{"id":2071,"date":"2012-01-18T22:40:47","date_gmt":"2012-01-19T02:40:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/sj\/?p=2071"},"modified":"2012-01-20T15:13:55","modified_gmt":"2012-01-20T19:13:55","slug":"12000-comments-1-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sj\/2012\/01\/18\/12000-comments-1-post\/","title":{"rendered":"12000 comments 1 post, Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Wikimedia Blog has 10<\/del>13,000 comments<\/strong> on Sue’s\u00a0 SOPA\/PIPA blackout post<\/a> – roughly 3x the total volume of posts in the entire previous history of the blog.\u00a0\u00a0 By my casual estimate, 90% of comments are opsitive, 5% neutral, and 5% opposed (generally on the grounds that WP itself should be neutral).<\/p>\n

They are a goldmine of interesting quotes.\u00a0 A selection, for your entertainment:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. I was at first very irritated when I saw that Wikipedia was taking a political stand on any issue, I actually had no knowledge of these bills and after reading these bills, not only am I too very opposed to them but I also understand the threat these bills pose to Wikipedia itself. – Donald Langhorne<\/li>\n
  2. The issues go far beyond the US. -FT2<\/li>\n
  3. dis is retarded -____- im 13 and i NEED wikipedia!!!!!How else do u think i get good grades on my essays?!?\u00a0\u00a0 -LLAMAZRULE<\/li>\n
  4. Good. Great. Fantastic. Amazing. I love it. Public figures, be they people or webpages, never take a bold stance on anything important. Thank you for doing so. – Quarex<\/li>\n
  5. Not only is Wikipedia the easiest, quickest and most hassle-free place to check up on facts, but now it also has the courage to take a stand against restrictions of our freedom online as well! – Jennifer Fricker<\/li>\n
  6. Black it out for a week if you have to. GO WIKIPEDIA!<\/li>\n
  7. i don\u2019t really know about this man. I know it\u2019s got to be a hard decision but i don\u2019t think it\u2019s a good thing. what if somethin\u2019 happens because someone hacked the government lately so please don\u2019t do this.\u00a0 -rhedeosi<\/li>\n
  8. blindness seems so easy..while vision is so hard to bear\u2026<\/li>\n
  9. Just learned of your blackout in support of intellectual property thievery. I disagree with your position.\u00a0 I have for several years sent a year-end contribution to Wikipedia. Since you have thrown your support to brigands, thieves, miscreants and malefactors, I will send no further contributions. This is NOT a free speech issue as you claim. This is about appropriating work of others without compensation. We call this theft. It is a crime. You can look it up in Britannica.\u00a0\u00a0 -tcement<\/li>\n
  10. It is the movie companies etc who are the pirates. The films they produce are mainly rubbish these days and actors are paid way too much.<\/li>\n
  11. I kinda hate you for shutting down my favorite recreational website for 24 hours, but not only do I agree with why and what you\u2019re doing, I\u2019m also glad such a large user website is taking their time to shut down and bring awareness to this nasty piece of legislation. -Joey<\/li>\n
  12. I am extremely disappointed that the issues raised by those opposed to this action have not been addressed. The English Wikipedia community is not 100% behind this action… this is a sad day in the history of Wikipedia.\u00a0 seem[s] like a rash action to me and one pushed forward by the tyranny of the majority – RobertHorning<\/li>\n
  13. Didn\u2019t have any idea about this so thanks for not only informing me but taking steps to protect us from this legislation. – Alice Miller<\/li>\n
  14. Yo apoyo su postura y desear\u00eda conocer de que otra forma puedo apoyar la causa de una libertad que es inherente absolutamente a todos los seres humanos. –\u00a0 Jorge, Mexico<\/li>\n
  15. I support this plan, but I hope that WP still open and not close forever.<\/li>\n
  16. As an artist and so-called \u201ccontent provider,\u201d I totally support this blackout. – Gary Lee<\/li>\n
  17. I was not aware of the choices being made. I am therefor very proud to have found this blackout ideal going on. I do not think the men and ladies of our government offices will care to much about the black out… ON the Common man in central Illinois. I would say I do so enjoy your web help on so many levels. I thank you all so very much for many years of dedication.\u00a0 – Micheal Raleigh<\/li>\n
  18. I am thirteen years old and i love wikipedia. Have gotten good marks on most of my essays thanks to Wikipedia. You have my support.\u00a0 – Tristan Wong<\/li>\n
