Wikipedia is joining Reddit, Boing Boing, the Cheezburger network and others in a 24-hour blackout Wednesday to protest controversial legislation pending in Congress.
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales made the announcement Monday on Twitter.
Student warning!Do your homework early.Wikipedia protesting bad law on Wednesday! #sopa
— Jimmy Wales (@jimmy_wales) January 16, 2012
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) are designed to thwart sales of pirated U.S. products overseas. SOPA was introduced in the House of Representatives in October; PIPA was approved by a Senate committee in May and is pending before the full U.S. Senate. Supporters say the legislation will protect intellectual property and jobs. Critics say it will hurt the technology industry and infringe on free-speech rights.
The 24-hour Wikipedia blackout only will affect the English version of the site, starting at 12:01 a.m. EST. Wikipedia is the largest and most well-known website to protest through a blackout.
comScore estimates the English Wikipedia receives 25 million average daily visitors globally.
— Jimmy Wales (@jimmy_wales) January 16, 2012
Wales tweeted that the Twitter hashtag to discuss his site's blackout is #WikipediaBlackout. The hacker group Anonymous is using the hashtag #BlackoutSOPA on Twitter to encourage others to join the blackout.
Reddit, a user-submitted news site, announced last week that it will go black from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST Wednesday. The Cheezburger network (best known for its "I can has cheezburger?" LOLcat posts) joined the protest two days later.
All Cheezburger sites will also be instituting a blackout on January 18th to protest SOPA and PIPA. Now, go ask Wikipedia to do it.
— benhuh (@benhuh) January 12, 2012
Blog Boing Boing joined the blackout bandwagon on Saturday.
In December, a boycott of GoDaddy prompted the domain registration site to back down from its pro-SOPA stance; the company now says it opposes the bill.
On Saturday, the Obama administration raised concerns about the legislation, saying it will work with Congress on legislation to help battle piracy and counterfeiting while defending free expression, privacy, security and innovation on the Internet.
