Wikipedia Blackout in Protest

If you are using Wikipedia in an English speaking country, then you may have noticed today that you cannot access any of the information. Instead of the normal pages of life-saving information, you will be met by a black screen, similar to the one above. This is because, for the first time ever, Wikipedia is protesting against two new laws that have been proposed in the United States.

SOPA (which stands for the ‘Stop Online Piracy Act'), and PIPA (‘Protect Intellectual Property Act') are two bills that aim to stop copyright infringement by websites outside of the US. However, many people, the Wikipedia community included, believe that these laws will harm free expression and freedom on the internet. In Wikipedia's own words:

"We are concerned that SOPA and PIPA will severely inhibit people's access to online information...These bills are simply unacceptable in a world that values an open, secure, and free Internet."

It is not the idea of stamping down on online copyright infringement that Wikipedia disagrees with, but the "badly drafted legislation" which will not only be ineffective against it's main aim, but will actually harm the internet as we know it.

The Problems

The problem with the current proposals is that basically they will lead to whole web sites being shut down unnecessarily. They assume that if one small part of a website breaks copyright law, then the whole site must do and should therefore be shut down. As well as this, they place responsibility for policing user-contributed material to the website owner, who will often not have the resources to check everything. Ultimately, the problem that the Wikipedia community has with these bills is summed up in one sentence:

"The Internet cannot turn into a world where free expression is ignored to accommodate overly simple solutions"

The bills are expected to be discussed sometime in the next month and so, to show their opposition to them, as well as to raise awareness of their existence, the Wikipedia community decided to take the unprecedented step of a 24 hour black out*.

* If you really REALLY need to get on Wikipedia in the next 24 hours, simply press ‘Esc' on your keyboard whilst the Wikipedia page you want is loading. But Shhh, it wasn't us that told you.

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