Reddit shutting down to protest SOPA/PIPA, Wikipedia may follow suit [UPDATE: Minecraft, too]

[UPDATE: Developer Mojang has announced that Minecraft, too, will be “going dark” on the 18th January.]

Major news aggregate site Reddit.com has announced that it will be shutting down on the 18th January for 12 hours to protest the SOPA and Protect IP bills that are on the US Congressional floor, and Wikipedia may follow suit.

Reddit publicly announced its plans on Tuesday, stating that the site will be shut off from 8AM EST to 8PM EST on the 18th January. The site will instead display a message educating viewers about the dangers of SOPA and Protect IP, as well as a live video stream of a Congressional hearing about the legislation’s potential affects on the Internet. Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian will be attending the hearing alongside other internet providers.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has stated that he supports Reddit’s shutdown, and is considering having Wikipedia join the blackout as well, pending a meeting with his government affairs adviser, after which there would be a fast thumbs-up/thumbs-down vote with other Wikipedia execs.

“We need to move forward quickly on a concrete. We don’t have the luxury of time that we usually have, in terms of negotiating with each other for weeks about what’s exactly the best possible thing to do,” Wales stated.

Wales did not elaborate what Wikipedia would do if it did indeed go ahead with the protest. It’s probable the site, too, would air the live stream and post its own concerns about the bill.

SOPA and Proect IP looks to give content-producing companies the right to order a website that they believe is infringing on a copyright to take content off the site. Even if the site only hosts links to content that infringes on a copyright, the owner will have to take it down. Sites that don’t comply could have their advertising and transaction revenue cut off or request that the domain name be blacklisted and rendered inaccessible.

Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony removed their public support of the bills, but are suspected to tacitly endorse the bill alongside ESA.