'Darkipedia': 10 things you want to know about Wikipedia blackout

New York: Wikipedia has blacked out its English version of the website to voice concern over legislation in the US Congress intended to crack down on online piracy.



Listed below are 10 things to help understand the issue.

• The blackout is protesting the proposed anti-piracy bills Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) under consideration in the US Congress.
  

 

• If passed, the bills will allow US government to launch a crack down on piracy of American products overseas.
  

 

• The main issues the bill is targeting are illegal downloads of movies, digital content, etc.
  

 

• The proposed bills have sparked an all-out war between Hollywood and the Silicon Valley.
  

 

• Media companies are in favour of the bills being passed, while technology giants are staunchly opposing it.
  

 

• The bills, if passed, will render the non-profit encyclopaedia Wikipedia unworkable and it will be forced to shut down.
  

 

• Major technology giants believe the proposed laws will stifle innovation by enabling censorship.
  

 

• 800 members of Wikipedia debated and voted on the 24 hour 'blackout'.
  

 

• Wikipedia, launched in 2001, is one of the sites with highest traffic flow.
  

 

• Wikipedia includes 20 million freely usable articles in 283 languages, written by over 31 million registered users worldwide.