Standing up to the statists

From Rand Paul and Campaign For Liberty:

The one place that has been largely free of government control - the internet - is the statists’ latest target.

Dual bills, SOPA and Protect IP, are set for action in the U.S. House and Senate in the coming weeks.

As I write this, rumors are circulating that SOPA and Protect IP may be scrapped. But as we’ve seen countless times before, including with ObamaCare, the special interests will never stop fighting for more power at the expense of our freedoms. We need to turn the pressure up to make sure these bills are dead for good.

If you value the freedom of information the internet has provided, and, like me, you believe the internet is the best tool for getting our information out and organizing our movement, you must act now.

You know, it seems every day that our freedoms are under assault from Congress and the Obama Administration. More Patriot Act spying. Pushing Real ID. Indefinite detention of American citizens. The list is both staggering and frightening.

It is up to you and me to stand squarely against this Big Government powergrab over the internet.

I’ll do my part here in the Senate. I hope I can count on you.

Please take a careful look at the email below from my friend Matt Hawes, Vice President of Campaign for Liberty. He has some very important information and action items to protect your online freedom. Don’t put this letter aside. Our liberty is in jeopardy, and every American must rally to this cause.

In Liberty,


Senator Rand Paul

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope this letter makes it to you on time.

You see,

The government is certainly hoping you put this letter aside. Throw it in the trash. Assume I am exaggerating the threat they pose to your freedom.

Don't make that mistake.

What they don't want you to know is

Government censorship? Government control over what you can see, hear, and read online?

If they get their way, your news online could look a lot like the above. That's why it's vital you complete the UrgentGram to your representative and senators.

There isn't a moment to waste.

Right now, the same folks that brought you the so-called "Patriot" Act, indefinite detention of American citizens, and an unaccountable TSA and an invasive Department of Homeland Security are preparing to wage war on your freedom online.

The government is fully prepared to take unprecedented power over the internet unless you and I stop them today.

Two bills - SOPA (HR 3261) in the House and Protect IP (S 968) in the Senate - are being pushed by the Big Government leadership of both houses. Action on one or both bills could happen any day.

What is the government trying to do? Gain a foothold in the last truly free place on earth - the internet. It's no secret that websites, social media, and other online communities are a hotbed of anti-government, powerful activism.

From cafes in Cairo to bloggers in Beijing, those living under oppressive regimes organize, spread information, and fight for their freedom with their words and deeds online.

And here at home, from anti-war activists to homeschoolers, anti-tax proponents to civil libertarians, Patriots fight for their freedom online. In addition, these actions by the government will harm the one place where capitalism and the free market are most flourishing.

Entrepreneurship and small business creation are at an all-time high online. An idea and a lot of hard work can launch anything from a good side business to a worldwide enterprise online.

Minimal startup costs. Fewer regulatory hurdles. Lower tax burdens. All of these factors contribute to a thriving online economy - and one that would be directly and massively harmed by SOPA and Protect IP (which should really be called Destroy IP).

The bills give the government the power to put someone out of business for even minor copyright violations. In fact, as originally drafted, these bills give the government the power to shut down websites on even a private allegation of a violation. No investigation. No charges. No trial. No jury. No verdict. Entire websites could be shut down for inadvertent violations, malicious attacks, or a made-up claim.

Campaign for Liberty could be shut down virtually overnight if someone - say a Federal Reserve official - claimed a YouTube video we promoted was a "copyright violation.

You don't need to think very hard to imagine what a hostile government agent or bureaucrat could do with this power. Our economy AND our freedom are threatened in one massive takeover.

SOPA and PIPA purport to give the government the power to shut down websites and disable search engines in the name of stopping "piracy.

Right. And they say they are only spying on foreign terrorists. Nothing for us law-abiding Americans to worry about.

But let's be honest…

If the government takes the power to regulate the internet and shut down information, no matter what the stated reason, you and I cannot control what they do with that power.

Has the government EVER taken a power it didn't use to stifle freedom? To paraphrase Madison, we are not governed by angels. That's why you and I must act today.

I hope you will take a minute to complete your UrgentGram I have prepared for you.

I hope to deliver yours - along with hundreds of thousands like it - in the coming days.

There is only one hope to defeat SOPA and Protect IP, and that is a massive public outcry and the spotlight of public attention, coupled with strong action in Congress by friends of liberty like Senator Rand Paul.

Already, public reaction has slowed the statists' plans, and proponents of these takeovers are desperate to quickly stop the bleeding. That's why they are trying to speed their power grabs through Congress.

And please, don't be fooled by the bill's authors claiming to have "fixed" SOPA to better protect online freedom. Any claim that SOPA or Protect IP can be fixed is FALSE and should be ignored.

There is no fixing these bills - only killing them. And that's exactly what Campaign for Liberty will do with your help today.

Our team has put together a three-part plan to defeat Protect IP and SOPA:
*** Massive web action: Since the most affected people would be those who work or get most of their news online, Campaign for Liberty will target online sites and communities with web ads, Google ads, banners, and emails. Our goal is to contact at least TEN MILLION people in the coming weeks - a huge undertaking.

