Story highlights
Wikipedia plans to shut its site down on Wednesday
The act is a protest against anti-piracy bills before U.S. Congress
Wikipedia: The proposed laws would make it difficult for the site to operate
CNN talks with Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales about the digital protest
Go to Wikipedia at midnight, and you won’t find any of the usual encyclopedia articles.
Instead, you’ll be greeted with a message about anti-piracy bills that are topics of heated debate in the U.S. Congress – stirring opposition from tech companies in Silicon Valley and support from media companies in Hollywood.
Wikipedia, one of the highest-traffic sites on the Internet, will shut down for 24 hours in protest of these laws, which the website says would make it very difficult – maybe impossible – for its nonprofit encyclopedia to continue to operate.
The blackout starts at 12 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
For more on the bills, see CNNMoney’s story, “SOPA explained.”
