Wikipedia Goes On Strike: Shutting Down For 24 Hours To Protest SOPA & PIPA

By: EW News Desk Team   Date: 17 January 2012

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17 January 2012

Popular online knowledge website Wikipedia will link up with numerous other high profile websites on Wednesday – including Reddit and Cheezburger network– in a 24 hour blackout of their services, as a protest against the controversial anti-piracy legislation currently under consideration in the US Congress.

The founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, announced the news on his Twitter account on Monday, writing “Student warning! Do your homework early. Wikipedia protesting bad law on Wednesday! #SOPA”

SOPA is the acronym for the Stop Online Piracy Act, which alongside PIPA (Protect IP Act), are currently being discussed in the House of Representatives and the Senate respectively, as means to crack down on the online sale of pirated American movies, music or other goods. Opponents to both acts though say that several of the provisions listed would stifle innovation in the online technology industry and violate free-speech rights.

Among the Internet companies that have voiced their opposition against SOPA and PIPA include Facebook, Google, Yahoo and Twitter. Wales says that in that in place of its regular content on his site, visitors to Wikipedia on Wednesday would instead see instructions on how to reach local members of Congress to protest the acts.

"I am just starting to do press interviews about the upcoming blackout of Wikipedia...This is going to be wow. I hope Wikipedia will melt phone systems in Washington on Wednesday. Tell everyone you know," said Wales.

In an interview with the New York Times, Wales, whose website averages around 25 million said that he hoped to send a clear message to lawmakers and regulators that people who worked on the Internet and used it daily were not happy about the potential effects of the bills.

“What will make a difference is for ordinary people to pick up the phone and send an e-mail or a letter to their representatives about this. When you consider the magnitude of how many people use Wikipedia globally, there is a potential here for really creating some noise and getting some attention in the U.S,” he said.

Other websites that are set to participate in the protest include Reddit, Cheezburger, BoingBoing, Craiglist, Mozilla, Minecraft and several other websites related to video games. Google and Facebook are also reported to be considering a blackout as well.

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“What we’ve seen across the world, with the Arab Spring, is that people are now more aware of the tools that are available for people to make a big noise and make their voices heard,” said Wales, in his NYT interview.

“Ten years ago, the Internet was quite big and didn’t have the infrastructure for the public to express their voice in this way, and that’s fundamentally changing.”


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