Attempts to legislate against online piracy and copyright infringement in the US have triggered an angry response from some of the world’s largest web portals and services. Wikipedia, WordPress, Reddit and the business news site Cheezburger are just some of the major web sites that have blacked out for 24 hours in protest against the anti-piracy and anti-infringement bills, known as Sopa and Pipa that are being considered by the US Congress.
The Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa) bill from the House of Representatives and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (Pipa) from the Senate aim to stop websites using and circulating unauthorised copyright materials.
Opponents to these bills include many of the web’s founding fathers who say they built their businesses on a free web and fear legislating against content will begin a process of censorship that will damage free access to information for generations to come.
Under these bills, copyright owners would be allowed to apply for court orders to force websites associated with piracy to close down. Fur
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