Wikipedia may shut down in protest of SOPA bill

The administration of Wikipedia, the world's largest online encyclopedia, has not ruled out shutting down the project tomorrow, January 18. The 24-hour shutdown will be a protest against the SOPA bill submitted to the US Congress.

Previously, major internet companies, including Facebook, Twitter, and Google, opposed this bill. GoDaddy, a registrar, lost thousands of customers after learning that the company supported the controversial bill.

This bill contains many controversial requirements regarding copyright regulation. Specifically, the document requires registrars to disable websites and ISPs to block them if such resources are suspected of distributing pirated content. Such a requirement can be imposed even without a court order.

The SOPA bill is being actively lobbied by major music labels and film companies.

The Russian company Kaspersky Lab also opposed SOPA.