Wikipedia:Comunicato del 18 gennaio 2012/en
Accordingly to what defined in previous discussions, we express our solidarity to the initiatives of the English Wikipedia against the US Bills called Stop Online Piracy Act and PROTECT IP Act.
We share the English Wikipedians' concerns about the threat that the approval of such bills would imply for the freedom of the Web, and specifically for the freedom of Wikipedia. We wish to add our voice to those asking for a Web free from limitations and censorship.
As users of a Project based on the open license CC-by-sa, we recognize the importance of respecting Copyrights and of preserving the intellectual property, and we definitely acknowledge that copyright holders have good reasons to pursue the defense of these rights. Wikipedia does not admit web piracy, and does not justify it in any ways. We spend a great amount of our work and of our time, as volunteers, to identify and remove copyright infringements from the Encyclopedia.
But we ask for laws and tools for fighting online piracy which are fair and rightful, and respectful of the work and of the existence of all those associations operating for the production of open, free and shareable cultural contents. We believe, as stated by the Wikimedia Foundation, Creative Commons, Electronic Frontier Foundation and by many other associations operating for a free and OpenContent Web, that SOPA and PIPA would introduce unacceptable limitations for the freedom of the web; limitations which, far from being useful against piracy, could make it impossible for us to continue our work: the creation of a free content Encyclopedia, a source of cultural richness accessible and shareable by everyone.
Wikipedia is based on the principle of the Neutral Point of View: it is not politically aligned and does not have the intent - nor the right - to interfere in the decisions of the democratically-elected Governments of Countries around the world. But Wikipedia claims its own right in protecting itself, if threatened by laws or bills which could compromise its own principles or existence.
Thus, in accordance with the conclusions reported in the final summary of the discussions on the English Wikipedia, and in the official declarations of Wikimedia Foundation, we decided to join en.Wikipedia's protest with the banner currently visible in the header of the website. We believe that this is the best way to express our support and our solidarity to our fellows of the English Wikipedia, and to give voice to our own dissent, joining our voices to theirs for a louder request to the Members of US House of Representatives and Senate, now called to vote on SOPA and PIPA.
The users of the Italian Wikipedia.