Top Websites Go Dark In Protest Of SOPA And PIPA Bills
Some of the biggest websites on the internet are taking part in a “Blackout” to protest the proposed anti-piracy laws currently being discussed by Congress. Some of these websites include Wikipedia, WordPress, and even Google. Google is participating in the blackout by placing a black box over their logo when US-based users visit its site. Users who visit the English language section of Wikipedia are re-routed to a black page with white text that reads “Imagine a world without free knowledge… The US Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open internet. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia.”
The page goes on to provide a link to a website that gives more information about the House of Representatives’ Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa) and the Senate’s Protect Intellectual Property Act (Pipa). But true to the internet, people are already sharing way to work around the automatic redirect. WordPress does it’s part in the protest by displaying a video on their homepage that claims Sopa “breaks the internet” and asks users to add their name to a petition asking Congress to stop the bill. News site Reddit, which originally suggested the protest, online magazine Boing Boing, the software download service Tucows and the German hackers’ group the Chaos Computer Congress also removed access to their content.
Senator Chris Dodd, the chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, released a statement saying “Some technology business interests are resorting to stunts that punish their users or turn them into their corporate pawns, rather than coming to the table to find solutions to a problem that all now seem to agree is very real and damaging.” He added ”It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information… A so-called ‘blackout’ is yet another gimmick, albeit a dangerous one, designed to punish elected and administration officials who are working diligently to protect American jobs from foreign criminals.”
Google took to their blog and released a statement that basically said the bill would not change or stop pirate sites, saying instead “There are better ways to address piracy than to ask US companies to censor the internet. The foreign rogue sites are in it for the money, and we believe the best way to shut them down is to cut off their sources of funding.” Even if the bill somehow manages to pass, many people believe Obama would veto the hated bill.
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