Most people probably haven’t paid much attention to the huge corporations waging war in Washington over legislation designed to crack down on online theft of movies, music and other content. But the conflict will hit consumers in the face Wednesday, when Wikipedia and a number of other websites intend to go dark to protest the proposed changes.Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales announced Monday that the hugely popular online encyclopedia would be unavailable for 24 hours to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act and related legislation, which opponents say could lead to censorship or the complete shutdown of some websites.To read this Los Angeles Times report in full, see:
www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-wikipedia-20120117,0,4565597.storyAlso see:Wikipedia to Go Dark on Wednesday to Protest Bills on Web Piracy
The wave of online protests against two Congressional bills that aim to curtail copyright violations on the Internet is gathering momentum.Wikipedia is the latest Web site to decide to shut on Wednesday in protest against the two Congressional bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act, often called SOPA, and the Protect IP Act, which is often called PIPA. The bills have attracted fierce opposition from many corners of the technology industry. Opponents say several of the provisions in the legislation, including those that may force search engines and Internet service providers to block access to Web sites that offer or link to copyrighted material, would stifle innovation, enable censorship and tamper with the livelihood of businesses on the Internet.
bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/16/wikipedia-plans-to-go-dark-on-wednesday-to-protest-sopa/Why I want to bring down the internet – for a day
The founder of Wikipedia is leading calls for search engines and social media sites including Google, Facebook and Twitter to take themselves offline for an entire day in protest against a controversial bill winding its way through the US Senate that could have profound implications for the internet.Jimmy Wales has called for a “public uprising” against the Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa), which critics say will have a “chilling effect on innovation” by forcing websites to keep a much closer tab on what is posted by users on their pages.Last night the Wikipedia founder confirmed that all English-language sections of his website would be taken offline for 24 hours starting tomorrow.
www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/why-i-want-to-bring-down-the-internet–for-a-day-6290703.htmlWikipedia to go dark in SOPA protest, Twitter declines [IDG]
Wikipedia has decided to black out the English version of the online encyclopedia for 24 hours on Wednesday to protest against controversial legislation in the U.S., following a cue given by some other Internet sites including social news site Reddit which will black out its site for 12 hours on the same day.Twitter’s CEO Dick Costolo however said in a message on Twitter that “Closing a global business in reaction to single-issue national politics is foolish”. He later clarified that he was talking about Twitter and not about Wikipedia’s decision.
www.networkworld.com/news/2012/011712-wikipedia-to-go-dark-in-254952.htmlwww.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/248265/wikipedia_to_go_dark_in_sopa_protest_twitter_declines.html