5 ms·

It would be prudent for Wikipedia at this time to shut down service in the EU, and simply put up a banner indicating that they can't comply with XYZ regulation.

It would be prudent for Wikipedia at this time to shut down service in the EU, and simply put up a banner indicating that they can't comply with XYZ regulation. Regular folks in all walks of life, and also the bureaucracy would immediately be effected. It would be a 'shock' to Europe and a powerful signal of how vital these resources are, and the real extent they are messing with them. Basically, everyone would become aware of the issue, in a very material way, and get a taste for he chaos this law might imply. Kind of like internet 'gilet jaune' as a crude metaphor.

boznz 8y ago
If someone adds a wordpress plug-in for this I will install it tomorrow for a laugh :-)
- TeMPOraL 8y ago
  There were blackout plugins around since SOPA/ACTA times. I had one on my old Wordpress blog for SOPA.
alexis_fr 8y ago
Regular folks would learn to use a proxy, like any good Chinese or Vietnamese citizen. We’ve proven average people can get pretty technical when the interests are aligned (think P2P).
- sonnyblarney 8y ago
  Not quite. a) 'Regular folk' have never heard of the term 'proxy' and would struggle quite a lot with it. Though I agree, after some time, they'd figure it out. b) The point is not to 'block Wikipedia' - it's to inform Europeans of the consequences of their legislation. If they even had to think to use a proxy to use a common service, the point would be made.
ru999gol 8y ago
I'm kind of surprised there hasn't been action like this done already, now its probably too late anyhow, EU is fucked. SOPA and PIPA had massive protests like that. Maybe Google for example isn't protesting because they know it helps them a lot actually, since they can expect to see no competition from the EU ever again.
- pgeorgi 8y ago
  https://www.blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/proposed-copyright-rules-bad-small-publishers-european-consumers-and-online-services/ https://www.blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/propo...
dorgo 8y ago
Afaik wikipedia has no copyright or something. So somebody would create a read-only copy (less than 100GB, I guess), call it wikipedia2.com and everyone would use the copy..
- hamilyon2 8y ago
  And Google would swiftly and automatically rank it high in all of EU. /s
- sonnyblarney 8y ago
  Very few would figure out the clone's location, and it wouldn't be able to be updated really. VPN's would be another solution. But for the 99% it would be very disruptive and prove the point.
  - dorgo 8y ago
    >Very few would figure out the clone's location For this purpose clever people invented search engines. These would detect missing content in the original wikipedia and funnel all traffic to wikipedia clones. Nobody would notice the difference. And no point would be proven.
mFixman 8y ago
Regular folks don't read Wikipedia.

boznz 8y ago

If someone adds a wordpress plug-in for this I will install it tomorrow for a laugh :-)

TeMPOraL 8y ago
There were blackout plugins around since SOPA/ACTA times. I had one on my old Wordpress blog for SOPA.

alexis_fr 8y ago

Regular folks would learn to use a proxy, like any good Chinese or Vietnamese citizen. We’ve proven average people can get pretty technical when the interests are aligned (think P2P).

sonnyblarney 8y ago
Not quite. a) 'Regular folk' have never heard of the term 'proxy' and would struggle quite a lot with it. Though I agree, after some time, they'd figure it out. b) The point is not to 'block Wikipedia' - it's to inform Europeans of the consequences of their legislation. If they even had to think to use a proxy to use a common service, the point would be made.

ru999gol 8y ago

I'm kind of surprised there hasn't been action like this done already, now its probably too late anyhow, EU is fucked. SOPA and PIPA had massive protests like that. Maybe Google for example isn't protesting because they know it helps them a lot actually, since they can expect to see no competition from the EU ever again.

pgeorgi 8y ago
https://www.blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/proposed-copyright-rules-bad-small-publishers-european-consumers-and-online-services/ https://www.blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/propo...

dorgo 8y ago

Afaik wikipedia has no copyright or something. So somebody would create a read-only copy (less than 100GB, I guess), call it wikipedia2.com and everyone would use the copy..

hamilyon2 8y ago
And Google would swiftly and automatically rank it high in all of EU. /s
sonnyblarney 8y ago
Very few would figure out the clone's location, and it wouldn't be able to be updated really. VPN's would be another solution. But for the 99% it would be very disruptive and prove the point.
- dorgo 8y ago
  >Very few would figure out the clone's location For this purpose clever people invented search engines. These would detect missing content in the original wikipedia and funnel all traffic to wikipedia clones. Nobody would notice the difference. And no point would be proven.

mFixman 8y ago

Regular folks don't read Wikipedia.