Anti-SOPA, Anti-PIPA Web Blackout Starts Tonight

SOPA -- Are you pro or con?

Companies for whom the Internet is their lifeblood and their passion are initiating a 24-hour service blackout starting this evening. Their aim is to protest a House bill called SOPA -- the Stop Online Piracy Act -- and its Senate counterpart, PIPA. The bills are currently in their respective House and Senate committees.

Among the blackout leaders are Wikipedia, Mozilla, and Reddit. They'll be dark starting at 9 pm Pacific time. Other Silicon Valley heavyweights, including Google, have posted anti-SOPA protest statements on their home pages.

One significant issue with the proposed legislation is that it gives corporations who feel "violated" profound legal latitude to shut down or financially encumber what the firms view as "rogue sites." Typically, those kinds of sites offer pirated versions of intellectual property, such as movies. It is major movie, cable, and TV content providers who are SOPA's principal advocates.

There is a brief, useful QandA-style overview in today's siliconvalley.com, if you're unfamiliar with the SOPA controversy.

Do you have an opinion about SOPA/PIPA? You're welcome to leave a comment on the topic.