Brain Hackers

The free online encyclopedia website, Wikipedia, has blacked out as part of a global protest against anti-piracy legislation making its way through the US congress.

On its English homepage, Wikipedia, a primary research tool on the Internet and one of the most frequently visited websites, says, “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.”

“This is an extraordinary action for our community to take,” Wikipedia’s founder Jimmy Wales said about the blackout of Wikipedia’s English version.

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) are currently under review by the US House of Representatives and the Senate.

“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,” said Wales.

Internet giant Google has also covered its logo in black despite being available for searches. Other popular websites are also protesting against the legislation, including Reddit, which said it will be blacked out
for 12 hours.

The protesting sites say they intend to ‘shutter and silence’ the Internet the same way many in the tech world say will happen if the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House and the Protect IP Act in the Senate move forward.

The two bills are claimed to be aimed at hindering the illegal downloading of movies and TV shows.

However, Wikipedia and other Internet giants such as Google, Twitter and Yahoo say the two bills would give the US government the power to censor the web as they would let federal authorities shut down sites on the Internet without adequate processing and would essentially change the platform of free speech that the Internet provides.

Source: extratorrent,com