The Internet on Strike: Wikipedia, Mozilla and More Will Shut Down to Protest SOPA
Wikipedia is down for 24 hours - and it's not because of hackers.
Along with thousands of other websites, Wikipedia went dark on Wednesday to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) that is currently being discussed in Congress.
Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, told the BBC that "tomorrow from midnight we are going to blank out" the English version of Wikipedia. Why the black out? Because according to Wales, SOPA "makes something like Wikipedia essentially impossible."
The online encyclopedia isn't alone in this protest. Other websites taking part in the "SOPA Strike" include Mozilla, Reddit, WordPress and Boing Boing.
Supporters argue that SOPA (and the other anti-piracy act currently on the table, PIPA) are meant to prevent people from illegally copying music and movies and that they are necessary to protect intellectual property. But critics say the legislation is too broad and could require Internet providers to block certain websites.
“While I support their goal of reducing copyright infringement (which I don’t believe these acts would accomplish), I am shocked that our lawmakers would contemplate such measures that would put us on a par with the most oppressive nations in the world,” wrote Google co-founder Sergey Brin in a post on Google+.
According to Politico, organizers of the SOPA Strike say over 7,000 websites have joined the protest. For more information, visit www.sopastrike.com
Megan Sayers is the managing editor for ModernMom. Follow her on Twitter @MeganSayers
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