# Reddit shutting down to protest SOPA/PIPA



## gloweyjoey (Jan 13, 2012)

> Wikipedia may join Reddit in its blackout Jan. 18 to protest the Stop Online Privacy Act and Protect Internet Privacy Act.
> Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales wrote that he’s “all in favor of it,” but he needs to talk with his government affairs advisor and then take it to a fast thumbs-up/thumbs-down vote.
> 
> “We need to move forward quickly on a concrete,” plan, Wales wrote. “We don’t have the luxury of time that we usually have, in terms of negotiating with each other for weeks about what’s exactly the best possible thing to do.”
> ...





> Developer Mojang has announced that _Minecraft_, too, will be "going dark" on the 18th January.





> Destructoid will also go offline on the 18th.






Source


Wow. That would be HUGE if wikipedia participates.


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## CrimzonEyed (Jan 13, 2012)

Yea if wikipedia goes down, half of the countries students grade will go down by 80% XD


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## Foxi4 (Jan 13, 2012)

Either they're for realz and this is where I say "Good for you, at least you have an ideology to follow" or this is how you turn standard server maintenance into a web-wide advertisement of your board.



CrimzonEyed said:


> Yea if wikipedia goes down, half of the countries students grade will go down by 80% XD



NEVER trust Wikipedia, always use it as ONE of your sources, not the definite source. I've seen stupidity layered with misinterpretation on more than one occasion - remember that the Wiki "writes itself", whatever you find there is a compilation that's not necessarily correct.


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## Oveneise (Jan 13, 2012)

Wow... that'll definately make a statement. Good for them, I support that 100%. I hope other sites will participate as well.


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## Sora de Eclaune (Jan 13, 2012)

I think all websites against SOPA/PIPA should do this. The larger the scale of site blackouts, the more of an impact it would make.


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## GreatZimkogway (Jan 13, 2012)

I've been seeing a lot of people say Google should do this.  But...last I checked, at least out in the open, they supported SOPA and PIPA.  So...why would they...do something like this if they support it?


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## Foxi4 (Jan 13, 2012)

Sora de Eclaune said:


> I think all websites against SOPA/PIPA should do this. The larger the scale of site blackouts, the more of an impact it would make.


1 day of GBATemp offline = 1 million raging users at Costello's doors with rocks, sticks, molotov's and spiked dildos.


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## Sora de Eclaune (Jan 13, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> Sora de Eclaune said:
> 
> 
> > I think all websites against SOPA/PIPA should do this. The larger the scale of site blackouts, the more of an impact it would make.
> ...


Not if GBATemp redirected to a page that said something along the lines of SOPA having shut GBATemp down, or maybe WILL shut GBATemp down if it's passed. Or maybe they could put a background of the Red Spice guy and have the Red Spice guy's 'the man your man could smell like' story on there with the words changed so it's like "the site your GBAtemp could look like after SOPA's passed."


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## Foxi4 (Jan 13, 2012)

Sora de Eclaune said:


> Foxi4 said:
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> 
> > Sora de Eclaune said:
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No... just... no. Among those 1,000,000 users there will be 750,000,000 n00bletz whoose dun caerz juss wantz teh guidez tu pros hakzz!


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## InuYasha (Jan 13, 2012)

I highly doubt a website going down for 12 hrs is gone to do much...


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## signz (Jan 13, 2012)

lmao, as if that'd change anything at all...


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## DiscostewSM (Jan 13, 2012)

Wikipedia may be frown upon in terms of academic usage, but it contains a lot of true information (with sources) that millions of average people take in on a daily basis.


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## Oveneise (Jan 13, 2012)

SignZ said:


> lmao, as if that'd change anything at all...



It'd spread awareness.


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## gloweyjoey (Jan 13, 2012)

InuYasha said:


> I highly doubt a website going down for 12 hrs is gone to do much...


wikipedia being down for 12 hours means houndreds-of-thousands of people who depend on free informarion will not be able to access the information they need for things like school or their jobs. Doctor, scientists, profferssors, even congrssmen use wikipedia everyday for resource purposes. This would be huge if these hundreds-of-thousands of people are suddenly cut of from their resources, be it for a day, but they will be shown what it could be like if a bill like SOPA is passed.

