On Wednesday, January 18, 2012, the Wikipedia website will be “going dark” for 24 hours.  Why?  The editors of the site are taking this action to protest SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act, currently in the U.S. Congress.  According to those who oppose the legislation, the bill would allow the U.S.  government to order Internet service providers to block websites for infringing links posted by any users.  Websites like Reddit, Tumblr, and even Youtube, could be targeted for shutdown.  As of January 16, President Obama has said that he will not support the bill, but the Wikipedia blackout will proceed.

If you want to know more about SOPA, internet privacy, copyright, and related issues, take this opportunity to use the library databases!

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