Why Wikipedia is Down

Wikipedia is down to today (Wednesday 18 January) here's why:


"They put the burden on website owners to police user-contributed material and call for the unnecessary blocking of entire sites. Small sites won't have sufficient resources to defend themselves. Big media companies may seek to cut off funding sources for their foreign competitors, even if copyright isn't being infringed.

Foreign sites will be blacklisted, which means they won't show up in major search engines. And, Sopa and Pipa build a framework for future restrictions and suppression." - Wikipedia


Why SOPA is Dangerous - Common Internet usage is effectively criminalized under this law. This bill will kill American innovation and development of the Internet, as it will become too risky to do anything of value. It is toxic and dangerous, and should not, under any circumstances, be supported - Chris Heald

Wikipedia begins blackout in protest against US anti-piracy laws - English version of website goes offline for 24 hours amid anger Sopa and Pipa bills aimed at protecting intellectual property - The Guardian

See also:
Wikipedia - what can it tell us about Sopa? - Rory Cellan-Jones
Sopa and Pipa anti-piracy bills controversy explained (BBC)
Blackout - Click save the Internet Today (www.avvz.org petition)

18 November 2011 Back to blog Home page

| Duncan Stonebridge. Back