SOPA Blackout in full force! Learn what sites have closed shop for the day
Posted by Adriana Tayraco on Wed, Jan 18, 2012
Need to research something on Wikipedia? Tried Reddit? You have probably found out by now that those sites and as many as 7,000 others are on “virtual strike” today January 18th to protest against SOPA. Need a refresher course on what SOPA is? Click here for a small summary.
Ever since Reddit proposed a Blackout of their website and services for a full 24 hours to oppose SOPA, many more companies have joined in and closed down shop to show users what the Internet would look like if SOPA gets approved. The biggest and most outspoken protester to go dark today is indubitably Wikipedia; their English site went dark today at midnight E.T. and will stay that way for 24 hours.
Besides Wikipedia and Reddit, the following sites are also on strike today:
Google:
they blackened out their logo and have released a Take Action campaign to End Piracy, Not Libery.
Wordpress:
Besides participating in the Blackout, they are also hosting third party SOPA plug-ins and encouraging their users to install them to show their discontent with the bill.
Mozilla:
their default home page has a blacked-out logo and displays information on SOPA as well as a call to action to stop it. You can still download Firefox via a link at the bottom.
Michael Moore:
His site has gone dark as well with a very creative spotlight that you can move around with your mouse to read his call to action. The outspoken journalist is asking you to contact your Senator and Representative today.
Icanhascheezburger network sites (including FailBlog, the Daily What, Know Your Meme, etc):
The popular networking site and all of their brand-sites will show a dark screen and a pop-up with a call to action to either SOPA or PIPA.
Craigslist:
Visitors are being greeted with a “Stop PIPA and SOPA” splash page. You can skip this and access the full site.
The Oatmeal:
Perhaps the most creative way to express anti-SOPA feelings, they have made a .gif animation that breaks the issue down in a humorous yet surprisingly serious manner.
For a complete list of the confirmed participants, go to www.sopastrike.com