Wikipedia inaccessible for 24 hours in piracy protest

January 18, 2012 – 4:02 pm

Wikipedia’s founder Jimmy Wales said, “Do your homework early”.

Wikipedia shut down and it is inaccessible for 24 hours starting this morning (10:30Am in India), Wednesday, January 18, 2012 in a protest a gainst internet piracy laws in the United States.

The home page of Wikipedia English version

The above Wikipedia home page said:

Imagine a World Without Free Knowledge

“For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia”.

Jimmy Wales tweets: It’s Baaaaaaaaack: Lamar Smith Says SOPA Markup To Resume In February.

Jimmy Wales Twitter Page

What are SOPA and PIPA?

SOPA and PIPA represent two bills in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate respectively. SOPA is short for the “Stop Online Piracy Act,” and PIPA is an acronym for the “Protect IP Act.” (“IP” stands for “intellectual property.”) In short, these bills are efforts to stop copyright infringement committed by foreign web sites, but, in our opinion, they do so in a way that actually infringes free expression while harming the Internet. – Wikipedia

Wikipedia’s founder: Jimmy Wales (Image via Wikipedia)