Wikipedia is going dark — the English version — on Wednesday, in protest of the SOPA – PIPA acts in Congress.

In a nutshell, the government will be deciding what sites, if this passes, you can visit. It will open a door that essentially won’t be able to be closed again.

This, on its face, pisses me off on general principle. In this instance, I stand BIG Libertarian.

From the LATimes.com:

Wikipedia is among hundreds of websites that will be showing just how they feel about SOPA by going dark Wednesday.

The English-language version of Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, will be shut down for 24 hours in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act and PIPA, the Protect Intellectual Property Act, now working their way through Congress.

Jimmy Wales, site co-founder, told the BBC’s Martha Kearney on Tuesday morning that “tomorrow from midnight Washington D.C. time until midnight the entire day of Wednesday, we’re going to blank out” the English version of Wikipedia and post a message of protest.

He told Kearney that the legislation makes “something like Wikipedia essentially impossible … if the provider has to police everything that everyone is doing on the site.”

Websites taking part in the so-called SOPA Strike include Mozilla, Reddit, WordPress and Boing Boing.

That said, check some of the revealing comments:

-If these bills are, in fact, enacted, users who stream copyrighted content 10 times in 6 months may face up to five years in prison. Ridiculous
Read & Decide: Are you for or against SOPA/PIPA? bit.ly/w0E1ar

-They left out one word In protect intellectual property… That would be…Corporate Intellectual Property. They can’t stop the Chinese from Piracy: but they want to jail US citizens for downloading… Open Source!

-When corporations outsource OUR jobs and we go around them and stream copyrighted material we’re the bad guys? HAHAHA This country is the laughing stock of the world for a reason, no wonder nobody likes us!

-These companies need to realise their business model must change. Nothing will stop the internet and the “sharing” of files. This reminds me of the buggy whip manufacturers who said cars would never catch on. Time for a change in thinking…

My two cents? Don’t touch the internet. It’s mean and corrupt, but it’s also truthful and honest and wide open.

From CNNPolitics:

Washington (CNN) – The growing Internet protest–including a planned blackout by some websites Wednesday– against an online anti-piracy bill moving through Congress is “daunting,” a Senate Democratic aide said Tuesday. The aide said the protest may be powerful enough to keep senators from voting to even take up the bill that until recently commanded rare bipartisan support.

I’ll choose free speech over regulations darned near any time.

BZ

More people are on foodstamps under Obama than under any other president.

He can no longer blame this on Bush.

His time = 3.5 years.

Richard Nixon. 1972. He won despite a lower approval rate.

A standing ovation had never occurred in the history of presidential debates.

The captain of the Italian cruise liner placed his entire charge in jeopardy because he wanted to enable his head waiter to salute his family on shore.

This tragedy occurred because of nothing more than this.

The champagne bottle did not break when it crashed against the Concordia. That’s called a clue.

Let me make this crystal clear:

There are TWO lines/countries with which one does not want to cruise:

Anything involving ITALY and anything involving GREECE.

Their ships will be egregious in terms of safety, and their crews will abandon passengers at the first hint of danger.

Let this be a lesson to the ignorant.

BZ

The truth hurts:

And people want to possibly re-elect this Socialist Narcissistic Elitist?

Obama claimed to be such an “outsider” and such a “game changer.” But in fact? He’s nothing but more of the same, under slightly darker skin.

Mr Obama absolutely counts on your naivete, GOWP mindset and ignorance.

BZ

Now may be the time for Americans to consider storing their larger SUVs, pickups and luxury vehicles in lieu of horses, bicycles or small cars — or becoming independently wealthy.

Some experts are predicting anywhere from $5 to $10 per gallon gasoline in the United States by the summer, if Iran has its way and somehow either blocks or mines the Strait of Hormuz, or by any other means attempts or succeeds in blocking the flow of oil from the Middle East to other points on the globe — to include, of course, the United States.

Oddly enough, at this time, the #1 export of the US is refined fuel. We are able to export this refined product because national consumption has decreased.

That said, we import the massive bulk of our crude oil.

Iran has already threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz.

US military representatives agree that Iran has the power to do this, which would impact not only US energy flow, but global energy flow as well. The US military indicates it has the ability to take steps to re-open the Strait of Hormuz choke point.

But would Obama even make that decision in the first place or, as he has expressed frequently, would he simply be “concerned” and “monitor” the situation?

Iran has made another statement with regard to the world’s fuel supply:

CAIRO (AP) – Iran warned Gulf Arab oil producers against boosting production to offset any potential drop in Tehran’s crude exports in the event of an embargo affecting its oil sales, the latest salvo in the dispute between the West and the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program.

The comments by Iran’s OPEC governor, published Sunday, came as Saudi Arabia’s oil minister was quoted the same day denying that his country’s earlier pledges to boost output as needed to meet global demand was linked to a potential siphoning of Iranian crude from the market because of sanctions.

World oil markets have been jolted over concerns that Iran may choke off the vital Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for sanctions hampering its ability to sell its oil. Saudi Arabia and other key Gulf Arab producers have recently said they are ready to provide stable and secure supplies of oil.

Iran’s official news agency IRNA said Sunday that the U.S. has relayed a message to Iran about security in the Strait of Hormuz. It gave no details, and there was no immediate comment from Washington.

The U.S. recently imposed sanctions targeting Iran’s central bank and, by extension, refiners’ ability to buy and pay for crude. The European Union is also weighing an embargo on Iranian oil, while Japan, one of Iran’s top Asian customers, has pledged to buy less crude from the country.

Mohammad Ali Khatibi, Iran’s OPEC governor, was quoted Sunday by the pro-reform Shargh newspaper as saying that attempts by Gulf nations to replace Iran’s output with their own would make them an “accomplice in further events.”

“These acts will not be considered friendly,” Khatibi said, adding that if the Arab producers “apply prudence and announce that they will not participate in replacing oil, then adventurist countries will not show interest,” in the embargo.

The point tips, my friends.

This may not end well.

BZ