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Wikipedia black out
Popular online encyclopaedia Wikipedia has begun the black out
of its English-language site in protest against a proposed US
anti-piracy legislation.
The site will be closed for 24-hours, as it fights against the Stop
Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protest Intellectual Property Act
(PIPA) legislation.
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said the proposed legislation
threatens the future of the internet.
The site reported that more than 1800 'Wikipedians' joined an
online discussion over the proposed blackout protest, saying that
support for the unprecedented action was widespread.
The campaign started at around 5pm, completely blacking out the
English portion of the site, with the only information
avaliable about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the
Protest Intellectual Property Act (PIPA).
Wales said in an interview it is a "clumsily drafted legislation
which is dangerous for an open internet".
A statement release by Wikipedia reads: "While we regret having to
prevent the world from having access to Wikipedia for even a
second, we simply cannot ignore the fact that SOPA and PIPA
endanger free speech both in the United States and abroad, and set
a
frightening precedent of Internet censorship for the world."
SOPA and PIPA are designed take a hard stance on the sale of US
products overseas, such as pirated American movies and music by
blocking access to foreign sites that violate US copyright
laws.
Google has reportedly said the bill goes too far and could harm
investment. Google as well as other Internet companies such as
Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter and eBay have run advertisements in
newspapers urging lawmakers to rethink their decision.
Wales said he is happy to see opposition building and that the
White House has started to pay attention.
Wikipedia exists in 283 languages.
