[Foundation-l] Anti-ACTA protest tomorrow in Belgrade and blackout of Serbian Wikipedia

[Marc Riddell]

> On Fri, 24 Feb 2012 12:51:13 -0500, Marc Riddell
> <michaeldavid86 at comcast.net> wrote:
>>> It's really unfortunate that blacking out Wikimedia projects is
> becoming
>>> an
>>> accepted method of protest. Maybe we should start keeping track of how
>>> often different projects are blacked out, and for what purpose. When it
>>> happened to the Italian Wikipedia, it was a first-ever event that no
> one
>>> thought would happen again. When it happened to the English Wikipedia,
> it
>>> was a uniquely forceful global statement that many argued might never
>>> happen again for many reasons. Now Serbia, next who knows?
>> 
>> Nathan, what problems do you see with this method of protest?
>> 
>> Marc Riddell
>> 
> 
> I am not Nathan, but the obvious argument is that a strong medicine only
> remains strong if used rarely. If one starts using it on a regular basis
> one gets adapted and the medicine does not have the required action
> anymore. The same thing is here: one can blank out a Wikipedia main page
> for a day and to exercise protest, but the protest is only visible if the
> blanking is exceptional. If it starts to happen on a monthly basis, the
> only reaction would be that people get upset because Wikipedia is not
> available.
> 
> Cheers
> Yaroslav

I agree with you, Yaroslav, that repeated and indiscriminate use of the
method would dilute its impact; and could come back to bite the Project. But
I think it unwise and unfair to put a flatly negative spin on the idea.

Marc