A number of websites went dark Wednesday, including Wikipedia, Reddit and BoingBoing, in protest of the Stop Online Privacy Act. Those opposed to the act say it could lead to increased government censorship, or even the closure of important websites.

It was a bold test. Even an inconvenient one. For starters, the blackout made it a little trickier to acquire information as fast as usual. But, for journalists especially, it shed light on the true meaning of "free speech" and how it is not as safeguarded as many assume.    

In particular, the Public Campaign's blackout of its website put the whole situation into perspective. Shortly after releasing a compelling press release, chocked full of revealing Fortune 500 company numbers, the organization blocked access to that release, and everything else on its site. 

Proclaiming itself "Of, By, And For The People," the Public Campaign went dark in solidarity today, joining other sites in their fight against SOPA.

A report, compiled by third parties and published by Public Campaign.org in December, highlighted 30 Fortune 500 companies that have spent millions on lobbying and politicians' campaigns while quietly collecting tax breaks. 

There's a lot of numbers, and a lot of information to digest, but here's the basic gist: rich people are getting richer and they're influencing the government too.

According to its findings, the 30 companies made a total of $164 billion in the last three years, receiving a combined tax rebate of nearly $11 billion.

Though the rebates may have been a means to create more jobs, seven of the companies reported layoffs.

General Electric, the company that contributed the most in lobbying — $84 million over three years — also made over 4,000 layoffs. It received more than $4 million in tax refunds.

There was also a bank in the report that may interest the occupiers and 99 percent: Wells Fargo.

Between 2008 and 2010, the compensation for Wells Fargo executives grew from over $17 billion to nearly $50 billion, a 167 percent increase. Yet, according to CBS News in 2009, Wells Fargo was given a $25-billion bailout by the government.

As for politics, candidates need to get those endorsements from somewhere. Why not from multi-billion dollar companies that also happen to be getting tax breaks? Seems logical. From lobbying to campaign donations, the same Fortune 500 companies in the report are a part of it all.

The 30 companies contributed a combined $22.5 million to campaigns over the course of three years. The biggest contributors were defense contractors: Honeywell International with $5 million and Boeing with $4 million.

Freedom of speech may have been quieted on Wednesday, but, with the statement Public Campaign and other websites made, the public's right to know should only grow stronger.