The world came to an end today when we found out that Wikipedia went dark. With the exceptions of articles directly referencing the legislation in question, every single article on the English Wikipedia site has been blacked out. Should you attempt to visit one, you will get redirected to a page asking you to learn more about this "protest" against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA), two bills designed to cut down on copyright infringement on the Internet. If you did not know about this legislation before, chances are you do now. Come on, admit it, you wanted to putz around and Wiki-hop today just like the rest of us every day. Unfortunately, you are left to see what I and other inferior bloggers have to say on this topic. The underlying goal of the legislation is good: combat copyrights, but if you read the Wikipedia page explaining the blackout, you will learn that the protest is because Wikipedia (and other similar user-generated sites) will be forced to police themselves regarding potential copyright infringement. They fear that legislation like SOPA and PIPA will cut down on the free exchange of information on the Internet in favor of overly-tight regulations and enforcement.
This is a similar argument we have heard for several years in regards to this whole "net neutrality" business. Everybody is afraid that little sites like "Ask a Ninja" will get kicked off the Web because they can't afford to pay to be in a "high-speed" internet lane. I know that it is not apples to apples, but the result of that whole debate was that the Internet was left alone then, and I have no reason to believe that it won't be left alone now. Legislation like this (at least on the surface...I have only read the Wikipedia page...hey it was the only one available!) seems like it's just going to be a power grab for lawyers and lobbyists. Therefore, I just say leave it be, stop you're whining, and everyone can just carry on and waste time on Wikipedia like normal. Now get back to work!
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