Biggest Internet sites not part of blackout

A  web blackout scheduled for today to protest against proposed legislation on online piracy has failed to get the support of the biggest Internet players, Reuters reported.

 

Despite calls for the participation of sites such as Facebook, Twitter and other big names, the biggest participants are the online encyclopedia Wikipedia and the social-news website Reddit.

 

The situation shows that, though technology companies are concerned about the House of Representatives’ Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Senate’s Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), the companies are not prepared to sacrifice a day’s worth of revenue and risk the ire of users for a protest whose impact on lawmakers is hard to gauge.

 

Wikipedia and Reddit blacked out their pages so visitors see only information about the two pieces of legislation.

 

Of the biggest tech sites that have voiced opposition to the legislation, only Google made a change to its site. It too has information about the bills, though users will still be able to conduct Google searches.

 

Microblogging service Twitter also declined to participate, with chief executive Dick Costolo taking on critics of the decision on Twitter over the weekend.

 

“Closing a global business in reaction to single-issue national politics is foolish,” he wrote.

A  web blackout scheduled for today to protest against proposed legislation on online piracy has failed to get the support of the biggest Internet players, Reuters reported.

 

Despite calls for the participation of sites such as Facebook, Twitter and other big names, the biggest participants are the online encyclopedia Wikipedia and the social-news website Reddit.

 

The situation shows that, though technology companies are concerned about the House of Representatives’ Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Senate’s Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), the companies are not prepared to sacrifice a day’s worth of revenue and risk the ire of users for a protest whose impact on lawmakers is hard to gauge.

 

Wikipedia and Reddit blacked out their pages so visitors see only information about the two pieces of legislation.

 

Of the biggest tech sites that have voiced opposition to the legislation, only Google made a change to its site. It too has information about the bills, though users will still be able to conduct Google searches.

 

Microblogging service Twitter also declined to participate, with chief executive Dick Costolo taking on critics of the decision on Twitter over the weekend.

 

“Closing a global business in reaction to single-issue national politics is foolish,” he wrote.