  19. I remember when television was free, and the first cable companies came to our smallish U.S. town with promises and packages for the city commissioners (the governors of our city) to admire. They courted us, then they took over so there weren\u2019t any alternatives any more…\u00a0 – Judy Allensworth<\/li>\n
  20. A great decision, people need to be made aware of SOPA\/PIPA. You have my support in future fundraisers because of this.\u00a0 – jam12<\/li>\n
  21. We, as a global people, need access to an Internet that crosses borders without restraint. I say this as an American, living behind China\u2019s Digital Great Wall. Yes, I can go around it, but why should I have to?\u00a0 – Eva Richardson<\/li>\n
  22. As a financial contributer to Wikipedia I must say that I am dissapointed that this protest is planned. My so far unsubstantiated fear is that opponents of this law… want no legal interference with the internet… so that they can file share stolen intellectual property… I wish Wikipedia would stick to its primary purpose. I am unlikely to continue my perpetual support of the Wikipedia community if I feel I am likely to support political causes too\u2013even if they are at times causes I support.\u00a0 – C. Becker<\/li>\n
  23. I\u2019ve been something of a Wikipedia fanatic since its debut, when I could barely reach the keyboard. Sure, a six year old kid can\u2019t really learn that much about applied physics\u2014but the thought that I was reading \u201csmart stuff\u201d worked wonders on my little noggin. Now the thought that any number of bills could take away… one of my best sources of information enrages me. And this isn\u2019t even taking into consideration the damage SOPA and PIPA could cause in other sites which can only subsist with the free transfer of media and information (Youtube, Reddit…)\u00a0 – sebastian<\/li>\n
  24. How do I, as a High School Senior, talk to my political leaders to stop these acts from being signed.regards, Dixon Romeo<\/li>\n
  25. ..en el nombre de un internet libre apoyamos esta movida. <\/cite>\u00a0 – edwin<\/li>\n
  26. Not only english Wikipedia must blackout this next Wednesday, the other languages too\u2026 we have a saying here in South America: \u201cWhen the USA sneezes, the rest of the world catch a cold\u201d. Those bills are very dangerous for freedom of expression, and if that happens in the so called \u201cland of the free\u201d, what can other countries expect? My full support for you, Wikipedia, we will win!\u00a0 – David<\/li>\n
  27. Great news… This is a milestone in the decades-long reformulation of intellectual property rights during the age of computers. The solution still eludes us. Creative people must have rights to their creations, but tyranny must be avoided.\u00a0 – Jeff Laird<\/li>\n
  28. I\u2019m so confused with the SOPA…\u00a0 USA is very honor the freedom, but why you do this?<\/li>\n
  29. While I oppose SOPA as well, so much for wiki\u2019s NPOV.\u00a0 – Glenn<\/li>\n
  30. This is finals week at my school so it will be difficult to not have Wikipedia for a day, but I support what y\u2019all are doing and I am glad such a large website like wiki is standing up for our rights, maybe our congress people will listen. – Morgan<\/li>\n
  31. As a longtime fan of Wikipedia, this decision saddens me… Wikipedia\u2019s voluntary blackout doesn\u2019t affect my feelings on SOPA. I still support it, and I suspect that the only people whose opinions change are those who know little about the subject\u00a0 – Mark<\/li>\n
  32. this sucks I will lose my brain for 24 hours – gelly909<\/li>\n
  33. the blackout is already being run on the local news networks. So the protest is already making headlines. No pain no gain.\u00a0 – Neale Family<\/li>\n
  34. Though I wholeheartedly support the blackout (and think a 24 hour blackout is too short)… this form of protest is a one-time deal… Any protest afterwards may make Wikipedia appear politically skewed; consequently, this is a temporary solution to stopping internet censorship. Real solutions must be made by limiting corporations, redefining outdated laws… – Kevin<\/li>\n
  35. DEAR WIKY\u2013WIKI TEAM
    \nNO NO NO PLEASE DONT DO IT
    \nNO MORE SOPA \/ PIPA
    \n– SRK<\/li>\n
  36. You should also black out the Spanish language version of Wikipedia. It\u2019s just as much the language of the United States as any other. And add German, French, Italian, Chinese, Hmong, Sanskrit, Pashtun, etc. while you are at it. All cultures have been welcomed here.\u00a0 – tooluser<\/li>\n
  37. This should not have been done without widespread participation… Many people want to contribute to Wikipedia without getting entangled in Federal policy debates.\u00a0 – Racepacket<\/li>\n
  38. A kid, first, talks by it own way,
    \nafter learning and teaching it talk right words.