Wikipedia was the 6th most visited website of 2011.


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## ferofax (Jan 13, 2012)

InuYasha said:


> I highly doubt a website going down for 12 hrs is gone to do much...


not much, just the attention of millions of users. they get to annoy them for not being able to use Reddit (especially if they frequent the site), then educate them on SOPA/PIPA. those annoyed users then naturally vent their frustrations on SOPA/PIPA.

the worst that could happen though is if LulzSec decides to reemerge... their misfits would most likely push the the bill forward rather than pull it down.


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## Foxi4 (Jan 13, 2012)

ferofax said:


> the worst that could happen though is if LulzSec decides to reemerge...



And this will definatelly happen with Team Poison, F.B.I and numerous other groups on their tail. LulzSec did alot of stuff, but for fame rather than personal achievements. They cracked complicated networks, but in a messy way, leaving tracks to their whereabouts and eventually they will be hunted down.

Everybody knows "LulzSec". A true hacking group works from the shadows and is known only to those who are supposed to know it.


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## InuYasha (Jan 14, 2012)

Oveneise said:


> SignZ said:
> 
> 
> > lmao, as if that'd change anything at all...
> ...



If you say so,now I can see if something huge like youtube and facebook did this it would be a bigger deal but honestly most people wouldn't care less and just complain about the website being down/offline...


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## nando (Jan 14, 2012)

what's reddit?


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## ProtoKun7 (Jan 14, 2012)

nando said:


> what's reddit?


Get off the internet. Hand in your internet card and leave through the exit to the left. ಠ_ಠ


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## Foxi4 (Jan 14, 2012)

ProtoKun7 said:


> nando said:
> 
> 
> > what's reddit?
> ...


You do realize that Reddit is:

A) A recently-created community.
B) A community that recycles most of its content.
C) A community that doesn't really have much influence over "what's up" on them webz.
D) He was joking.

People are entitled not to know it though, it's not like it's the Holy Ark of Them Interwebz.


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## CCNaru (Jan 14, 2012)

lol who cares? reddit is shit


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## CrimzonEyed (Jan 14, 2012)

I use internet every day, though never heard of reddit (well maybe, but not that I can remember xD)


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## Midna (Jan 14, 2012)

ProtoKun7 said:


> nando said:
> 
> 
> > what's reddit?
> ...


ProtoKun, it is only necessary to know what Reddit is so that one can recognize their shitty stolen jokes, and to know never, ever to go there.


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## Shano56 (Jan 14, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> Either they're for realz and this is where I say "Good for you, at least you have an ideology to follow" or this is how you turn standard server maintenance into a web-wide advertisement of your board.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I hate it when people say NEVER trust wikipedia. Most of their articles are accurate. Just cuz anyone can edit them doesn't mean that anyone can add their opinions, stupid edits get reverted. if someone said never cite wikipedia as a source for an academic paper, I would be okay with that.




Sora de Eclaune said:


> Foxi4 said:
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> > Sora de Eclaune said:
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Don't you mean old spice xD


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## Foxi4 (Jan 14, 2012)

Shano56 said:


> I hate it when people say NEVER trust wikipedia. Most of their articles are accurate. Just cuz anyone can edit them doesn't mean that anyone can add their opinions, stupid edits get reverted. if someone said never cite wikipedia as a source for an academic paper, I would be okay with that/



...which is exactly where you'd *normally *use it as *source material* that you *mention*. You don't casually say "Canines are mammals, and I know that from Wikipedia.Org!" when among other people, do you?


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## gamefan5 (Jan 14, 2012)

Nice. I give my full support. Now if only Facebook would shut down too to support... XP


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## Shano56 (Jan 14, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> Shano56 said:
> 
> 
> > I hate it when people say NEVER trust wikipedia. Most of their articles are accurate. Just cuz anyone can edit them doesn't mean that anyone can add their opinions, stupid edits get reverted. if someone said never cite wikipedia as a source for an academic paper, I would be okay with that/
> ...



Your reply seems to have no relation to your first post. trusting wikipedia has nothing to do with citing it or using it in casual conversations. The reason academic professors don't like it as a source, is because it's not a primary source (many authors).


