Websites black out to protest SOPA

In response to harsh new anti-priacy laws proposed in the USA, many websites have gone off line (18 January 2012) or are displaying black out pages in protest at SOPA.

SOPA is the Stop Internet Piracy Act, which has been championed by Hollywood producers, who claim it is the only way to stop piracy, much to the anger of the internet community. Even some IP Lawyers are opposed to the proposed regime, claiming that it is a step to far.

The proposed introduction of SOPA is seen as a serious threat to free speech on the internet, with US lawmakers proposing to give law enforcement powers to shut down websites almost anywhere in the world, through a variety of mechanisms such as web filtering.

Major websites such as WordPress.org and Wikipedia.org are blacking out in protest.