Google to Join Wikipedia, Reddit in Protest Today

Dozens of sites have confirmed their intent to “go black” in protest of the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) legislation.

SOPAstrike.com is urging websites to go on strike Jan. 18 for at least 12 hours and drive contacts to Congress as part of an organized effort to prevent the passage of legislation many sites regard as censorship and an infringement of first amendment rights. Strike organizers also encourage participants to tweet throughout the day using the hashtag #SOPASTRIKE.

In a statement on their website, event organizers wrote, “On Jan 24th, Congress will vote to pass internet censorship in the Senate, even though the vast majority of Americans are opposed. We need to kill the bill -- PIPA in the Senate and SOPA in the House -- to protect our rights to free speech, privacy, and prosperity. We need internet companies to follow Reddit's lead and stand up for the web, as we internet users are doing every day.”

Whether or not Congress will still vote on Jan. 24 is now in question. MSNBC.com reports that supporters of the legislation in both houses have “backed off.”

Even the White House has expressed reluctance to move forward with the legislation in its current form. On Jan. 14, administration officials released the following 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 global Internet. 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 statement also encourages citizens to provide input to their legislators:

“Washington needs to hear your best ideas about how to clamp down on rogue websites and other criminals who make money off the creative efforts of American artists and rights holders. We should all be committed to working with all interested constituencies to develop new legal tools to protect global intellectual property rights without jeopardizing the openness of the Internet. Our hope is that you will bring enthusiasm and know-how to this important challenge.”

In addition to Wikipedia and Reddit, other major websites that have confirmed their intent to participate in the blackout include Mozilla, Wordpress, little-apps.org, MoveOn, Tucows,cheezburger, Fail blog, The Daily What and more, Good Old Games, Good.is, Twitpic, Free Software Foundation, Rage Maker, Destructoid, Red 5, Minecraft, The Leaky Wiki, Doxie Lovers Club, Free Press, Mojang, XDA-Developers, A Softer World, This Is Why I'm Broke, Cake Wrecks,vanillaforums.org, stfuconservatives.net and dotSUB.

This afternoon, internet giant Google indicated it plans to join the protest as well. According to PC Magazine, Google will not shut down its services, but will work to raise awareness of the issue.

"Google did not elaborate on how it might highlight the anti-piracy bills. But many sites that cannot completely shut down have pledged to place banners on their sites with information about the two bills," the PC Magazine article stated.

CNET reports that Google opposes SOPA and PIPA because "there are smart, targeted ways to shut down foreign rogue Web sites without asking American companies to censor the Internet."

Related Topics: Google, Protest, Reddit, Stop Online Piracy Act, Website Blackout, and Wikipedia