As detailed by the EFF, websites are protesting US bills that would potentially wreck the internet. SOPA and PIPA if passed would have massive negative ramifications for a huge number of websites. Many tech sites erroneously stated SOPA was dead, but it isn’t—it’s just been suspended for a few weeks. Supporters of SOPA are blasting the protests as ‘publicity stunts’, because, clearly, sites like Wikipedia aren’t popular enough and need to do some kind of stunt to get more visitors. Or something. (I have to say: Wikipedia’s protest, while possible to circumvent by techies that presumably know about SOPA anyway, is ballsy—a total replacement; by comparison, Google’s single link only on the .com home-page and not results pages is pathetic. EDIT: US users are now apparently seeing the Google logo ‘censored’ by a black rectangle, which is a little better.)

If you’re an American voter, it’s hugely important that you do your bit to stop these bills by contacting your representative. You can learn about SOPA/PIPA by reading Wikipedia’s entry (which is accessible from the blackout page), visit EFF for further info, and use Stop American Censorship to contact senators.