Inquirer Editorial: The virtual world shows its real-time clout

After the Wikipedia-driven Internet blackout Wednesday, it's a safe bet that every high school student with an overdue homework assignment is well clued in to the debate over regulating online piracy.

The 24-hour shutdown of the English-language version of the do-it-yourself encyclopedia was launched as a protest against pending federal legislation being pushed by Hollywood studios, music labels, cable firms, and traditional media companies.

To say the protest went viral would be like characterizing the bubonic plague as a common cold. It was all but unavoidable online - from the black placard placed across Google's home page to the estimated 7,000 other sites that sought in some way to raise awareness.

That speaks to both the power of the Web and the changing face of discourse about major public policy issues facing Congress in a digital age.

It showed once more that clout in Washington cannot always be measured in millions spent on lobbying; it can depend on the ability to get noticed. In addition to the one-day blackout, Internet providers have used social media to great advantage to prompt debate on the piracy measures.

Their concern is that - while the need to crack down on piracy is undisputed - it's just as critical to get it right.

Under versions of the antipiracy measure being debated in the U.S. Senate and House, the digital providers contend that websites could be blocked over a single errant link to copyrighted material buried in a mountain of Web pages.

Clearly, that's not a workable approach to what is a critical issue of protecting content providers in the online world. In fact, it was enough to raise White House concerns over the weekend, prompting a warning over "legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet."

Certainly, it's good that the Senate likely will look at recalibrating its proposal. The hope on all sides of this debate should be that Congress comes up with antipiracy rules that are both reasonable and workable.

Internet users need to be assured that they won't someday face a government blackout of critical information online.