Why is the Wikipedia site not working?

[micheal k]

Is their a reason this site is not working?

[Alienskull]

They are protesting. You can get more info here: http://www.phoneguy.org

Theisr an HTML script that you can post on your site. They also give you the option to write Congress.

[Take Care]

How did i know some tárd was gonna ask this? lol

[W]

I thought the blackout started midnight, Eastern time - it should still be working....

[Mark]

Mine is working for another two hours. It says something about protesting PIPA and SOPA.

[ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

They are protesting the Self-Described "Like China's State Internet Censorship System" bill that looks like it will pass... Even if altered and slightly toned down... SOPA & PIPA Bills.

I'm not kidding... Early copies were freely said to have been based upon the Communist China Internet Censorship.

â–º Popular Websites to Go Dark Over SOPA Controversy
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now...11626.html
If you have anything you want to look up on Wikipedia, you'd better do it today, or you're going to have to wait a full 24 hours to get your answer. Why? Well, Wikipedia will be leading a number of high-profile websites going dark on Wednesday to protest two controversial bills in Congress. SOPA, also known as the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House of Representatives, and PIPA, the Protect I-P Act in the Senate, are designed to crack down on the illegal sharing of movies and music on the Web. However, critics say the anti-piracy legislation is censorship and would force sites to police the online world.

On Twitter, Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, confirmed that all of Wikipedia's 3.8 million English-language articles will be unavailable from midnight Eastern time tonight until midnight Wednesday. Anyone who visits the site will be redirected to a banner that reads "The Internet must remain free." Also joining Wikipedia in going black are Reddit, Minecraft, Craigslist, and Boing Boing, among others. Craigslist has posted a message at the top of its city homepages with a link to "help put a stop to this madness" of SOPA and PIPA.

The Obama administration, as well as Congress, seem to be listening to the critics. In a blog post, the White House said it would not support "legislation that reduces freedom of expression ... or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet." And House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said a vote would not come up for SOPA until a consensus is reached. By the way, if you're a fan of any of the sites that are planning to participate in the blackout, don't worry: You can still tweet about it as much as you want. Twitter will still be up and running. In fact, CEO Dick Costolo tweeted this about the sites choosing to go dark: "Closing a global business in reaction to single-issue national politics is foolish."

Although there is a lot of opposition to SOPA and PIPA, some believe the legislation is necessary.
One person who does not mince words about his support for SOPA is Rupert Murdoch. Over the weekend, the media tycoon and CEO of News Corporation seemed to almost mimic the recent antics of Charlie Sheen and Kanye West, firing off a number of tweets in a short period of time. Murdoch blasted Obama and Google for how they are dealing with the anti-piracy legislation, tweeting, "Piracy leader is Google who streams movies free, sells [ads] around them. No wonder pouring millions into lobbying." Google responded, calling the accusation "nonsense" and adding that it has taken down 5 million infringing webpages from its search results ... and that it fights pirating and counterfeiters every day. Many believe that Murdoch confused downloading with streaming, and the next day he backed off. Murdoch tweeted, "Sure misunderstand many things, but not plain stealing. Incidentally google blocks many other undesirable things."

[Is that DAVE]

The digital encyclopaedia will voluntarily shut down for 24 hours tomorrow in a protest against internet new piracy laws in the United States. From the wiki! :

Why is Wikipedia blacked-out?
Wikipedia is protesting against SOPA and PIPA by blacking out the English Wikipedia for 24 hours, beginning at midnight January 18, Eastern Time. Readers who come to English Wikipedia during the blackout will not be able to read the encyclopedia. Instead, you will see messages intended to raise awareness about SOPA and PIPA, encouraging you to share your views with your representatives, and with each other on social media.

What effect is the blackout having, so far?
The purpose of the blackout is twofold: to raise awareness of SOPA and PIPA among the general public, and to encourage people to share their views with their representatives.
More than 10,000 people have commented on the Wikimedia Foundation's blog post announcing the blackout. We have not done a content analysis, but at-a-glance it looks like the overwhelming majority support the blackout

What are SOPA and PIPA?
SOPA and PIPA represent two bills in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate respectively. SOPA is short for the "Stop Online Piracy Act," and PIPA is an acronym for the "Protect IP Act." ("IP" stands for "intellectual property.") In short, these bills are efforts to stop copyright infringement committed by foreign web sites, but, in our opinion, they do so in a way that actually infringes free expression while harming the Internet. Detailed information about these bills can be found in the Stop Online Piracy Act and PROTECT IP Act articles on Wikipedia, which are available during the blackout. GovTrack lets you follow both bills through the legislative process: SOPA on this page, and PIPA on this one. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for the public interest in the digital realm, has summarized why these bills are simply unacceptable in a world that values an open, secure, and free Internet.

Why is the blackout happening?
Wikipedians have chosen to black out the English Wikipedia for the first time ever, because we are concerned that SOPA and PIPA will severely inhibit people's access to online information. This is not a problem that will solely affect people in the United States: it will affect everyone around the world.

Why? SOPA and PIPA are badly drafted legislation that won't be effective at their stated goal (to stop copyright infringement), and will cause serious damage to the free and open Internet. They put the burden on website owners to police user-contributed material and call for the unnecessary blocking of entire sites. Small sites won't have sufficient resources to defend themselves. Big media companies may seek to cut off funding sources for their foreign competitors, even if copyright isn't being infringed. Foreign sites will be blacklisted, which means they won't show up in major search engines. And, SOPA and PIPA build a framework for future restrictions and suppression.

Does this mean that Wikipedia itself is violating copyright laws, or hosting pirated content?
No, not at all. Some supporters of SOPA and PIPA characterize everyone who opposes them as cavalier about copyright, but that is not accurate. Wikipedians are knowledgeable about copyright and vigilant in protecting against violations: Wikipedians spend thousands of hours every week reviewing and removing infringing content. We are careful about it because our mission is to share knowledge freely. To that end, all Wikipedians release their contributions under a free license, and all the material we offer is freely licensed. Free licenses are incompatible with copyright infringement, and so infringement is not tolerated.

Is it still possible to access Wikipedia in any way
Yes. During the blackout, Wikipedia is accessible on mobile devices and smart phones. You can also view Wikipedia normally by disabling JavaScript