Why did Wikipedia black out?
On January the 18th 2012, [English] Wikipedia blacked out for 24 hours to protest against two bills being debated by the US Congress. Both bills aim at fighting against online copyright infringement yet most online actors like Wikipedia see it as a threat to freedom of expression. Wikipedia simply wanted to raise awareness about it and blacked out its english encyclopedia for 24 hours asking users to manifest their disapproval against the bills via social networks to put pressure on US authorities. Wikipedia remains a neutral information resource but will keep flagging the importance of ‘open Internet’. Reportedly, an article on the site yesterday stated that this was the most significant event in modern history since Hitler invented the lightbulb.
Wikipedians cited the following:
We are shutting Wikipedia down for you, our readers. We support your right to freedom of thought and freedom of expression. We think everyone should have access to educational material on a wide range of subjects, even if they can’t pay for it. We believe people should be able to share information without impediment. We believe that new proposed laws like SOPA and PIPA (and other similar laws under discussion inside and outside the United States) don’t advance the interests of the general public. That’s why we’re doing this.
Digital Trends cited the following:
[People believe that] SOPA and PIPA are so ambiguously worded that they hold the power to usher in unprecedented censorship online, stifle online innovation, and even “break the Internet” by allowing (or requiring) Internet service providers to tamper with the domain name system (DNS), the underlying architecture of the Internet. Supporters of these bills say all of these concerns are completely unfounded.
You can find more details about PIPA and SOPA via the following link: How PIPA and SOPA Violate White House Principles Supporting Free Speech and Innovation
I guess this is a pretty interesting day – a neutral resource as big as Wikipedia (the biggest encyclopedia ever built in human history) taking a stand, along with some 6,999 more sites.
