© 2012 hong2221 
Imagine a World
Without Free Knowledge
For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet.
TODAY MANY LARGE WEBSITES SUCH AS REDDIT AND WIKIPEDIA ARE SHUT DOWN TO KEEP EVERYONE AWARE OF SOPA AND PIPA.
What are SOPA and PIPA? SOPA and PIPA represent two bills in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate respectively. SOPA is short for the “Stop Online Piracy Act,” and PIPA is an acronym for the “Protect IP Act.” (“IP” stands for “intellectual property.”) In short, these bills are efforts to stop copyright infringement committed by foreign web sites, but, in our opinion, they do so in a way that actually infringes free expression while harming the Internet. Detailed information about these bills can be found in the Stop Online Piracy Act and PROTECT IP Act articles on Wikipedia, which are available during the blackout. GovTrack lets you follow both bills through the legislative process: SOPA on this page, and PIPA on this one. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for the public interest in the digital realm, has summarized why these bills are simply unacceptable in a world that values an open, secure, and free Internet. What can I read to get more information? Try these links: As of 6AM PT, January 18, Google has more than 4,600 articles about the blackout. Here are a few:
- Why is Wikipedia staging a blackout and what is SOPA?, from the National Post
- Wikipedia joins blackout protest at US anti-piracy moves, from the British Broadcasting Corporation
- Wikipedia blackout over US anti-piracy bills and FEATURE: Websites blackout over ‘SOPA censorship’, from Al Jazeera
- Wikipedia, Craigslist, other sites go black in SOPA protest, from the Los Angeles Times
- Google Rallies Opposition to Murdoch-Backed Anti-Piracy Bill, from BusinessWeek
- SOPA protest: The Net strikes back, from Politico
- Wikipedia blackout a ‘gimmick’, MPAA boss claims, from the Guardian
- Wikipedia 24-hour blackout: a reader and Why we’re taking Wikipedia down for a day, from the New Statesman
- Internet-wide protests against SOPA/PIPA are kicking up a storm, by the Hindustan Times
- SOPA, PIPA: What you need to know, from CBS News
- Protest on Web Uses Shutdown to Take On Two Piracy Bills, from the New York Times
- Protesting SOPA: how to make your voice heard, from Ars Technica
- Why We’ve Censored Wired.com, from Wired
