Wikipedia goes dark on Wednesday

If you've yet to hear about SOPA and PIPA, get ready for an quick orientation over the next couple of days. The Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act would crack down on sales of pirated products overseas. Supporters, led by the movie industry, say the legislation is needed to protect intellectual property and jobs. Critics say it infringes on free-speech rights and would stifle innovation. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales falls into the latter camp, and today announced plans to shut down the site for 24 hours in protest. The hubbub appears to be having an effect. Over the weekend the White House hinted that it would oppose the current legislation. And key sponsors are edging away. From the Washington Post:

Just six months ago, these bills seemed all but inevitable. The Senate version of SOPA, the Protect IP Act, was being held up by one lonely senator, Ron Wyden, and most of the bill's backers were confident of eventual passage. But critics and tech exports started pointing out that these bills could impinge on free speech and disrupt the workings of the Internet. Online communities like Tumblr and Reddit organized loud, boisterous, and often clever campaigns -- the document-sharing site Scribd, for instance, made a billion pages vanish to protest the bill -- and public opinion swung sharply. A Reddit campaign managed to persuade Paul Ryan to oppose the bill, for instance. As a result, even the most ardent backers of the bill are now softening their support.