{"id":2806,"date":"2012-01-18T05:46:40","date_gmt":"2012-01-18T10:46:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=2806"},"modified":"2012-01-18T06:07:12","modified_gmt":"2012-01-18T11:07:12","slug":"going-dark-why-you-might-be-having-difficulty-accessing-some-websites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2012\/01\/going-dark-why-you-might-be-having-difficulty-accessing-some-websites\/","title":{"rendered":"Going dark: why you might be having difficulty accessing some websites"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you been experiencing difficulty accessing some websites today, or seeing some strange messages about websites being on strike? Well, you are not alone, and for once, it just might not be your Internet connection acting up\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Today, 18 January, over 5,000 websites, including Wikipedia<\/a>, Reddit<\/a>, Mozilla<\/a>, WordPress<\/a> and Tucows<\/a>, will be offline for parts of the day (between 12 and 24 hours) to protest recently tabled legislation in the US on piracy and intellectual property. So far, two bills have been the primary focus: the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act (PROTECT IP Act or PIPA), which have been making their way through the House of Representatives and the Senate, respectively.<\/p>\n

As discussed in our earlier posts, What could be the impact of SOPA on the Caribbean?<\/a><\/em><\/strong> and The PROTECT IP Act: what you need to know<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, the bills have been receiving wide support within the US legislature and among major copyright and trademark owners, particularly those in the film, music pharmaceutical and book publishing industries. On the other hand, they have been criticised extensively by leading online properties, civil, human and consumer rights groups, as well as recognised technical experts. Some of the concerns raised regarding the bills as drafted include:<\/p>\n