*** Targeted media: Our staff will blanket the internet and the airwaves, the blogs and newspapers, as we sound the alarm nationwide!

*** If funds allow, we will launch tv and radio ads as well, alerting talk radio listeners and news viewers of the dangers of SOPA and Protect IP.
This undertaking must be done quickly, and it will not be cheap. That's why, in addition to your completed UrgentGram, I am counting on you to make a contribution to Campaign for Liberty today.

Please chip in a contribution of $50, $25, $10 - or whatever you can afford. Whatever you can do, right now, will have a big impact.

What is your freedom worth to you? I know you are a Patriot who has rallied to our cause many times before. Please stand with us again at this crucial time.

As Senator Paul noted, it's up to us to fight this Big Government power grab. That's why he is leading the fight in the Senate. Campaign for Liberty will have his back by leading a grassroots army.

Thank you for all you do in our fight for Liberty!

In Liberty,

Matt Hawes
Vice President

P.S.

If you don't want the internet to look like this(blackedout), it is vital you act right away. Please complete your UrgentGram to help C4L stop SOPA and Protect IP in their tracks today!

Fight internet censorship by clicking here

This is great,we have a friend in the Senate. Rand Paul can count on me. Can he count on you? Say "no" to the statists by signing today.

SOPA and PIPA postponed

You prevented this

From Demand Progress:

Wow. We just won.

From the Associated Press:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he was postponing a test vote set for Tuesday "in light of recent events."

So, in other words, because of all of us. Absolutely amazing.

Demand Progress has been fighting this legislation for more than a year -- having grown from nothing to over one million members during that period.

Even the Motion Picture Association's Chris Dodd is awed by what just happened. Here's what he said yesterday:

"This is altogether a new effect,” Mr. Dodd said, comparing the online movement to the Arab Spring. He could not remember seeing “an effort that was moving with this degree of support change this dramatically” in the last four decades, he added.

Thanks so much for your work on this. You're amazing.

-Demand Progress

This protest was huge and it made history. I'm sure Dodd has seen a lot of things in Congress but this just awed him. That is the power of the net,it is the great equalizer.

Here is what Fight For The Future had to say:

Hi everyone!

A big hurrah to you!!!!! We’ve won for now -- SOPA and PIPA were dropped by Congress today -- the votes we’ve been scrambling to mobilize against have been cancelled.

The largest online protest in history has fundamentally changed the game. You were heard.

On January 18th, 13 million of us took the time to tell Congress to protect free speech rights on the internet. Hundreds of millions, maybe a billion, people all around the world saw what we did on Wednesday. See the amazing numbers here and tell everyone what you did.

This was unprecedented. Your activism may have changed the way people fight for the public interest and basic rights forever.

The MPAA (the lobby for big movie studios which created these terrible bills) was shocked and seemingly humbled. “‘This was a whole new different game all of a sudden,’ MPAA Chairman and former Senator Chris Dodd told the New York Times. ‘[PIPA and SOPA were] considered by many to be a slam dunk.’”

“'This is altogether a new effect,' Mr. Dodd said, comparing the online movement to the Arab Spring. He could not remember seeing 'an effort that was moving with this degree of support change this dramatically' in the last four decades, he added."

Tweet with us, shout on the internet with us, let's celebrate: Round of applause to the 13 million people who stood up - #PIPA and #SOPA are tabled 4 now. #13millionapplause

We're indebted to everyone who helped in the beginning of this movement -- you, and all the sites that went out on a limb to protest in November -- Boing Boing and Mozilla Foundation (and thank you Tumblr, 4chan)! And the grassroots groups -- Public Knowledge, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Demand Progress, CDT, and many more.

#SOPA and #PIPA will likely return in some form. But when they do, we'll be ready.

We changed the game this fall, and we're not gonna stop.13 million strong,

Tiffiniy, Holmes, Joshua, Phil, CJ, Donny, Douglas, Nicholas, Dean, David S. and Moore... Fight for the Future!

P.S. China's internet censorship system reminds us why the fight for democratic principles is so important:

In the New Yorker: "Fittingly, perhaps, the discussion has unfolded on Weibo, the Twitter-like micro-blogging site that has a team of censors on staff to trim posts with sensitive political content. That is the arrangement that opponents of the bill have suggested would be required of American sites if they are compelled to police their users’ content for copyright violations. On Weibo, joking about SOPA’s similarities to Chinese censorship was sensitive enough that some posts on the subject were almost certainly deleted (though it can be hard to know).
...
After Chinese Web users got over the strangeness of hearing Americans debate the merits of screening the Web for objectionable content, they marvelled at the American response. Commentator Liu Qingyan wrote:

‘We should learn something from the way these American Internet companies protested against SOPA and PIPA. A free and democratic society depends on every one of us caring about politics and fighting for our rights. We will not achieve it by avoiding talk about politics.’"

press release is here

Like I said,way to go everybody. We did it.

We've made progress

We've made progress but there is much work to be done. We've let them know how we feel about SOPA and PIPA and that these two bills are exetremely unpopular.

