User blog:Head of Ravenclaw/This Wiki is at Risk

As many of you guys know, the USA government is drafting a bill. If it gets passed, wikia may never be the same or even exist any longer. At 12:00 AM EST, wikia will be blacking out some wikis. If you want that to happen to us, comment here on your thoughts. Should the bill be passed, wikia, wikipedia, wikimedia projects, youtube, twitter, facebook, and many more may be hurt or even discontinued. Wikia staff is doing all they can, and so am I. So, what exactly is this? (The following is quoted from Community Central)

While SOPA -- the bill in the US House of Representatives -- has gotten most of the attention, it's sister legislation, PIPA -- the bill in the US Senate -- represents a similar approach. These bills are driven by the content industry and are aimed at combating online piracy, protecting intellectual property rights of copyright holders and protecting jobs that are claimed to be affected. The content industry's key objective with this proposed legislation is to stop foreign companies who make millions of dollars on the backs of unlicensed content or counterfeit goods. While we absolutely support the idea of reducing intellectual property theft, SOPA and PIPA in their current form cannot be supported by Wikia. As such, we are taking action to oppose the current legislation and work to change them in ways we can support.

What is Wikia doing about SOPA and PIPA?
Here's what we're doing.

1) We have created a wiki (iplaw.wikia.com) as a resource about SOPA and PIPA. If you don’t understand these proposed laws or the background on them, please read about them on this wiki. I have also already blogged there on our position.

2) We are moving our domains from GoDaddy.com who was a vocal supporter of these laws, helped write them and had an unfair carve-out from the legislation. Wikia does not want to do business with those who operate like this. This move will be completed in mid-February.

3) On Wednesday, January 18 at 5:00 UTC (9pm California time Tuesday, midnight NY time Wednesday, 6am Poland time Wednesday) we will be initiating a high-impact campaign that will run for 24 hours. For all users that see ads, the first visit will display a very large (980x365) advertisement that will state Wikia's position on SOPA/PIPA, and if clicked, take the user to http://iplaw.wikia.com/wiki/Take_Action_Now.

When this creative displays, all other ads on the page will be blacked out, as will local wiki skins. This will provide complete focus on the message being delivered. When the page is refreshed or the user goes on to a another page, the ads and skin takeovers will disappear. You will not see the campaign again unless you continue on the site for more than an hour or come back again after an hour.

We are committed to educating and effecting change to the current proposed legislation and will reach almost the entire Wikia community in a high-impact, yet even-handed way.

Wikia's Full Blog
http://community.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Craiglpalmer/SOPA_and_PIPA_Situation_Summary

What Now?
I suggest you all comment on this blog with your thoughts, good or bad. Anything is aloud. There is a blackout vote taking place here.

Head of Ravenclaw (  Send me an  Owl !  ) @HogwartsRPG