikipedia and Reddit and other sites chose to go dark today. However the hearing has been delayed for about a month. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-wikipedia-we-get-it/609897/17 "2012-01-18T17:14:40Z")
> [@Nanoda](#): > > (and since I just noticed this is the pit): **Fuck you and your whining! Pick up a goddamn pen or your phone or something!** :mad: [Moderating] Even in the Pit, saying “Fuck you,” to other posters is against the rules. Please don’t do this again. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-wikipedia-we-get-it/609897/18 "2012-01-18T17:44:56Z")
Something I mentioned in the other thread, I expected this to be more Critical Mass inconvenient, not “oh look, Google is doing anonymous porn” kind of unnoticeable. As has been mentioned, Wiki isn’t really down, and Google’s efforts are beyond trivial. I don’t _want_ to be inconvenienced, but this is nothing to start a Pit thread over. Now if the SDMB had joined in… ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-wikipedia-we-get-it/609897/19 "2012-01-18T17:50:56Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Something I mentioned in the other thread, I expected this to be more Critical Mass inconvenient, not “oh look, Google is doing anonymous porn” kind of unnoticeable. As has been mentioned, Wiki isn’t really down, and Google’s efforts are beyond trivial. I don’t _want_ to be inconvenienced, but this is nothing to start a Pit thread over. > > Now if the SDMB had joined in… Nah, it would take the porn sites going dark to bring people out in the streets with pitchforks. ---
**Author:** ![LeeshaJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@LeeshaJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeeshaJoy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-wikipedia-we-get-it/609897/20 "2012-01-18T17:53:29Z")
If you think that an anti-censorship protest (or, hell, _any_ protest) should be shuffled off to where it’s not a hindrance to anyone, then no, you _don’t_ get it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-wikipedia-we-get-it/609897.md?page=2)