Protect yourself online with these services. Reclaim your data from the big media companies.
The irony is I’m sharing this on Tumblr.
Credit: http://projectmeshnet.org/
ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, is just as big a threat to the internet as SOPA and PIPA are. However, this time it’s a little closer to home because every fucking government is on top of this, with the likes of Japan and America already signing the enforcement. This needs attention.
Information on the treaty: Click!
The douches involved: Click!
The countries and supporting groups involved: Click!
The ePetition to get our opinion on the matter discussed in parliament: Click!One of the many reason politicians suck.
SOPA and PIPA have NOT been abandoned.
There are posts like these going around claiming that SOPA and PIPA have been abandoned. This is MISINFORMATION. Had the original poster and the 3,000-something people who reblogged the post actually bothered to check the linked article, they would have discovered that it was about how both bills have lost sponsors.
This is good news, but each bill started out today with around 30-40 sponsors each, so while a couple striking away their support is great, THIS DOESN’T MEAN THE BILL IS TOAST. There is still work to be done.
And honestly? Check to make sure these kind of posts have correct information before you reblog them. This is the internet - you need to take every ‘fact’ you read with a grain of salt. Stuff like this is incredibly harmful to our fight to defeat these bills. And spreading stuff like that is incredibly irresponsible.
Seriously I think this is the eighth time I’ve had to make a post like this. Why is taking two seconds to check the information so hard? I mean really.If everyone could reblog this or a post like it to get it to those already affected by said misinformation that would be great.
FUCK
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has looked at tomorrow’s “Internet blackout” in opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)—and it sees only a “gimmick,” a “stunt,” “hyperbole,” “a dangerous and troubling development,” an “irresponsible response,” and an “abuse of power.”
“Wikipedia, reddit, and others are going dark to protest the legislation, while sites like Scribd and Google will also protest. In response, MPAA chief Chris Dodd wheeled out the big guns and started firing the rhetoric machine-gun style.
“Only days after the White House and chief sponsors of the legislation responded to the major concern expressed by opponents and then called for all parties to work cooperatively together, some technology business interests are resorting to stunts that punish their users or turn them into their corporate pawns, rather than coming to the table to find solutions to a problem that all now seem to agree is very real and damaging.”
Can I interrupt for a moment? Thanks. When you complain that opponents didn’t “come to the table to find solutions”, do you mean that we didn’t give NINETY-FOUR MILLION DOLLARS to congress like the MPAA? Or do you mean that we didn’t come to the one hearing that Lamar Smith held, where opponents of SOPA were refused an opportunity to comment? Help me out, here, Chris Dodd, because I’m really trying hard to understand you.
“It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information and use their services. It is also an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today. It’s a dangerous and troubling development when the platforms that serve as gateways to information intentionally skew the facts to incite their users in order to further their corporate interests.”
Oh ha ha. Ho. Ho. The MPAA talking about “skewing the facts to incite” anyone is just too much.
“A so-called “blackout” is yet another gimmick, albeit a dangerous one, designed to punish elected and administration officials who are working diligently to protect American jobs from foreign criminals.”
Except for the part where this is completely false, it’s a valid point.
“It is our hope that the White House and the Congress will call on those who intend to stage this “blackout” to stop the hyperbole and PR stunts and engage in meaningful efforts to combat piracy.”
Riiiiiiight. Protesting to raise awareness of terrible legislation that will destroy the free and open Internet is an abuse of power, but buying NINETY-FOUR MILLION DOLLARS worth of congressional votes is just fine.
I’m so disappointed in Chris Dodd. He was a pretty good senator, wrote some bills (like Dodd/Frank) that are genuinely helping people, and is going to be on the wrong side of every argument as head of the MPAA. What a wasted legacy.
SOPA strike
Tomorrow SisterClaire.com will be offline from 8am to 8pm EST as part of the SOPA strike.
On Jan 24th, Congress will vote to pass internet censorship in the Senate, even though the vast majority of Americans are opposed. We need to kill the bill - PIPA in the Senate and SOPA in the House - to protect our rights to free speech, privacy, and prosperity. We need internet companies to follow Reddit’s lead and stand up for the web, as we internet users are doing every day.
January 18th, 2012 is the largest internet protest in history, to stop the internet censorship bills, SOPA & PIPA. Join in by blacking out your site and urging everyone you can reach to contact Congress now.
Please take some time to watch this! STOP SOPA! >:(
REBLOG AND SPREAD THE MESSAGE!
Am afraid one day Tumblr will be gone just like YouTube and other sites. (TAT;)
This very, very, very important and you should all watch, and reblog, and inform everyone about this, please, this is not just about the US, but the whole world too.
PLEASE DON’T SCROLL PAST THIS
IT’S KIND OF REALLY IMPORTANT
IT’S KIND OF REALLY FUCKING IMPORTANT
Reblogging again for great justice
Oh my god. Seriously? People, watch this.
SOPA is on the Senate floor RIGHT NOW
When PIPA reared its ugly head, I, along with countless American denizens of the web, wrote an appeal to my representatives to reject it. If you value net neutrality, it’s time to write and call your representatives again.
Like PIPA (Protect IP Act), SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) is a vaguely written bill that poses a much greater threat to individuals, artists, small businesses, and tech entrepreneurs than to the actual perpetrators of online piracy. It would, in perhaps oversimplified terms, enable corporations and ISPs to control what websites we can and cannot visit based on perceived threats or shortcomings they present under a piece of legislature that is simply too broad, and was written without sufficient expert consultation. Although amendments are being proposed to diffuse some of this oversight, they are only serving to convolute and destabilize a bill whose foundation is poorly constructed.
You can follow the debate live as it takes place at http://keepthewebopen.com/sopa. For those who don’t want to wade through pages of convoluted legislative language or listen to politicians bullshit each other, this article covers some of the basics as well as the sort of collateral damage they would cause and why they are ineffective, and this article approaches the issue from a free speech vs copyright perspective.
However you decide to educate yourself on the matter, please consider raising your concerns directly with your representatives. Regardless of how likely or unlikely it is to pass, they need to hear from us, and they need to know that such propositions are unacceptable.
This is a monumentally important issue that requires your action if you value all that the internet has to offer. In particular, if you want artists and creators who make their livelihood online (like me) to continue to function in a free, uncensored environment, please write to your representative. This is not a time for apathy.
