Wikipedia Rebels with a 24 Hour Blackout
By Mary Chamaki
The 24 hour Wikipedia blackout has caused students and faculty alike to take notice of the controversy surrounding the Congressional Anti-Piracy bill.
Although the closing of the website may seem to be an inconvenience, students actually embraced the message Wikipedia was trying to send to Congress regarding the bill.
Nowadays, we're so intertwined socially, financially and industrially that suddenly going back to the 1980s would hit the world as hard as a natural disaster, said computer security expert Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure in Helsinki, Finland.
No email, Twitter or Facebook. No online shopping. No stock trades. No just-in-time industrial shipping. It's gotten so that not just the entire Internet but individual websites, such as Google, are considered critical infrastructure, said Hypponen.
"Wikipedia is widely used by our school community, and that is why I think its absence has been so noticable," said junior Anna Esquibel.
On Wednesday, certain websites, most prominently Wikipedia, went dark to protest legislation in Congress that would crack down on pirated movies and TV shows. It was a one-day stunt, but it raises questions about our connectedness.
Wikipedia blacked out the English language version of its website to protest anti-piracy legislation under consideration in Congress, the foundation behind the popular community-based online encyclopedia said in a statement Monday night.
The website went dark for 24 hours in an unprecedented move that brings added muscle to a growing base of critics of the legislation. Wikipedia is considered one of the Internet's most popular websites, with millions of visitors daily.
"The 24 hour Wikipedia blackout has definitely caused students to become more aware of the Congressional anti-piracy bill," said junior Tani Pozirekides. "Online petitions are being created and students across campus are making an effort to raise awareness on this issue. We need freedom on the Internet without government intervention. It is our right as citizens and students should make an effort stop this bill."
The Stop Online Piracy Act in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Protect Intellectual Property Act under consideration in the Senate are designed to crack down on sales of pirated U.S. products overseas.
Supporters include the film and music industry, which often sees its products sold illegally. They say the legislation is needed to protect intellectual property and jobs.
Critics say the legislation could hurt the technology industry and infringe on free-speech rights. Among their concerns are provisions that would weaken cyber-security for companies and hinder domain access rights.
The most controversial provision is in the House bill, which would have enabled federal authorities to "blacklist" sites that are alleged to distribute pirated content. That would essentially cut off portions of the Internet to all U.S. users. But congressional leaders appear to be backing off this provision.
Tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter, eBay, AOL and others have spoken out against the legislation and said it threatens the industry's livelihood. Several online communities such as Reddit, Boing Boing have announced plans to go dark in protest as well.
"It's not just about Internet piracy anymore, its becoming about Internet censorhsip," said Pozirekides. "It is crucial that the right to free Internet knowledge isn't suppressed by our government, that our government doesn't start supporting Internet firewalls like they have in China and other more conservative countries."
Contact Mary Chamaki at mchamaki@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4849. Sarah Skidmore of the Associated Press contributed to this report.