Repeating Islands will not add new postings today (January 18, 2012) to protest proposed SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) legislation. SOPA and PIPA threaten the very fiber of the internet and free access to knowledge.

“Wikipedia has [. . .] joined the ranks of several high-profile websites that are planning a ‘blackout’ on Wednesday, January 18, in protest of Congress’ proposed anti-piracy legislation.

Wednesday’s so-called SOPA Strike was initially proposed by Reddit, which will go dark for 12 hours to protest H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), and S. 968, the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). These bills are designed to punish primarily foreign-based websites found to violate or facilitate violations of U.S. copyrights. Backlash against the bills has been strong, particularly among the online community. Google, eBay, Mozilla, Twitter, Facebook, Huffington Post parent company AOL and other web giants have formally opposed the bills. The popular Cheezburger Network has joined Reddit in committing to a blackout-protest on January 18, as has news blog Boing Boing and several other prominent sites. Community classified ads site Craigslist has also come out recently against the bills but has not officially stated that it will participate in the blackout.” Huffington Post (16 January 2012)