Wikipedia to shut off site to protest SOPA legislation

Wikipedia has said it will shut down its site for one day as part of a protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act in the United States, which many tech and web companies have attacked for provisions that could shut down well known and popular sites.

Several other websites including Reddit and Google have announced similar protests, with the search engine planning to put a protest notice on its front page tomorrow.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said on Twitter Wikipedia would be shut down for 24 hours as of later tonight.

The SOPA act is intended to stop online piracy, but opponents say the language is so broad that it would have the potential to shut down sites that have links to pirated material, even if those links were posted without the administrators’ intent.

The congressman behind the bill, Lamar Smith, has scheduled debate for next month and has said in a statement Wikipedia is making a wrong move.

“The bill will not harm Wikipedia, domestic blogs or social networking sites. This publicity stunt does a disservice to its users by promoting fear instead of facts. Perhaps during the blackout, internet users can look elsewhere for an accurate definition of online piracy,” he said, according to Mashable.