Today, Wednesday January 18 2012, this website is blacking out its signal for 24 hours 05:00 UTC on Wednesday, January 18.

We take this action in concert with other American English-language sites in opposition to proposed legislation in the United States – the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the U.S. Senate – that, if passed, would seriously damage the free and open Internet.

Americans believe that each generation is obligated to re-earn and, if possible, extend its freedoms by facing down whatever threatens them. This is the first serious public attempt in the United States to restrict Internet access in opposition to the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. It is unlikely to be the last.