So you need to access the English Shroud of Turin page on Wikipedia today. You can, just click on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shroud_of_Turin and immediately hit the Esc key. This will prevent the Wikipedia blackout protest screen from loading. This trick works with any page.
Wikipedia, blacked out its Web pages as part of a global protest against two anti-piracy bills making their way through the U.S. Congress. Interesting enough, NBC, the NBC in MSNBC, supports the legislation but Microsoft, the MS in MSNBC, is opposed. Google is opposed but is remaining online. A story at MSNBC reports:
The two bills, supported supported mainly by the entertainment industry, are aimed at stopping illegal downloading and streaming of movies and TV shows. But many in the tech world — including giants Google and Facebook — say the legislation would let federal authorities shut down portions of the Internet without due process, and fundamentally alter the Internet’s ability to provide a platform for free speech.
Why would Wikipedia have a dog in this fight?
Unless … Wikipedia had been recently begging for money but suddenly stopped. And one thing the entertainment industry has is plenty of money. Could it be that …?!
Wow, looks like there’s updates there nearly every day. I am highly distrustful of Wikipedia since it’s so prone to manipulation but it does at least provide a primer on a subject.