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## Foxi4 (Jan 14, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> NEVER trust Wikipedia, *always use it as ONE of your sources, not the definite source.* I've seen stupidity layered with misinterpretation on more than one occasion - remember that the Wiki "writes itself", whatever you find there is a compilation that's not necessarily correct.


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## Shano56 (Jan 14, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> Foxi4 said:
> 
> 
> > NEVER trust Wikipedia, *always use it as ONE of your sources, not the definite source.* I've seen stupidity layered with misinterpretation on more than one occasion - remember that the Wiki "writes itself", whatever you find there is a compilation that's not necessarily correct.



Then you're contradicing yourself. "NEVER trust Wikipedia"


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## Foxi4 (Jan 14, 2012)

Shano56 said:


> Foxi4 said:
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> 
> > Foxi4 said:
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Trusting and mentioning sources are two very different ideas. Information on Wikipedia may be correct, but at the same time may not and you need to double-check it.

Check the dictionary definition of "trust" and stop derailing the thread.


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## Shano56 (Jan 14, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> Shano56 said:
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> > Foxi4 said:
> ...



That doesn't make much sense. No point in arguing with a rock though. You think you're right so whatever I'm done


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## Foxi4 (Jan 14, 2012)

I don't quite understand what's unclear in this simple message: "Information on Wikipedia may be edited and/or posted by anyone, people who create articles don't necessarily know what they're writing about and may misinterpret certain facts, thus one should not take information from the page for granted and cross-examine it with other sources to check it for validity before blurting out something *dumb* when writing a paper or dicussing a matter of utmost importance". You really have to be a rock yourself not to agree with that.


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## PyroSpark (Jan 14, 2012)

So far so good.


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## Valwin (Jan 14, 2012)

a day without reddit omg isl iek the best day evar


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## Midna (Jan 14, 2012)

Shano, Foxi is right. Using WIkipedia as your one trusted source is the worst idea you could think of. My friend Finn has had "Cogswell's" (his last name) up on a Wikipedian list of Australian restaurants. For years. Discrete changes to less frequented articles often go unnoticed. And if those discrete changes are legitimate misinformation rather than harmless jokes, we have a problem. And then there's this bullshit:







I kid you not, this is a legitimate problem on WIkipedia. People who take Wikipedia as their only source, as Foxi4 is warning against, sometimes inadvertently become sources for Wikipedia its self.


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## nando (Jan 14, 2012)

there is nothing wrong with using wiki for objective facts. i use to find stuff like math formulas etc when i help my kid with homework. everything on the internet is written by someone and even text books like the ones that come from texas are suspect as to how objective they are. really you can't trust anything.


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## Foxi4 (Jan 14, 2012)

Theeere we go, a proper extension of the argument. I'd like to add a few things before we finish this:



Shano56 said:


> The reason academic professors don't like it as a source, is because it's not a primary source (many authors)



Untrue. On the same basis you could say that all the studies that involve collaboration of scientists, all anthologies and all Encyclopedias are false and untrustworthy. Wikipedia is not particularily "liked" by professors because it's not certified for validity and anyone can change its contents on a daily basis - it's a fluid information medium. Something that's written there the day you were writing your work or the day you started discussing something may disappear tomorrow or be parpahrased invalidating your point. You're shooting yourself in the foot if you choose to use a source that can show you the middle finger without earlier notice as the foundation of your argument.



Midna said:


> Discrete changes to less frequented articles often go unnoticed. And if those discrete changes are legitimate misinformation rather than harmless jokes, we have a problem.



With some articles there's also the problem of interpretation of facts. Some people don't really see the difference between direct and indirect consequences of given events and put them in a single basket, which sometimes causes fallacies in a thesis or argument. A person who is not a specialist in a given field may write an article that will be "basically true" but only "on the basic level, if you omit certain important aspects that are a matter of further research". You may recieve the information about the final result, but the process leading to it may be written in an incorrect fashion.




nando said:


> there is nothing wrong with using wiki for objective facts. i use to find stuff like math formulas etc when i help my kid with homework. everything on the internet is written by someone and even text books like the ones that come from texas are suspect as to how objective they are. really you can't trust anything.



