Wikipedia has announced that it will black out the English language version of its website on Wednesday to protest anti-piracy legislation in Congress. It will shut down access from midnight Eastern Standard Time (10:pm MST) Tuesday night until midnight Wednesday.
Critics of the proposed legislation say it goes way beyond cracking down on the sale of pirated US products. They say the language of the two similar bills in the House and Senate restricts freedom of speech, creativity and innovation. They also say that eventually only those with the financial resources to fight legal challenges would be able to speak.
The Reddit and Boing Boing websites are also planning to blackout their services on Wednesday. Many other tech companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter are also strongly opposed to the legislation, but they are not participating in the blackout.
The White House has also expressed opposition to parts of the proposed legislation.
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