UPDATE: It looks like today’s efforts have been effective, if not successful, according to The New York Times‘ website this afternoon.

Some of you may have already attempted to access sites like Wikipedia or Craigslist this morning and noticed it’s not quite business as usual. They are a couple of the major sites that have chosen to participate in today’s Internet Blackout Day to protest the upcoming vote on Senate Bill 968: The Protect IP Act (known online as PIPA). Incidentally, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales happens to be an Alabama native (Huntsville to be exact).

If you’re visiting our site today, you’ll notice a black ribbon in the upper-right hand corner that will take you to a site that helps explain why this is all happening.

UPDATE: The folks at mental_floss did a great job of laying out what’s going on too.

You may want to take a moment and actually read the bills in question for yourself – both PIPA and SOPA (they’re in PDF format).

Take a look at how some of the more prominent voices (including Wales and Automattic founder Matt Mullenweg) in the ongoing debate over the bill said as part of a collection of op-eds published today on the BBC’s website. You may also take a look at ProPublica’s analysis showing where our local delegation stands on this issue.

For the record, in the Senate Sessions is supporting SOPA while Shelby is undecided. None of the members of Alabama’s House delegation have made their intentions known as of this time.

There is an alternative that is supported by many of the folks participating in the blackout today – the OPEN Act.