Going Dark To Protest SOPA, PIPA

Are you ready for the blackout? I can’t imagine a day of not looking at Reddit or Wikipedia, but tomorrow, Wednesday, January 18th, it looks like I’ll have to manage without it. Large Internet sites such as Reddit, Wikipedia and Boing Boing will be protesting against the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) bills. The bills are designed to restrict access to sites infringing on copyright laws, such as sites that allow illegal downloads of movies, music or information. Some believe that with these bills, we’d be saying goodbye to a free and open Internet.

The bill is stirring up controversy between techies and the media industry for good reason. If SOPA passes, some sites will be blocked and other sites that have provided certain links will be punished.

Google, Ebay, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr all oppose the legislation, but just because these Internet giants oppose it doesn’t mean the bill won’t eventually pass.  

Some people believe SOPA to be fundamentally flawed, and the Obama administration said they will not “support legislation that mandates "tamper[ing] with the technical architecture of the Internet through manipulation of the Domain Name System (DNS)."

With much criticism, the bill is being reworked, but until then, on Wednesday we will see some of the largest Internet sites blackout in protest against SOPA and PIPA.

Learn more about SOPA:
ABC News
CNN
Computer World
LA Times