Simple facts, yes. More complex articles - not really.

With a textbook, you always know whom you should grab by the balls if there is a clear error in the work. With the Internet you can grab your own for trusting an anonymous person on "the other side". Not only that, we mentioned already that using only one source is a mistake in the first place - many scientists may have a different take on the same event.


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## DSGamer64 (Jan 14, 2012)

No matter how many people protest SOPA, it's still going to go through. Why? Because politicians are the puppets of the entertainment industry in the USA and they are trying to push through a bunch of non-realistic bullshit to treat people who download worse then paedophiles and actual criminals who are a real threat to a society.


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## chyyran (Jan 14, 2012)

I've read news articles that Amazon, Google and Facebook may shutdown too.

And I'm spreading awareness wherever I can on my part, in real life, of course.

Alas, those idiotic money hungry hypocrites that call themselves "Representatives" and "Senators" will be as ignorant as, well,  

The US Government, You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.


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## loco365 (Jan 14, 2012)

Punyman said:


> I've read news articles that Amazon, Google and Facebook may shutdown too.
> 
> And I'm spreading awareness wherever I can on my part, in real life, of course.
> 
> ...


I see what will happen. All the popular sites will shut down, the world will "end" (based on how people are these days on social networking sites), and SOPA might get the idea. I see how this works.

From my perspective, that is.


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## gloweyjoey (Jan 14, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> always use it as ONE of your sources, not the definite source.




It is simply asinine to say wikipedia is one source at all as it is not.  It is a compilation of sources. Just about all the information is cited in the articles and when its not it will usually state that citation is needed. If youre going to use wikipedia for information, you still need to check the actual source of the information. If the source cited is not legitimate or the citation doesnt exist, it's only common sense not to use that information as the cited source is not reliable.

If you see something on wikipedia you know is misleading or even flat out wrong, and you know a legitmate source(text book) and you dont submit it, you are a troll and just as asinine as someone who cites wikipedia.org as a source on thier term paper or what have you.


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## Foie (Jan 14, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> Either they're for realz and this is where I say "Good for you, at least you have an ideology to follow" or this is how you turn standard server maintenance into a web-wide advertisement of your board.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Wikipedia was found to be about as accurate as Encyclopedia Brittanica, just so you know.  It's still smart to cross reference though.


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## Costello (Jan 14, 2012)

It is my belief that shutting down GBAtemp to protest against SOPA would be arrogant.
We aren't important enough to be noticed by decision-makers.
And if the point is to raise awareness, a discussion thread (or a home page article) is sufficient.
On the day this all happens, I'm sure there will be plenty of active threads on the subject here.


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## chyyran (Jan 14, 2012)

DSGamer64 said:


> No matter how many people protest SOPA, it's still going to go through. Why? Because politicians are the puppets of the entertainment industry in the USA and they are trying to push through a bunch of non-realistic bullshit to treat people who download worse then paedophiles and actual criminals who are a real threat to a society.




And do you know why this is? It's because the "entertainment industry" is really a giant organized crime group hell-bent on controlling the world. And they do this by bribing the idiots in the US government and controlling our minds with music and movies. This is their plan to control the internet, and allow them to brainwash us even more, and make us shell out our money.


And I find it kind of funny that the RIAA website has a yellow rating on Avast WebRep.


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## Guild McCommunist (Jan 14, 2012)

Punyman said:


> And do you know why this is? It's because the "entertainment industry" is really a giant organized crime group hell-bent on controlling the world. And they do this by bribing the idiots in the US government and controlling our minds with music and movies. This is their plan to control the internet, and allow them to brainwash us even more, and make us shell out our money.



Irony is that you're on a video gaming forum. Corporations are evil and they brainwash us but fuck yeah I'll still buy Resident Evil.

EDIT: And if you don't think the game industry is as accountable then you're wrong. Sony has huge holdings in other media (music and film especially) and Microsoft is kinda the center of all PC development, I mean it's goddamn Windows. And Nintendo's just kinda only in the video game corner but they still support a SOPA-type bill (not specifically SOPA but they have urged for a bill that would essentially do what SOPA is trying to do).


