This is the page Wikipedia users will find today when they try to access the English version of Wikipedia. Seems the giant wiki decided to honour its threat of a Wikipedia blackout in protest against the now-withdrawn PIPA and SOPA acts after all . Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder and chief evangelist, said that in as much as the bills had been withdrawn, the reality of the threat of legislation on the free Internet was still very clear and present. This is why the wiki opted to stick to its plan to have a Wikipedia blackout even after a statement from the White House more or less killed the two bills.
For those who have been following the SOPA, PIPA debate, you will remember that it was only after a number of smaller websites such as Reddit decided to take on a full blown blackout that the blackout bandwagon really caught on. It will be also noted, rather disappointingly, that the real bigwigs of the Internet such Google and Facebook stood quietly on the sidelines with a somewhat non-committal stance and with a wait-and-see attitude.
The need for anti-piracy legislation is something everyone agrees should be in place but what the Internet community also appreciates is that in many cases, the Internet remains the last true frontier of freedom and equality and none of the billions online will stand by as this gets legislated into oblivion.
