Wikipedia Goes... Dark... (Just like my house)

We had a power outage for about an hour tonight. It was kind of neat. My family ate in the dark (we lit some candles). Then my daughter practiced her piano with help from me (and a candle). Then we brushed our teeth, read books and just before we went to sleep... The power came back on.

What does this have to do with Wikipedia you might ask? If you went to their site today (Jan. 18th) they have a message on there today (instead of their usual front page).
It says:

Imagine a World
Without Free Knowledgewledge

For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia. Learn more.

Why did they do this? They (along with a few other websites out there) are protesting some anti-piracy (not ships on the sea, but copyright pirates) laws that the USA legislature is plans to put into place.

Here is the explanation straight from Wikipedia. I think that they would argue that I am sharing their "knowledge" in an appropriate manner and am not committing "intellectual property" copyright crime. At least, I would ilke to think so. 

What are SOPA and PIPA?

SOPA and PIPA represent two bills in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate respectively. SOPA is short for the "Stop Online Piracy Act," and PIPA is an acronym for the "Protect IP Act." ("IP" stands for "intellectual property.") In short, these bills are efforts to stop copyright infringement committed by foreign web sites, but, in our opinion, they do so in a way that actually infringes free expression while harming the Internet. Detailed information about these bills can be found in the Stop Online Piracy Act and PROTECT IP Act articles on Wikipedia, which are available during the blackout. GovTrack lets you follow both bills through the legislative process: SOPA on this page, and PIPA on this one. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for the public interest in the digital realm, has summarized why these bills are simply unacceptable in a world that values an open, secure, and free Internet.

Why is the blackout happening?

Wikipedians have chosen to black out the English Wikipedia for the first time ever, because we are concerned that SOPA and PIPA will severely inhibit people's access to online information. This is not a problem that will solely affect people in the United States: it will affect everyone around the world.

Why? SOPA and PIPA are badly drafted legislation that won't be effective at their stated goal (to stop copyright infringement), and will cause serious damage to the free and open Internet. They put the burden on website owners to police user-contributed material and call for the unnecessary blocking of entire sites. Small sites won't have sufficient resources to defend themselves. Big media companies may seek to cut off funding sources for their foreign competitors, even if copyright isn't being infringed. Foreign sites will be blacklisted, which means they won't show up in major search engines. And, SOPA and PIPA build a framework for future restrictions and suppression.

So you can go there now (if it's still Wednesday that you are reading this) and check it out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

also check out this one: It's a parody of an "old" classic by Don MacLean called "American Pie".