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Wikipedia
blacked
out the English Wikipedia for 24 hours, beginning at midnight
January 18. Readers to English Wikipedia during the blackout will not
be able to read the encyclopedia. Instead, you will see messages
intended to raise awareness about SOPA and PIPA, and encouraging you
to share your views with your elected representatives, and via social
media.
These bills are efforts to stop copyright infringement
committed by foreign web sites.
The decision to
black out the site was decided by voting within the Wikipedia
community of writers and editors who manage the free service,
according to a report by Reuters.
The members of Wikipedia have
been debating and voting about whether the site should participate in
a blackout, which several other Web sites, including Reddit, the
social news site, and BoingBoing, a technology and culture blog, plan
to join. According to a Reuters report.
According to the Reuters news,
on Twitter, Mr. Wales said that Wikipedia would go dark beginning at
midnight Eastern time on Tuesday and remain unavailable until
midnight Eastern time on Wednesday. Visitors who try to reach the
Wikipedia home page will be greeted with information about the bills
and details about how to reach their local representative. Mr. Wales
estimated that the blackout could affect as many as 100 million
people.