A new year is about to begin and protests against the Stop Online Piracy Act are being organized.

Amazon.com has joined with Google, eBay, Paypal, Twitter, Facebook, Wikipedia, Bloomberg and numerous other companies and individuals in founding NetCoalition, an organization dedicated to opposing SOPA. And there have been numerous media accounts about the possibility of self imposed black-outs by NetCoalition members.

According to Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales, a similar protest by the Italian version of Wikipedia had been successful in thwarting an Italian law that would have limited editorial independence. But it appears that this protest may be limited according to Wales :

“My own view is that a community strike was very powerful and successful in Italy and could be even more powerful in this case. There are obviously many questions about whether the strike should be geotargeted (U.S.-only), etc.”

If these protests are geotargeted Canadians will be able to access the sites, as usual. But Wales claims that a blackout of the English version of Wikipedia is being considered :

“One possible view is that because the law would seriously impact the functioning of Wikipedia for everyone, a global strike of at least the English Wikipedia would put the maximum pressure on the US government.”

The date of this protest has yet been published but several media outlets and blogs speculate that it may be scheduled for the 24th of January, when the United States Senate vote on the Protect IP Act.