I received email from the following:

From Demand Progress:

One last email -- and this one's easy:

Today has been amazing, but there's one thing that could completely stop SOPA and PIPA in their tracks:

President Obama has expressed concerns about the bills, but hasn't pledged to veto them.

Please click here to urge President Obama to promise to veto SOPA and PIPA.

There's enough opposition to these bills now that even if they pass, the won't be able to overcome a veto.

A promise to veto the bills will force opponents into a full retreat, and be the perfect way to cap off this week's protests.

We'd be able to declare a victory for the Net, free speech, and democracy.

Please click on the above link to urge President Obama to promise to veto SOPA and PIPA.

Thank you! It's extraordinary: After more than a year of fighting, we're on the verge of winning this thing.

From Fight For The Future:

Today was nuts, right?

Google launched a petition. Wikipedia voted to shut itself off. Senators' websites went down just from the sheer surge of voters trying to write them. NYC and SF geeks had protests that packed city blocks.

You made history today: nothing like this has ever happened before. Tech companies and users teamed up. Tens of millions of people who make the internet what it is joined together to defend their freedoms. The free network defended itself. Whatever you call it, the bottom line is clear: from today forward, it will be much harder to mess up the internet.

The really crazy part? We might even win.

Approaching Monday's crucial Senate vote there are now 35 Senators publicly opposing PIPA. Last week there were 5. And it just takes just 41 solid "no" votes to permanently stall PIPA (and SOPA) in the Senate. What seemed like miles away a few weeks ago is now within reach.

But don't trust predictions. The forces behind SOPA & PIPA (mostly movie companies) can make small changes to these bills until they know they have the votes to pass. Members of Congress know SOPA & PIPA are unpopular, but they don't understand why--so they're easily duped by superficial changes. The Senate returns next week, and the next few days are critical. Here are two things to think about:

1. Plan on calling your Senator every day next week. Pick up the phone each morning and call your Senators' offices, until they vote "no" on cloture. If your site participated today, consider running a "Call the Senate" link all next week.

2. Tomorrow, drop in at your Senators' district offices. We don't have a cool map widget to show you the offices nearest you (we're too exhausted! any takers?). So do it the old fashioned way: use Google, or the phonebook to find the address, and just walk in, say you oppose PIPA, and urge the Senator to vote "no" on cloture. These drop-in visits make our spectacular online protests more tangible and credible.

That's it for now. Be proud and stay on it!

--Holmes, Tiffiniy, and the whole Fight for the Future team.

___

P.S. Huge credit goes to participants in the 11/16 American Censorship Day protest: Mozilla, 4chan, BoingBoing, Tumblr, TGWTG, and thousands of others. That's what got this ball rolling! Reddit, both the community and the team behind it, you're amazing. And of course, thanks to the Wikimedians whose patient and inexorable pursuit of the right answer brought them to take world-changing action. Thanks to David S, David K, Cory D, and E Stark for bold action at critical times.

P.P.S. If you haven't already, show this video to as many people as you can. It works! click here


Senate contact info:click here

This is great,even Obama is on our side. This is indeed good news but we must keep it up if we are to prevail. Contact President Obama and your senators and let them know how disgusted you find censorship and that it has no business in a free society. Do so right away,because the rights you save may be your own.

Defeat internet censorship

From Fight For The Future:

Tomorrow, January 18th, 2012, will be the largest internet protest in history. Thousands of sites across the internet, including some of the biggest in the world, will be blacking out and directing people to contact Congress to kill the web censorship bill, SOPA and PIPA. We want to get you involved.

Join us on the historic day by blacking out your site. Copy the code below and paste it into the header of your theme (Wordpress users: use the SOPA Strike plugin) to black your site out in protest of SOPA/PIPA. It will activate automatically on Jan. 18th, displaying this page and directing visitors to contact Congress, and will deactivate at the end of the day.



In just 7 days, the Senate will vote on forever altering the free and open internet by instituting a new regime of extra-judicial, corporate-led website takedowns. This is a fundamental fight about who has power in society -- the people with the means to communicate freely or the governments and corporations that feel threatened.

For the full state of play on the censorship bills, take a look at this infographic we've put together. Click here. The clock is ticking, and we're still 35 senators short of the number we need to kill the bill.

From Demand Progress:

SOPA and PIPA are on the ropes, but it's time to throw a knockout punch.

As the web prepares for the biggest protest in its history, we're launching a new campaign at VoteForTheNet.com click here.

Will you sign our pledge to work against candidates who support Internet censorship? Just click above.

VoteForTheNet.com will serve as a hub for electoral activism against SOPA and PIPA, and in support of a free Internet.

Politicians need to understand that they'll feel heat from the voters if they stand against a free Internet and freedom of expression.

Click on the above link to pledge to work against candidates who support Internet censorship.

And please help spread the word by linking back to VoteForTheNet.com and using these links to share it with your friends.

I'm going to be observing this blackout. If the script doesn't work then this blog will be read-only until Thursday Jan. 19. If it does or doesn't work let Congress know that censorship won't be tolerated in a free society.

Fathers 4 Justice protest