If you’ve tried to look up anything on Wikipedia today, you’ve noticed that the website is down for the day. In protest of a government bill to change the way the internet works, sites like Wikipedia, Reddit and Craigslist have temporary closed in protest.

These are some of the more popular sites among thousands that have chosen to participate in the blackout protest today.

If you go to Wikipedia.com and click on the United States, you will be directed to the following page:

Google has even joined the protest by showing a black box across their logo.

So what does SOPA/PIPA really mean?

SOPA stands for Stop Online Privacy Act and PIPA stands for Protect Intellectual Property Act. It seems as though the people who created these bills do not have an understanding of how exactly the internet works. While the bills aims to stop piracy, an article from Google mentions that this is unlikely, but more likely to “punish innovation.” While fighting piracy is extremely important, this is not the solution.Pirate sites would merely have to change their address to get around these bills.

By blocking access to tools, these bills will likely force companies to shut down based on claims made by copyright and trademark owners, without due process.

What happens next?

The proposed censorship of the internet will be held to a vote on January 24th. If Congress approves the bills, then it will be up to President Obama to veto them. The White House issued a response claiming “we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global internet”. Read the official statement here.

What can you do?

If you disagree with these bills, you can contact your local representatives by entering your zip code here.

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What do you think of SOPA and PIPA? Should these bills even be in consideration?

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