Talk:Intellectual Property and the Internet

Explanation
I've decided to create a stable version of the SOPA article for distribution during Wikipedia's blackout. I hope other will join me, and to start with, I have copied text almost directly from this version these are the rules I wrote there.

The original
1. Don't alter the text of the article, except...
 * bolding important terms, especially if they were previously wikilinks, such as search engine (also, I want people to google that. :•) )
 * removal of wikilinks, replacing all proper names with bold text
 * When piped wikilinks are removed, either the actual title or the display title can be used.
 * removal of maintenance templates
 * removal of images
 * removal of external links
 * examples be added in the "See Also" and "External Links" sections. additions of text are allowed

2. As I rule try to
 * keep any links that might be useful to the reader in understanding SOPA
 * remove any US-specific links (this is a global issue), except when directly related to SOPA (Even other US laws)
 * remove wikilinks to any companies, individuals, or organizations, unless they have sections dealing with censorship or intellectual property (such as the MPAA)
 * if it doesn't help the reader understand what SOPA is, why people support it, or why people oppose it, don't include it.

3. Also...
 * if a term is useful you can include an interwiki Wiktionary link.

Let's hope that SOPA is defeated, but let's use this opportunity to educate people about intellectual property and censorship, on all sides of the issue. --Quintucket (talk) 02:39, 17 January 2012 (UTC)

On Wikibooks
On Wikibooks, much of this is similar Links
 * 1) Only include internal wikilinks to other articles in this book.
 * 2) Only include interwiki links to Wiktionary link.
 * 3) Only include internal or interwiki links once in an article.
 * 4) Only include external links that the reader will find especially helpful.

Style
 * 1) Write all formerly wikilinked proper names in bold the first time they appear
 * 2) Write any important terms this book does not have pages for the first time they appear, even if you also link to Wiktionary.
 * 3) Remove all images of individuals, and all logos
 * 4) Remove all templates except for infoboxes and the navigation box

I'll turn this into an MOS, if we can get a book going. But I'm hoping other people will want to help, especially if I link this from Wikipedia, so first, I'm putting these rules up for discussion. --Quintucket (discuss • contribs) 04:27, 17 January 2012 (UTC)

About the WP blackout
I've just spoken to two members of the WMF, who have assured me that SOPA, PIPA, and several related articles will be preserved during the blackout. So I feel less concerned about the immediate importance of the book, however I am now convinced that having a resource like this is important. So I will continue working on it, and again invite others to help me. SOPA is only the straw that broke the cyberCamel's back, other acts such as the Digital Millenium Copyright Act and PRO-IP have previously passed with relatively little opposition, owing to a deficit in public awareness.

So I reiterate again that it's important to make it clear to the general population why these laws are important to them, how they will affect them, what their options are. I also reiterate that this should not be an advocacy book for any particular form of reform, but a resource, to help people understand complicated issues which the media doesn't generally bother to cover, because they are complicated, and therefore boring. At the moment, my own goals for this book are to strip down the WP articles, dewikifying them for tomorrow, and reducing them to their essentials, when the WP originals become permenantly available again.

But I hope that my goals won't rule here. I hope that other people will also become interested in this topic on account of the actions surrounding SOPA, and that people who come here will take this book away from me. I'm good at starting things, but not at finishing them, and on a topic where I'm not an expert, I'd prefer to stick to wikignoming. --Quintucket (discuss • contribs) 21:28, 17 January 2012 (UTC)