I'm sure by now you've noticed that today, Wed. January 18, that Wikipedia is blacked out and that Google has a blacked out logo and maybe some other favorite sites are blacked out as well or have messages about SOPA & PIPA. So what is SOPA & PIPA you're asking? Well that's a very good question.
Both bills are basically about stopping copyright infringement on the web and give the US power to take some action against it, including blocking those sites in the US and not letting those sites receive payment for their work. And while that sounds like a good thing, many in the tech community (such as Wikipedia, Google, reddit, Icanhazcheeseburger, and legal experts) are worried that its broad language will create censorship and reduce the web to almost nothing. Backers of the bill on the other hand (such as CNN and the Movie Picture Association) believe that the bill will help protect their interests. So who's right?
Well that's up to you to create your own opinion. This post from Digital Trends has a great explanation of what the bills are, why there's an uproar, and answers some of the common questions that people have. You can also find Wikipedia's reasons for participating in the black out here and reddit's here. So what will you choose?