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## chyyran (Jan 14, 2012)

Guild McCommunist said:


> Punyman said:
> 
> 
> > And do you know why this is? It's because the "entertainment industry" is really a giant organized crime group hell-bent on controlling the world. And they do this by bribing the idiots in the US government and controlling our minds with music and movies. This is their plan to control the internet, and allow them to brainwash us even more, and make us shell out our money.
> ...



You're right , unfortunately, that truly is the irony of it all. And that's why it's so effective, because we suck it all up, because we _want_ to suck it up. But they don't want us to get brainwashed for free, oh no, we have to pay to get brainwashed, and anyone who downloads shit isn't brainwashed enough, according to them. This is their way of getting to the latter, so that they'll pay to get brainwashed and wallow in money.

And I do think that the Gaming industry is accountable for this as well. Gaming does fall in the "entertainment" catagory. And the ESA straight out supports SOPA.


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## shakirmoledina (Jan 14, 2012)

i wonder if facebook and google can go down for 12 hrs. who knew we could create the apocalypse ourselves.
but this is a huge deal that such websites are going on earth hours/ internet hours


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## Deleted_171835 (Jan 14, 2012)

Oh no, reddit is going down.

What will I do all day? Go outside? O:


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## ProtoKun7 (Jan 14, 2012)

soulx said:


> Oh no, reddit is going down.
> 
> What will I do all day? Go outside? O:


What's an outside?


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## DCG (Jan 14, 2012)

soulx said:


> Oh no, reddit is going down.
> 
> What will I do all day? Go outside? O:



Fresh air is indeed good for you 


I think a lot of people would panic if google or facebook would close for a day :/
But I also think it would be a good wake up call for a great deal of people :s


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## gloweyjoey (Jan 15, 2012)

DCG said:


> soulx said:
> 
> 
> > Oh no, reddit is going down.
> ...


Reddit going down is truly not as significant as a site like Wikipedia going down for sure.

Yes,, Google and/or Facebook going down would definately be way more significant then Wikipedia going down but they would never participate in something like this because for them all that downtime means lost revenue, and they have quarterly profits to worry about, not whether government/media company controled ISPs start telling you what sites are acceptable for viewing.


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## Deleted_171835 (Jan 15, 2012)

gloweyjoey said:


> Reddit going down is truly not as significant as a site like Wikipedia going down for sure.


It is significant. Job productivity rates will go through the roof on that day.


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## Kiaku (Jan 15, 2012)

Wikipedia is an unreliable source, Reddit is full of bs, Minecraft's for little kids, and what the heck is even Destructoid? Oh, a game review site. Cool.​


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## Midna (Jan 15, 2012)

Kiaku said:


> Wikipedia is an unreliable source, Reddit is full of bs, Minecraft's for little kids, and what the heck is even Destructoid? Oh, a game review site. Cool.​


Destructoid is full of shit.


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## Kiaku (Jan 15, 2012)

> Destructoid is full of shit.


Sh*t as in positively, or negatively?


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## Midna (Jan 15, 2012)

Negatively.


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## Rydian (Jan 15, 2012)

Kiaku said:


> Wikipedia is an unreliable source, Reddit is full of bs, Minecraft's for little kids, and what the heck is even Destructoid? Oh, a game review site. Cool.​


The point is actually that they're popular sites and the movement is likely to bring more attention to the issue.


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## kthnxshwn (Jan 15, 2012)

Kiaku said:


> Wikipedia is an unreliable source, Reddit is full of bs, Minecraft's for little kids, and what the heck is even Destructoid? Oh, a game review site. Cool.​


GBATemp, folks.


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## Thesolcity (Jan 15, 2012)

I was under the impression that only non-profit sites could perform a blackout due to blackouts being illegal if you have shareholders in the U.S.


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## Rydian (Jan 15, 2012)

Non-profit and shareholders aren't the only options, as privately-traded means no outside shareholders but also doesn't necessarily mean non-profit.


