I pledged. In fact I'll donate $100 if they blackout. Those who oppose blackouts claim that sites like wikipedia google might lose money, or that they are essential services like utilities. I'm not sure if the essential service analogy is valid, but it doesn't matter: correct me if I'm wrong but the letter of the law of SOPA says that wikipedia.org can be wiped off the internet as soon as it passes without ANY due process, just because some people have uploaded images they don't own copyright for. Of course, apologists will note that shutting wikipedia down won't happen, because the bill is aimed at stuff like counterfeiters and torrents. To this I can only say it won't be the first thing that happens. What it does is that it gives the US government a guillotine around wikipedia's neck that they could pull at any moment: the legal power and infrastructure for shutting it down. This is a total affront to the independence of wikipedia as a non-profit organisation (and to google & facebook as corporations).
By pledging we can reduce the cost of a blackout, make it more economically viable for them, so they do it and show the world that if wikipedia(google, facebook) really are essential, then their independence should be protected from the growing nationalistic forces of the US government.
This has probably been beaten to death but I wouldn't support a Google or Wikipedia blackout. What if someone were bitten by a snake, snapped a photo of the snake, and needed to look up the type of snake in order to administer the right anti-venom? I bet you anything doctors these days are using the web to do quick checks just as the rest of us do in our day jobs.
On the other hand, homepage placement for Google or something on every page of Wikipedia for a day would be nice.
FB is non-critical but I wouldn't expect them to go for it. They are off on their own island of hubris and not about to cooperate with any other organization, much less with Google who is encroaching on their social territory.
If twitter did it the entertainment industry + followers would be running around with their heads cut off
I understand your point that only the most extreme action will raise awareness. I don't think we're at that stage yet. Anyone know if there's a vote announced or when the vote would be expected?
No, but it may well lead to increased legal costs for Wikipedia, as well as forcing them to hire people to ensure no copyrighted material is posted (a daunting task on a site that size). Those increased costs could seriously affect their ability to continue to finance themselves through donations.
By pledging we can reduce the cost of a blackout, make it more economically viable for them, so they do it and show the world that if wikipedia(google, facebook) really are essential, then their independence should be protected from the growing nationalistic forces of the US government.