Wikipedia, Other Sites to Go Dark Tomorrow

Since launching in 2001, Wikipedia has become a go-to reference guide for the Internet-savvy, with many people casually checking it every day to answer one question or another. But tomorrow, you’ll be on your own.

Wikipedia has joined with several other high-profile websites in a 24-hour blackout, to protest a pair of Internet regulations bills making their way through Congress. Other sites involved include Reddit, Mozilla and Boing Boing, according to this Huffington Post report. 

The blackout will only affect the English-language version of Wikipedia. The blackout begins at midnight Eastern Time on Wednesday, which is 11 p.m. Central Time tonight, and run for 24 hours. Visitors to Wikipedia and other protesting sites will see a message opposing the two proposals, the Stop Internet Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act.

Sue Gardner, executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation, goes into her reasons for the blackout here. Other sites, like Google, will join in the protest, but will not go dark. Google will post a link to its homepage expressing its opposition to the proposed legislation.

The two bills in question are aimed at curtailing Internet piracy, and giving the government more tools to crack down on illegal uploads and downloads. The bills are supported by Hollywood studios, music publishers and other copyright holders, who believe piracy is hurting their business.

But opponents say the proposed legislation goes too far, and would force sites like Google to become “online police,” according to this ABC News report. Opponents also say the laws run counter to the notion of a free and open Internet.

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) would give the U.S. Department of Justice the ability to seek court orders against websites accused of copyright infringement. Those court orders could include banning those sites from search engines, and requiring Internet service providers to block access to them. 

A House Judiciary Committee meeting on the bill was scheduled for tomorrow, but President Barack Obama has voiced opposition to it, and it has been shelved, according to this Forbes report.

SOPA’s counterpart in the Senate, the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), is similar, and would also allow the U.S. Department of Justice to seek court orders against sites accused of copyright infringement, and demand that search engines and other linking sites remove access to them.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has set the first vote on PIPA for Jan. 24, according to ABC News.

Patch and AOL is not participating in the blackout.

"As written, we cannot support the bills.  We believe an open Internet is critical for innovation, job creation, and the sustained growth of Internet businesses. We are in the process of working directly with lawmakers to improve the bills," Tekedra N. Mawakana, AOL's Senior Vice President of Public Policy, said.

For more, check out this Time Magazine guide to surviving Wednesday’s Wikipedia blackout.