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Central Standard

Computer Guys: Who Controls the Net?

Last Wednesday, you might have headed to Wikipediato look up Marlon Brando, the currency in Guam, or (random Wikipedia page). We’re not gonna ask. But, that Wednesday, visitors found a blackout protest, asking them to to imagine a world without free knowledge. Think of all the term papers that stalled, and trivia contest cheaters who were derailed that day. An estimated 160 million people saw the page that day, according to Wikipedia.

Then, in the news the next day, a file sharing website called Megaupload was shut down by the US Department of Justice, and the online hacktivists retaliated, shutting down the websites of everyone from the Recording Industry Association to the FBI. It’s all about the same question – the question of the century – who controls the Internet?

Join Kansas City Star reporter Scott Canon, and Computer Guys Thos. O'Brien and George Costello for this Thursday's Central Standard, exploring this and other technology headlines.

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