WASHINGTON – About a dozen popular Web sites, such as Wikipedia and Reddit, are taking part in an intentional blackout today as protest against two bills working their way through Congress – the Stop On-line Piracy Act in the House and the Protect Intellectual Property Act in the Senate. Other Web sites such as Google and Word Press are running today but are also marking the protest. The Web sites say today’s blackout shows what happens if Hollywood and big multi-media companies get their way. They say the bill swould let police and judges shut down Web sites, order them to take down links and stop credit card payments to sites accused of violating intellectual property copyrights, and manipulating of the Domain Name System. They say if the bills pass, they will lim the free exchange of information on the Internet, harm consumer rights, and undermine Internet security standards. Steven Tepp with the Chamber of Commerce says it’s a tool to fight bootleg movies and music hosted on foreign Web sites. “These rogue sites are hurting American jobs, stealing American jobs, harming American consumers and have no business being on the internet,” Tepp told ABC News. President Obama has promised a veto of the bills as written. He said that “new legislation must be narrowly targeted only at sites beyond the reach of current U.S. law, cover activity clearly prohibited under existing U.S. laws, and be effectively tailored, with strong due process and focused on criminal activity.”
Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2 p.m.
