Drag out your Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia is going black.
A 24-hour protest is planned for midnight Wednesday in a bid to seek support against proposed US anti-piracy legislation that Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales contends will threaten the future of the Web.
For that period, the wikipedia.org site will contain information about the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). The English-language Wikipedia receives more than 25 million average daily visitors from around the world, according to comScore data.
Wikipedia readers will be urged to contact their local congressman to vote against the bills. Other smaller sites leading the campaign include Reddit.com and Cheezburger.
The bills pit technology companies like Google and Facebook against the bill’s supporters, including Hollywood studios and music labels, which say the legislation is needed to protect intellectual property and jobs.