Italian Wikipedia shutdown till Thursday (2)

(ANSA) - Rome, July 3 - The shutdown of the Italian version of Wikipedia in protest at the new European Union copyright directive will probably run until Thursday, a spokesperson for the group that runs the online encyclopedia said Tuesday.
    "My impression is that the protest will last until Thursday.
    Any longer would make no sense," Maurizio Codogno, the spokesperson of Wikimedia Italia, told ANSA.
    Wikipedia Italia has said the directive, which, among other things, proposes giving publishers the ability to request payment for the use of short bits of text, threatens the freedom of the Internet and could force it to close. Labour and Industry Minister and Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio, the leader of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), has said he is against the directive. "We welcomed the support of the government," said Codogno.
    "We hope that the M5S MEPs are in line with Di Maio (when the directive is voted on in the European Parliament on July 5)".