    \nInstitution should teach how to provide right content and publishers should learn
    \n– Rajagopal Jeyaraman<\/li>\n
  39. The 24 hour silence of Wikipedia will be most eloquent. Thank you for taking such a stand!<\/li>\n
  40. love wikipedia for things like this, its so\u2026open. For the people, by people.<\/li>\n
  41. I am in complete and utter shock. I had been quietly reading what everyone thought and kept thinking no, Wikipedia wouldn\u2019t take such a political stand. Now it is. I never thought I\u2019d see the day… this is amazing to see happening.\u00a0 – cycloneGU<\/li>\n
  42. While I totally approve of Mrs. Garnder\u2019s letter and of the blackout protest, what is missing are clear specific reasons to oppose SOPA and PIPA.<\/li>\n
  43. Although it is hard to pick what battles to fight that wall seems to be coming closer to our backs every day.<\/li>\n
  44. Sorry, friends… fewer great minds will be willing to risk creating great things knowing that Wikipedia will confiscate the fruits of their labors, like a thuggish pimp, and whore them out.\u00a0 Put away your self-righteousness, something that is so typical of mobs, and learn to honor the individual\u2013the only thing that has ever made any great advances in any free society. Read \u201cAtlas Shrugged\u201d and learn.
    \nDo you have a response? I\u2019d like to read it.\u00a0 – Mike Whitehead<\/li>\n
  45. As a scientist and as a professional engineer… I endorse the Wikipedia stand on the free flow of Internet information. Wikipedia is the best social institution to arise since the creation and distribution of written script via the printing press, second only to the publication of those social concepts and ideals of our founding fathers set down thereupon to guarantee their preservation.\u00a0 – Anthony Bielecki, P.E., PhD<\/li>\n
  46. After WWII in Japan, GHQ censored all publications in Japan. Then gradually they lifted censorship, but… step by step the publishers were trained to do what the authorities wanted; to submit to effective censorship of free expression and speech.\u00a0 Too bad I won\u2019t be doing my Media class on Friday at Toyo University. If the class was tomorrow, I would have the students get on Wikipedia, define their shock, and introduce the very important topic of free speech.\u00a0 – Sarah Brock<\/li>\n
  47. Even light-weight tabloids will notice and report it.\u00a0 – Michael Wild<\/li>\n
  48. Many of the objections raised about the powers of corporations to control user access to foreign sites… prohibit streaming… throttling of bandwidth… threatening ISP providers with shutdown, are already a reality here in Canada. If you can\u2019t prevent this in the U.S., the rest of the world won\u2019t have a chance. Good luck. Our children\u2019s freedom is at stake.\u00a0\u00a0 – stephen<\/li>\n
  49. you guys are doing the right thing… Luckily for me, I am Canadian but hold dual citizenship. If this passes, I will definitely pay the $500.00 to lose my dual citizenshi\u00a0 – Sean<\/li>\n
  50. SOPA will never be used to take down the largest encyclopedia in the world\u2013to suggest otherwise is just disingenuous… Wikipedia should never take such an obviously political stance on something that will not affect them directly.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Wikimedia Blog has 1013,000 comments on Sue’s\u00a0 SOPA\/PIPA blackout post – roughly 3x the total volume of posts in the entire previous history of the blog.\u00a0\u00a0 By my casual estimate, 90% of comments are opsitive, 5% neutral, and 5% opposed (generally on the grounds that WP itself should be neutral). They are a goldmine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1202,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1657,211,209,709],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogroll","category-international","category-popular-demand","category-wikipedia"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7iVvB-xp","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2071"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2152,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2071\/revisions\/2152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}