Broadband News

Wikipedia shutting down in piracy law protest

Tuesday 17 January, 2012

By Anthony Hill

Site founder announces 24-hour ‘blackout’ plans.

The world’s sixth most popular website has confirmed it will “go dark” on Wednesday.

Wikipedia, a web encyclopaedia run by volunteers known as “Wikipedians”, is pulling the plug for 24 hours in a show of disdain for new US piracy legislation.

Starting at midnight tonight (17 January), the English-language version of the site will be made unavailable, in protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (Pipa).

The two highly contentious bills are aimed at stamping out piracy on the web, but critics say it could hurt the global technology industry and would infringe on our rights to free speech. Wikipedia is not the only site planning a “blackout” but is by far the best-known, with a daily readership of 25 million.

“Today, Wikipedians from around the world have spoken about their opposition to this destructive legislation,” said Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia. “This is an extraordinary action for our community to take.

“While we regret having to prevent the world from having access to Wikipedia for even a second, we simply cannot ignore the fact that Sopa and PIPA endanger free speech both in the United States and abroad, and set a frightening precedent of internet censorship for the world.”

The proposed laws would make it easier for American copyright holders to bring down foreign websites hosting unlicensed music, films and TV shows. Its backers include media mogul Rupert Murdoch but most of Silicon Valley is opposed, including Google and Facebook.

A spokesman for the White House said: “Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small.”

With President Barack Obama now siding with the views of the tech community, the laws may well be un-passable in their current state. But Wikipedia’s protest is still going ahead, starting at midnight Eastern Standard Time (5am GMT) on Wednesday, and running for 24 hours.