Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Rishab
Wikipedia has decided to black out the English version of the online encyclopedia for 24 hours on Wednesday to protest against controversial legislation in the U.S., following a cue given by some other Internet sites including social news site Reddit which will black out its site for 12 hours on the same day.
Twitter's CEO Dick Costolo however said in a message on Twitter that "Closing a global business in reaction to single-issue national politics is foolish". He later clarified that he was talking about Twitter and not about Wikipedia's decision.
Wikimedia Foundation said on Monday that the Wikipedia community had chosen to black out its English version to protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Protect IP Act (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," Wikimedia Foundation, which operates Wikipedia, said in a statement on its website.
Wikimedia Foundation said on Monday that the Wikipedia community had chosen to black out its English version to protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Protect IP Act (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," Wikimedia Foundation, which operates Wikipedia, said in a statement on its website.
