My previous firm depended on wikipedia. We would often have to get up to speed on very diverse industries and their core metrics overnight, and wikipedia was the first source that was available and easily searched.
With the English site black out, this will affect the world far more than just America.
As a matter of fact this is probably something that we should study and be prepared for.
How do the other data/encyclopedia sites fare during the black out? Is there a real effect, how long does it last?
What is the impact on non US visitors? Shouldn't the black ideally focus on people from the States?
Heck actually, this will probably offend a lot of people who aren't in the states - Indian sites can easily spin this as cultural propaganda (for example).
The more I think about it, the more the point raised higher up in this thread (regarding neutrality) starts bothering me.
A complete black out of the English Wikipedia is (hopefully) a once in a life time event. Considering the diversity of people who come to the site and the different cultural baggage everyone brings, this action will have far more repurcussions than just SOPA/PIPA.
While time zonal differences should mitigate this effect, the blackout should not affect visitors from countries where SOPA makes little difference.
" the blackout should not affect visitors from countries where SOPA makes little difference."
I'll make the claim that most english speaking countries in the world will be affected by this. This bill is supposedly targeting foreign website. It could mean a European site getting blocked by PayPal because of an American law.
With the English site black out, this will affect the world far more than just America.
As a matter of fact this is probably something that we should study and be prepared for.
How do the other data/encyclopedia sites fare during the black out? Is there a real effect, how long does it last?
What is the impact on non US visitors? Shouldn't the black ideally focus on people from the States?
Heck actually, this will probably offend a lot of people who aren't in the states - Indian sites can easily spin this as cultural propaganda (for example).
The more I think about it, the more the point raised higher up in this thread (regarding neutrality) starts bothering me.
A complete black out of the English Wikipedia is (hopefully) a once in a life time event. Considering the diversity of people who come to the site and the different cultural baggage everyone brings, this action will have far more repurcussions than just SOPA/PIPA.
While time zonal differences should mitigate this effect, the blackout should not affect visitors from countries where SOPA makes little difference.