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    January 18, 2012

Major Websites Protest US Anti-Piracy Legislation with Blackout

   VOA News
   Google posts black bar over its colorful logo in protest of anti-piracy
   laws under consideration in U.S. Congress, January 18, 2011
   Google posts black bar over its colorful logo in protest of anti-piracy
   laws under consideration in U.S. Congress, January 18, 2011

   Blacked out homepages and links to petitions are greeting U.S. online
   visitors Wednesday, as several major websites protest anti-piracy
   legislation under consideration in the U.S. Congress.
   Online encyclopedia [1]Wikipedia blacked out its English language
   website for 24 hours, alongside blog [2]Boing Boing. Social news
   website [3]Reddit plans to go dark for part of the day, and popular
   search engine[4] Google has replaced its normally colorful and
   interactive logo with a black censor bar.
   These are just some of the online protests aimed at The Stop Online
   Piracy Act (SOPA) currently before the House of Representatives, and
   the Protect IP Act (PIPA) under consideration in the Senate. The
   measures are designed to crack down on the sales of pirated U.S.
   products overseas. The House bill currently includes a provision on
   blacklisting sites that contain pirated content.

   Supporters of the legislation include the film and music industry,
   which often sees its products pirated illegally. The industry says the
   measures are needed to protect intellectual property and jobs.
   Technology companies such as Google and other Internet giants like
   [5]Yahoo and [6]Twitter say the bills could hurt the technology
   industry and infringe on free speech rights if passed.
   Last week, the White House acknowledged that online piracy by foreign
   websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative
   response. But the statement said, "we will not support legislation that
   reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk or
   undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet."
   The White House also said it will continue to work with Congress on a
   bipartisan basis on legislation to provide new tools needed in the
   global fight against piracy and counterfeiting, while defending free
   expression, privacy, security and innovation.

References

   1. http://www.wikipedia.com/
   2. http://boingboing.net/
   3. http:reddit.com
   4. http://www.google.com/
   5. http://www.yahoo.com/
   6. http://www.twitter.com/