# Wikipedia shutting down for 24 hours on January 18. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 17, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-shutting-down-for-24-hours-on-january-18/609765 "2012-01-17T03:29:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-shutting-down-for-24-hours-on-january-18/609765/1 "2012-01-17T03:29:11Z")
[To protest the anti-piracy, web blocking bill in Congress.](http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/English_Wikipedia_anti-SOPA_blackout) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-shutting-down-for-24-hours-on-january-18/609765/2 "2012-01-17T06:40:09Z")
…And Congress will totally notice. For things like this, I presume Google’s cache will work in a pinch? ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-shutting-down-for-24-hours-on-january-18/609765/3 "2012-01-17T07:05:37Z")
Too bad they don’t just shut it down in the U.S. Lord knows the technology exists to go the other way. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-shutting-down-for-24-hours-on-january-18/609765/4 "2012-01-17T07:47:47Z")
A more satisfying protest would be to delete all the articles about senators and members of Congress for a week or so. Alternatively, if it’s technically feasible, refuse all requests for downloads from the .gov domain . ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-shutting-down-for-24-hours-on-january-18/609765/5 "2012-01-17T11:20:16Z")
I wish more websites and businesses who oppose SOPA would do this. Enough websites shut down on the same day in protest, it’d really get the regular folks attention to just how bad this law is going to be. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-shutting-down-for-24-hours-on-january-18/609765/6 "2012-01-17T15:07:08Z")
Is there a chance that the introduction of SOPA will cause some websites to relocate themselves or would the US authorities seek to try to enforce this law upon non-US sites that can be accessed in the States? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-shutting-down-for-24-hours-on-january-18/609765/7 "2012-01-17T16:57:23Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > Is there a chance that the introduction of SOPA will cause some websites to relocate themselves or would the US authorities seek to try to enforce this law upon non-US sites that can be accessed in the States? My understanding is that they want to be able to block access for Americans to foreign sites. PirateBay, for example, is located in Sweden. I think the bill would want to block Americans from gaining access to it. Correct me if I’m wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-shutting-down-for-24-hours-on-january-18/609765/8 "2012-01-17T17:53:10Z")
Does anyone know of a good video I can show my students about the shutdown? We use Wikipedia fairly often at school and it would be a great lesson to show them that it is shutdown and why it is shutdown. Nothing to crazily biased, though. Just a video about the controversy. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-shutting-down-for-24-hours-on-january-18/609765/9 "2012-01-17T17:56:23Z")
Well, I guess this means Great Debates will be shutting down for 24 hours too. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-shutting-down-for-24-hours-on-january-18/609765/10 "2012-01-17T18:29:17Z")
SOPA has been shelved, but it has a counterpart in [PIPA](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PROTECT_IP_Act), which is being debated in the Senate. > **[Examiner is back - Examiner.com](https://examiner.com)** > > Examiner.com is the go-to source for millions of people who want to know what's happening in their city. And we're still growing! I’m still in support of sites going dark in protest. I hope neither bill comes to passage. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-shutting-down-for-24-hours-on-january-18/609765/11 "2012-01-17T20:04:39Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Well, I guess this means Great Debates will be shutting down for 24 hours too. Whither GQ? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-shutting-down-for-24-hours-on-january-18/609765/12 "2012-01-17T21:00:14Z")
I predict GQ will have an increase of new threads but a decrease of replies… ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-shutting-down-for-24-hours-on-january-18/609765/13 "2012-01-17T23:52:05Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > I predict GQ will have an increase of new threads but a decrease of replies… OTOH, I don’t think Jinx or Ralph will even notice. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-shutting-down-for-24-hours-on-january-18/609765/14 "2012-01-18T00:10:29Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > We use Wikipedia fairly often at school . . . For _what_, exactly, I ask nervously? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-shutting-down-for-24-hours-on-january-18/609765/15 "2012-01-18T01:38:46Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > SOPA has been shelved Nope – Lamar Smith is planning to [try again](http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120117/12563317437/its-baaaaaaaaack-lamar-smith-says-sopa-markup-to-resume-february.shtml) when the heat is off. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-shutting-down-for-24-hours-on-january-18/609765/16 "2012-01-18T03:43:59Z")
Google and Yahoo need to go dark in protest too with Wikipedia. Wikipedia by itself just isn’t that vital. I’d miss it if it disappeared forever. But a days outage isn’t going to matter much to me. Google, Gmail and Yahoo are the big players. If they pull the plug for a couple days the shit will hit Congress’ fan then. 😃 No email from Yahoo or Gmail for a couple days? That would shake Congress’ cage. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-shutting-down-for-24-hours-on-january-18/609765/17 "2012-01-18T03:50:59Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > For _what_, exactly, I ask nervously? For the same thing most people use it for in academic settings. Getting a quick overview of a subject in order to find useful texts and sources more quickly and as a source aggregator. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-shutting-down-for-24-hours-on-january-18/609765/18 "2012-01-18T04:40:38Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > For the same thing most people use it for in academic settings. Getting a quick overview of a subject in order to find useful texts and sources more quickly and as a source aggregator. But Lord knows who wrote what article with which agenda. Why would our moronic Congressmen give a damn or even notice if Wikipedia or Google shut down? I wrote mine today for all the good it will do. Some aide will mark things on the printout with a crayon and another aide further up in the abused hierarchy will decide they are not worthy of their Master’s notice. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-shutting-down-for-24-hours-on-january-18/609765/19 "2012-01-18T04:47:45Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > But Lord knows who wrote what article with which agenda. That would be what the edit history is for, if one is so inclined. You do realize that any time something is added or deleted from a wiki article, the username or IP address of the user making the change is recorded? Besides, Brittanica articles aren’t bylined either, you’re trusting in the corporation to be neutral. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-shutting-down-for-24-hours-on-january-18/609765/20 "2012-01-18T05:07:23Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Google and Yahoo need to go dark in protest too with Wikipedia. > > Wikipedia by itself just isn’t that vital. I’d miss it if it disappeared forever. But a days outage isn’t going to matter much to me. > > Google, Gmail and Yahoo are the big players. If they pull the plug for a couple days the shit will hit Congress’ fan then. 😃 > > No email from Yahoo or Gmail for a couple days? That would shake Congress’ cage. Check out the new doodle. Just noticed it now, 9pm PST. It wasn’t there an hour ago. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-shutting-down-for-24-hours-on-january-18/609765.md?page=2)