The blackout movement to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act that began with reddit and Wikipedia has spread to many major sites across the Internet, many of which are important examples of Web entities that could be shut down without due process by SOPA-like legislation. Below are some of our favorites.
Tumblr
Tumblr was one of the original sites to move against SOPA and PIPA by showing users a blacked-out dashboard when they logged in. Now when users visit, they are presented with a checkbox that allows them to black out their own blogs to outside visitors for the day.
WordPress
WordPress is presenting its users with a blacked-out homepage urging them to call their House representatives, and directing non-US residents to contact the US State Department and encourage it to speak out against domestic censorship.
Google has blacked out its logo on its home and search results pages, and clicking on it brings users to a page where they can sign a petition to protest PIPA and SOPA.
Mojang
Mojang, the development studio that brought us Minecraft, has fully blacked out (redded out?) its site, preventing viewers from accessing any content there, including the game. We confer upon them the medal for Best Anti-SOPA Slogan.
reddit, which shares a parent company with Ars, is another of the original movers behind the SOPA protests. Today the site is fully blacked-out in protest, instead presenting visitors with a page of information, Twitter updates, and links to sign a petition or call their House representatives.
Wired
Wired, Ars' sister site, is protesting SOPA and PIPA by presenting a blacked-out homepage, headlining an article explaining the acts, and providing links at the end of the article for readers to contact their representatives.
BoingBoing
BoingBoing is fully offline today in protest of the SOPA/PIPA legislation in consideration that "would certainly kill [them] forever" and "unmake the Web." The blackout page provides links for viewers to contact their Senators and learn up on the acts at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Wikipedia
Wikipedia's homepage is still working fine, but try to look anything up and you get a splash page warning of the legislation Congress is considering that could "fatally damage the free and open Internet." Wikipedia will be running the splash page on its full site (the mobile site is adorned only with a black banner) for the 24 hours covering January 18.
The Cheezburger Network
SOPA and PIPA gives LOLcats a sad.
Outside the USA
The French Internet advocacy group La Quadrature du Net and the UK-based Open Rights Group have both mounted front-facing blackout pages. La Quadrature du Net warns that SOPA and PIPA "mount to a global attempt to censor the Internet in the name of copyright." Open Rights Group lets users bypass the blackout page with a link, but cautions them that "it won't be this easy to bypass censorship if SOPA and PIPA pass."
Seen other cool anti-SOPA protests? Share your favorites in the comments!
Listing image by Illustration by Mojang (with colors tweaked!)
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