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## Zerosuit connor (Jan 15, 2012)

Can GBAtemp.net do this?
@[member='Costello']


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## rehevkor (Jan 16, 2012)

Knowing Wikipedia bureaucracy this could never happen, at least not by the 18th – as Jimbo suggested – someone would have to make an executive decision. As far as I know Jimbo is that only “someone”. Suppose we’ll see on  the 18th.

Now, if Google were to shut down (would that even be logistically possible?), we would be in Interesting Times indeed..

p.s. I didn't really know what Reddit is either.


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## stanleyopar2000 (Jan 16, 2012)

DAMNIT!..what am I going to do for my project?! 

oh, and for a HELL of an impact, Mark Zuckerburg should shut down facebook for a while (since he announced he is against SOPA)

now THAT would stop the world and get attention. A LOT OF IT.


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## Costello (Jan 16, 2012)

Zerosuit connor said:


> Can GBAtemp.net do this?


i have already posted in this thread


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## thegame07 (Jan 16, 2012)

@ zenosuit I agree with what costello said, The people you would be protesting against wouldn't even notice if Gbatemp shut itself down for the day. Therefore it would be tottaly pointless doing it. No disrespect to Gbatemp but you know what I mean.


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## Zerosuit connor (Jan 16, 2012)

thegame07 said:


> @ zenosuit I agree with what costello said, The people you would be protesting against wouldn't even notice if Gbatemp shut itself down for the day. Therefore it would be tottaly pointless doing it. No disrespect to Gbatemp but you know what I mean.


zenosuit?


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## Vulpes Abnocto (Jan 16, 2012)

Costello said:


> It is my belief that shutting down GBAtemp to protest against SOPA would be arrogant.
> We aren't important enough to be noticed by decision-makers.
> And if the point is to raise awareness, a discussion thread (or a home page article) is sufficient.
> On the day this all happens, I'm sure there will be plenty of active threads on the subject here.



Dammit. The moderators can't even get a day off for protesting.


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## purplesludge (Jan 16, 2012)

Vulpes Abnocto said:


> Costello said:
> 
> 
> > It is my belief that shutting down GBAtemp to protest against SOPA would be arrogant.
> ...


Unionize?


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## Ryupower (Jan 16, 2012)

look like
Wikipedia to shut for 24 hours to stop anti-piracy act

so, no Wikipedia(English-language) for 24h


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## CrimzonEyed (Jan 18, 2012)

I just stoped the page from fully loading XD


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## prowler (Jan 18, 2012)

just block wikipedia.org on noscript
or disable javascript if you don't have noscript
or look for a blocker on userscripts


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## ProtoKun7 (Jan 18, 2012)

Or load a page and press Escape.

You know, if you want to avoid the extra effort.


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## Forstride (Jan 18, 2012)

I've probably tried going on reddit by habit at least 5 times already today.  ;_;


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## KingVamp (Jan 18, 2012)

Google should shutdown YouTube.


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## 1NOOB (Jan 18, 2012)

CrimzonEyed said:


> I just stoped the page from fully loading XD



hahah just did that too xD


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## Deleted_171835 (Jan 18, 2012)

TDWP FTW said:


> I've probably tried going on reddit by habit at least 5 times already today.  ;_;


Same here. I'm slowly going crazy from reddit withdrawal. ):


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## SamAsh07 (Jan 18, 2012)

YouTube and Facebook should go down in Protest, that'll attract ALOT of attention about this SOPA crap.


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## ProtoKun7 (Jan 18, 2012)

soulx said:


> TDWP FTW said:
> 
> 
> > I've probably tried going on reddit by habit at least 5 times already today.  ;_;
> ...


I'm not.

I was crazy to start with.

(I've also been playing hours of F1 2011)


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## Warrior522 (Jan 18, 2012)

soulx said:


> TDWP FTW said:
> 
> 
> > I've probably tried going on reddit by habit at least 5 times already today.  ;_;
> ...



Funnyjunk and Memebase are down too... *okayface*


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## dgwillia (Jan 18, 2012)

Ugh, i miss Halolz . I'v tried to log in 4 times today in pure habit.



SamAsh07 said:


> YouTube and Facebook should go down in Protest, that'll attract ALOT of attention about this SOPA crap.



If Facebook went down, people would start rioting in the streets.


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