目前美國參眾兩院正各自審議兩套內容大同小異的法案——參議院提出的「保護知識產權法案」（Protect IP Act），及眾議院的「停止網上盜版法案」（SOPA），SOPA獲兩黨普遍支持，料夠票通過，參議院更將率先於本月24日表決其法案版本。荷李活、音樂產業、商業軟件聯盟和美國商會都力撐「SOPA」，但Google、雅虎、Twitter等網絡巨頭上月發表公開信，批評參眾這些法案，將「授權美國政府，行使類似中國、馬來西亞和伊朗政府用來進行網絡審查的技術」，懇請國會三思，有網民更呼籲杯葛所有支持法案的公司。
For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history.
Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia.作者: homeinns 時間: 2012-1-18 14:27
本帖最後由 homeinns 於 2012-1-18 14:28 編輯
About the action
The Wikipedia community has blacked out the English version of Wikipedia for 24 hours on January 18th to raise awareness about legislation being proposed by the U.S. Congress — the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the U.S. Senate -- and to encourage readers to speak out against it.
This legislation, if passed, will harm the free and open Internet.
If you are in the United States, let your congressional representative know what you think of the proposed legislation by clicking here.
The blackout will last 24 hours -- from midnight to midnight EST (05:00 UTC Wed to 05:00 UTC Thu).
This decision was made by Wikipedia’s global community of editors -- the people who built Wikipedia. The Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit organization that operates Wikipedia, also opposes SOPA and PIPA, and supports the editors' blackout.
SOPA and PIPA are real threats to the free and open Internet. Although recent media reports have suggested that the bills are losing support, they are not dead. On January 17th, SOPA's sponsor said the bill will be discussed and pushed forward in early February. PIPA could be debated in the U.S. Senate as soon as next week. There is a need to send a strong message that bills like SOPA and PIPA must not move forward: they will cause too much damage.
Although the bills have been amended since their introduction, they are still deeply problematic. Among other serious problems in the current draft of the bills, the requirement exists for US-based sites to actively police links to purported infringing sites.
These kinds of self-policing activities are non-sustainable for large, global sites - including ones like Wikipedia.
The legislative language is ambiguous and overly broad, even though it touches on protected speech. Congress says it's trying to protect the rights of copyright owners, but the "cure" that SOPA and PIPA represent is worse than the disease.作者: homeinns 時間: 2012-1-18 14:32
本帖最後由 homeinns 於 2012-1-18 14:49 編輯
Why is this happening?
The English Wikipedia community is opposed to SOPA/PIPA. In an unprecedented decision, the Wikipedia community has chosen to blackout the English version of Wikipedia for 24 hours, in protest against proposed legislation in the United States — the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the U.S. Senate. If passed, this legislation will harm the free and open Internet and inhibit people's access to information online.
Why? SOPA and PIPA 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.
這與 "河蟹"的中國有什麽分別呢 ?? Homeinns 在過去多年,已經累積了極爲豐富的破網翻墻的實戰經驗,在 HKEPC 上與普通,多如螞蟻和蝗蟲的 Lu-Lu 老百姓無償的分享,又遭遇到因爲商業利益的自我審查(怕阿爺不高興,封殺 HKEPC 的網站,影響廣告收益),最最終被 HKEPC Ban 了(WoChinaren 網友又是相同的命運),最後只有轉到地下運作,估不到,那麽文明的國度 USA,也學習大陸共慘黨這一套,真是共慘黨万稅万稅,万万稅.
SOPA and PIPA build a framework for future restrictions and suppression.
For over a decade, Wikipedians have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. This proposed legislation could seriously damage Wikipedia, and your ability to access information online.作者: wochinaren123 時間: 2012-1-18 19:11
