Wikipedia is going through with its threat to "go dark" for 24 hours beginning at midnight Eastern Standard Time on Tues., Jan. 17, 2012 in protest of two U.S. pending legislative bills.
Fox News reported that the Internet site will shut down access to its English version late tonight and keep it closed until midnight on Wed., Jan. 18. This is the first time it has ever done so, and it is being prompted by pending legislation in both the House and the Senate.
The company is taking issue with the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), which is being considered in the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as the Protect Intellectual Property Act, which the U.S. Senate is considering.
Both potential legislative efforts, according to critics, are in danger of limiting Internet technology livelihood and free speech. But proponents say it is more of an issue of protecting people and businesses--such as the music and film entertainment industries--from pirated sales of U.S. products as well as needed censorship of some materials.
Wikipedia's "online protest" may not have been done in the U.S. previously, but it has occurred once before in Italy, according to Fox News. And the Italian protest got the company the desired results: Italy did not move forward with its own Internet censorship bill. Will Wikipedia's refusal to service Americans from Tues., Jan. 17 at midnight to Wed., Jan. 18 at midnight reap the same result in America?
Reference: Fox News
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