This week, it’s been hard to avoid talk of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) bills that are currently being up for debate in the House of Representatives and the Senate, respectively. In opposition of the acts, Wikipedia shut its digital doors for the day on Wednesday, causing widespread unrest among students and casual users alike. But rest again, Internet! I’ve done my best to answer to some of your inquiries. Without the use of Wikipedia, of course.

 

Hi, Emily. First, I know that I’ve been out of school for a few years now, but in my time, it was frowned upon to use Wikipedia for research, anyway. As for help, perhaps a tutor? Or hey! I’m sure a librarian could point you in the direction of some books that may be applicable. It’s up to her, though, whether she’s willing to take a few hours out to lend a hand, I’m afraid.

Hi, Bee. So the government didn’t shut down Wikipedia and Craigslist. They shut themselves down to protest a law that might let the government shut them down in the future. Kind of like a “look how great this thing is that you have, this is what it would be like if it were taken away” thing. The government didn’t do it this time, but the sites themselves don’t want them to in the future! Crazy, right?

Julia, take a deep breath. You’re going to be okay. Believe it or not, there was a time when people didn’t have Wikipedia. Heck, they didn’t even have Internet. Can you believe that at one point, phones didn’t exist? “Texting” consisted of writing a letter and mailing it. In the mail.

Well, Testing, at least you came to the suspicion that they were doing it on purpose. Give yourself some credit, boy/girl!

Honestly, it is. But on the bright side, you have your health – or so I assume!

To all of the above inquisitors, I suggest taking a moment to read about why Wikipedia was unavailable here. Hey, you were about to look up something on Wikipedia anyway (and presumably, read it), so why not read this other thing instead? The key to any good relationship is compromise, even if that relationship is between a person – you – and the Internet!