Internet Giants vs. Censorship Laws

Wikipedia went dark, Google blotted out its logo and other popular websites carried out protests on Wednesday to voice concern over legislation in the US Congress intended to crackdown on online piracy.

Wikipedia shut down the English version of its online encyclopaedia for 24 hours to protest the Stop Online Piracy (SOPA) introduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate version, the Protect IP Act (PIPA).

Google, meanwhile, placed a black redaction block over the logo on its much-visited US home page to draw attention to the bills while social news site Reddit and the popular Cheezburger humour network also planned blackouts.

The draft legislation has won the backing of Hollywood, the music industry, the Business Software Alliance (BSA), the National Association of Manufacturers and the US Chamber of Commerce. But it has come under fire from digital rights and free speech organisations for allegedly paving the way for US authorities to shut down websites accused of online piracy, including foreign sites, without due process and threatening the technical architecture of the internet.

The founders of Google, Twitter, Wikipedia, Yahoo! and other internet giants said in an open letter last month the legislation would give the US government censorship powers "similar to those used by China, Malaysia and Iran".

"We oppose these bills because there are smart, targeted ways to shut down foreign rogue websites without asking American companies to censor the internet," a Google spokesman said Tuesday. "So, tomorrow, we will be joining many other tech companies to highlight this issue on our US home page," the spokesman for the internet search giant said.

Reddit said it will shut down for 12 hours - from 8 am to 8 pm (9 pm to 9 am in Malaysia) - to protest against the legislation.

"We wouldn't do this if we didn't believe this legislation and the forces behind it were a serious threat to Reddit and the internet as we know it," Reddit said.

"The freedom, innovation and economic opportunity that the internet enables is in jeopardy".

Ben Huh, the founder of Cheezburger network, said on his Twitter feed that his 58 sites, which include icanhascheezburger.com, FAIL Blog and The Daily What, will observe a blackout on Wednesday.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales announced plans to shut down the site from 0500GMT (1 pm Wednesday in Malaysia) in a message on his Twitter feed. "Student warning! Do your homework early. Wikipedia protesting bad law on Wednesday!" Wales said.

"This is going to be wow. I hope Wikipedia will melt phone systems in Washington on Wednesday. Tell everyone you know!" he said.

The White House expressed concern about the anti-online piracy bills in a statement. "While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative internet," it said.

"Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small," the White House said.