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Join the Strike against SOPA and PIPA Banner

Today, Wikipedia, along with others like Mozilla and Google, is joining the virtual strike against Internet censorship to raise awareness of US Congress legislation that could fundamentally alter the Internet we know.

This harmful legislation, Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate, will be voted on as early as January 24th in the Senate.

Wikipedia has blacked out their web site in protest. But what if you were in need for that urgently? There are several methods to use and access Wikipedia during the SOPA blackout:

1. Use Mac OS X’s built-in Dictionary app
2. Disabling Javascript

For Safari:

• Open Safari Preferences/options
• Click on “Advanced” and check the box next to “Show Develop menu in menu bar”
• Pull down the “Develop” menu and select “Disable Javascript”
• Load Wikipedia and browse as usual

For Chrome:

• Open Google Chrome’s Preferences/options
• Click on “Under the Hood” and then “Content Settings”
• Find Javascript then click “Manage Exceptions”
• Type “en.wikipedia.org” into the box and pull down the contextual menu, selecting “Block”
• Load Wikipedia as usual

Why should you join the fight against SOPA to stop internet censorship? What makes this legislation so bad? Here is the catch:

• Communication platforms – from YouTube to Facebook to Amazon – could be shut down if a single rights holder alleges a violation.
• It would make the Web less stable and less secure.
• Social networking sites, like Twitter or Facebook, could be forced to track and control user behavior, stunting innovation and undermining free expression.
• Your Internet provider could be required to inspect all of your traffic and browsing.