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Wikipedia to shut down for 24 hours, anti-SOPA blackout

Deepanker Verma January 17, 2012 Internet

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Wikipedia to shut down for 24 hours to in protest against proposed legislation in the United States- SOPA and PIPA

Wikipedia to shut down for 24 hours to protest against SOPA andPIPA. Yes, Wikipedia co-founder, Jimmy Wales announced that the English version of Wikipedia will not be available for 24 hours beginning at 5:00 UTC on Wednesday.

Company announced in a press release,”On January 18, 2012, in an unprecedented decision, the Wikipedia community has chosen to blackout the English version of Wikipedia for 24 hours, in protest against proposed legislation in the United States — the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and PROTECTIP (PIPA) in the U.S. Senate. If passed, this legislation will harm the free and open Internet and bring about new tools for censorship of international websites inside the United States.”

Jimmy Wales also posted a message to students on Twitter, “Student warning! Do your homework early. Wikipedia protesting bad law on Wednesday.”

“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 – and 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.”

There are few more websites which will join the blackout which include Reddit, a website housing an influential web community that curates news, Cheezburger network, a collection of websites that host immensely popular LOLcat memes, BoingBoing, a popular blog, Craiglist, Mozilla, Minecraft and several other websites related to video games. There are reports that Google and Facebook may join the blackout.

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About the Author: Deepanker Verma

Deepanker Verma is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of TechloMedia. He holds Engineering degree in Computer Science and has over 15 years of experience in the technology sector. Deepanker bridges the gap between complex engineering and consumer electronics. He is also a a known Security Researcher acknowledged by global giants including Apple, Microsoft, and eBay. He uses his technical background to rigorously test gadgets, focusing on performance, security, and long-term value.