SOPA & PIPA and a few of the websites involved in the protest.

The original purpose of this post was to be all about Wikipedia, but in the process of getting here I came across a few other talking points. Lets go over those few first, and I will get to Wikipedia at the end of the post. While we are at it, lets make a short list and have a small discussion about the various websites involved.

Google is participating in the 'black-out' by censoring the Google logo. The manipulation of their logo is typical seeing how it changes every day, but each play on the Google logo always has some meaning behind it. They always offer an explanation as to the meaning of their logo artwork though, so thats good. Im not sure how long that link will stay active, but it should be valid for the next 24 hours.

I am glad to see that ATS is also participating in the protest, though I cant seem to get a link to the page I saw while authoring this thread. If anyone happens to catch the URL I would very much appreciate a quick link here, it didnt show up in my history. Now even though its minimal participation, its a quick page that is similar in structure to the "404 page not found" page, but with a few good links and information about SOPA and PIPA.

Lets move onto Wikipedia. Basically any page you try to load from the english server will redirect you to a splash page giving good information and links regarding SOPA and PIPA again. I guess I never realized how much I actually use wikipedia in a given day. Already I have done a few google searches and clicked on a good looking result only to find wikipedia is blocking access.

This is all good and well, and I support what everybody is doing but it can be frustrating to not be able to access the page I am looking for, especially a general information page with history, entomology, usage, tech specs, etc. Wikipedia, the quick summary of everything I could want to know. I miss you!

Well there is a very simple fix if you wish to load a Wikipedia page today, and this trick will probably work for many other websites participating in the protest; But before you use this trick I really hope you at least brush up on what SOPA and PIPA are all about. To get past Wikipedia's protest page, first do a search for the article you would like to read, and while the page is loading there is a half second before it redirects you. If you watch carefully and have your timing spot on, you can hit the stop/reload button on your browser and prevent the site from redirecting you!

I know many of you more knowledgeable computer users out there will view my tip as common sense, but I am hoping that I can at least assist one every-day average computer user. I have tried to load 3 different wiki pages in the last 2 hours, and this simple fix has saved me from hours and hours of aggravation. To you 'computer experts' out there, instead of flaming me lets spend our energy discussing other popular sites participating in the SOPA protest, and possible work arounds for Wednesday. Lets also try to spread awareness and support against the SOPA and PIPA house bills!

Or you could just disable Javascript in your browser settings, preventing the popup from obscuring the article.

sooo... why can't i acces ats videos?

reply to post by IntegratedInstigator


I don't see how shutting down any websites is going to further a case for internet freedom.
And wasn't this bill already shot down by the President so that everyone still harping on it is "talking past the money?"

Of course I understand it is a valid and ongoing concern but there is so much more "they" can do if regulators wanted to stifle freedom - for example keeping the internet free is one thing but how are you going to keep it accurate or truthful? How are we going to legislate that? We have freedom to read lies, false reporting manipulation and propaganda....Where is the victory?