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Web surfers got a bit of a surprise January 18 when some of their favorite sites voluntarily shut down for up to 24 hours to protest controversial Internet-regulating legislation heading to the U.S. Congress. |
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網友在一月十八日吃了一驚，發現他們最喜愛的某些網站自發性關閉了二十四個小時，藉以抗議即將送往美國國會審議的一項爭議性網路規範法案。 |
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Reference site Wikipedia was among the popular online destinations to take part in the blackout against a pair of so-called anti-piracy bills currently before U.S. lawmakers. |
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A cryptic message on the site January 19 read: "Thank you for protecting Wikipedia. We're not done yet." |
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參考資料網站維基百科也是參與了關站抗議活動的其中一個熱門網站，反對數件所謂的反盜版法案敬赴立法審議。一月十九日，維基百科網站上出現這則別具意含的訊息：「感謝各位保護維基百科。革命尚未成功。」 |
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Critics say the anti-piracy bills are overreaching and could amount to censorship. |
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批評者表示，這些反盜版法案涵蓋範圍太廣，可能形同審查的效果。 |
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Along with Wikipedia several others went dark at midnight on Tuesday; still more, including search giant Google, joined the fray later in the day by placing a black bar over the famous logo. |
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連同維基百科在內的幾個網站在週二午夜關閉；其他更多的網站，包括搜尋巨擘谷歌，則是在當天稍晚加入抗議行列。谷歌以一個黑色長條遮住其著名的商標。 |
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The protest is in response to the Stop Online Piracy Act bill, otherwise known as SOPA, a piece of proposed legislation that is working its way through the Congress. |
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A Senate committee approved a similar bill in May called the Protect IP Act, or PIPA, which is now pending before the full Senate. |
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這場抗議行動是針對簡稱「SOPA」之《終止線上盜版法案》所做的回應，是一項正在接受國會審議的建議立法案。參議院的一個委員會在五月通過一項類似的法案，稱為《保護智財權法案》，簡稱「PIPA」，現在即將交付參院大會表決。 |
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The controversy over SOPA and PIPA has turned into an all-out war between Hollywood and Silicon Valley. |
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Media companies have united in favor of the bills, while tech's power players are throwing their weight behind the opposition. |
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SOPA 與 PIPA 法案的爭議已然轉變為好萊塢與矽谷的全面大戰。媒體公司團結支持這些法案，科技業的領導者則是鼎力支持反對陣營。 |
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"Both SOPA and PIPA are threats not just to the U.S. economy, and not just to all the jobs that this sector creates, but if they had existed, Steve Huffman and I could have never founded Reddit," said Alexis Ohanian, who co-founded the site. |
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Millions visit Reddit to submit interesting links from Web sites, discuss them and vote on them, he said, calling it "sort of a democratic front page of the Web." |
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Reddit also went dark Wednesday morning and was back Thursday. |
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「SOPA 與 PIPA 不僅威脅美國經濟和這個部門創造的所有就業機會，而且這兩項法案如果早就存在，史蒂夫．霍夫曼和我絕對不可能創立雷迪特，」該網站的共同創辦人艾勒希斯．奧海尼安表示。他說，數百萬網友造訪雷迪特，把各個網站當中有趣的連結張貼在上面，互相討論並加以投票。他稱之為「網路上的一種民主頭版」。雷迪特也在週三上午關站，週四才再度開站。 |
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One member of Congress, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, who opposes the bills, said the unprecedented blackouts had "turned the tide against a backroom lobbying effort by interests that aren't used to being told no." |
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加州共和黨國會議員達雷爾．伊薩反對這些法案，指稱這些史無前例的關站行為「翻轉了情勢，使得一群不習於受到拒絕的利益團體所從事的密室遊說活動落居下風」。 |
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The protest seemed to change the minds of several lawmakers. |
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As of January 19, 101 U.S. lawmakers stated their opposition to SOPA and PIPA, compared to just 31 prior to the protest. |
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這場抗議行動似乎扭轉了若干議員的心意。截至一月十九日為止，共有一百零一位美國國會議員對 SOPA 與 PIPA 表達反對立場。在抗議行動之前，表態反對的議員只有三十一位。 |
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