Wikipedia leads protests against new laws

Wikipedia, Reddit and others close down for 24hrs in response to proposed regulation…

 

© Dave Holmes

 

Wikipedia is among a number of websites that have shut-down for 24 hours in protest against proposed new Internet regulation laws in the United States.

They say that the Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (Pipa) will give authorities a far reaching ability to censor online information. In a statement issued by the Whitehouse, the Obama administration seemed to side with the protesters, even hinting at the possibility of a Presidential veto if the laws passed through congress.

Yesterday Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said:

Student warning! Do your homework early. Wikipedia protesting bad law on Wednesday!

Today visitors to the site are greet with a blacked-out screen and the message explaining the site’s position:

Imagine a free world without knowledge

For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopaedia in human history. Right now, 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.

Those that have joined Wikipedia include Reddit, Tumblr and Boing Boing, while Google has blacked-out its logo on its US home page.

One of the vocal proponents of the new laws has been Rupert Murdoch, who recently hit out at Google, saying on Twitter that the company was a “piracy leader”. Today he responded to the protests and the publicity they were generating against the proposed legislation:

Seems blogosphere has succeeded in terrorizing many senators and congressmen who previously committed. Politicians all the same.