Wikipedia and WordPress, among some other sites, have shut down their services in a 24-hour protest against what they consider unfair anti-piracy laws in the US.
The SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) put forth by the US House of Representatives and the Senate’s Protect Intellectual Property Act (Pipa), if passed by the US Congess, will block unauthorised copyright material from websites.
Obama Administration came forward recently to work with all parties to pass legislation to combat foreign piracy.
As the English version of the site goes into hibernation for a day, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales said he agrees with protecting copyrighted content but not with the way it is being done.
He said in the worst case, the US could create a Chinese style firewall in its own backyard.
Matt Mullenweg , wordPress co-founder, who holds a similar opinion, said he has built his life upon open internet, where everyone is free to engage with the rest of the world as one likes. That freedom must be protected, he said.
They blamed authors of the legislation for lack of knowledge of how internet works.
Michael O’Leary of Motion pictures of America says rogue websites make money from stolen content and counterfeit items. He added there should be nothing controversial about taking measures to restrain such websites in the best interest of the American market and consumers.
