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If you had to settle an office dispute this morning or fact-check a presentation, chances are you'll have attempted to log on to Wikipedia. But after a split second of thinking you've found your answer you'll be directed to a blacked out screen.

That's because the English language version of the free encyclopaedia is one of a number of websites - also including blogging tool WordPress - going offline today in protest at a pair ofÌýanti-piracy bills being considered by the US Congress.

Referred to as 'Sopa' and 'Pipa', the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect Intellectual Property Act could see content owners given powers to request sites associated with piracy be closed down and removed from search engine results. While supporters deem it a necessary crackdown on rogue sites, critics are worried that the bill would severely impact web freedom.

Although Wikipedia has joined the blackout, there are still a number of ways to access the site's content. Smartphones and tablets won't be affected and you can also go to the site's 'cached' pages – the versions of the page that search engines save so they can analyse them. Just look for the word 'cached' on your search engine results page and click on that instead of the main link. This will take you toÌýa slightly olderÌýversion of the page.

Of course if you’re multilingual you could acquaint yourself with its non-English language sites – or even copy and paste the text into a translating webpage like Google Translate or Yahoo Babel Fish to get a rough interpretation.

Just because one big site is taking a break, it doesn't mean the internet's falling apart! There are still many other ways of getting the information you need online. A simple search will return thousands of pages, so although you might not get all your answers from just one source, the blackout could be a great opportunity to discover and bookmark other informative websites.

Whatever the outcome of the bill, it's another reminder of how, through the web, the world really is getting smaller. What 50 years ago would have been a local issue now, in the internet age, has a huge global impact.

For a more detailed explanation of Sopa and Pipa, check the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ News site.

Hajar is a regular contributor to the WebWise blog and has also made award-winning programmes for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio. In her spare time she loves reading, writing and singing.