CISPA Is Up For Vote This Week: Help Kill It Now
We're making a big difference: As lawmakers get ready to vote on CISPA, the bill's sponsors have agreed to amend the legislation to constrain what the government can do with the information it uses CISPA to collect.
But those changes don't go far enough.
We need lawmakers to support any and all amendments that would protect Internet users' privacy AND to vote against CISPA as a whole.
We're nearly out of time: Please add your name at right to email your lawmakers right away.
CISPA would obliterate any semblance of online privacy in the United States. You can read more about it here.
Many lawmakers share our concerns about CISPA and will introduce amendments to minimize its negative impact on ordinary Internet users. We need to get their backs and encourage others to support their efforts.
Click here to sign petition.
Obama Threatens To Veto CISPA: Encourage Him To Stand Strong
This is HUGE: President Obama just threatened to veto CISPA if it makes its way through Congress.
Please add your name at right to urge Obama to stand strong, and to let your lawmakers know that you support Obama's veto threat.
CISPA is up for a vote this week. It would obliterate any semblance of online privacy in the United States, giving the government -- including the military -- broad new powers to spy on Internet users.
The White House's letter expresses precisely the concerns that we've been highlighting over recent weeks -- and is a result of the public pressure against CISPA:
The White House says that any cybersecurity legislation must preserve "Americans' privacy, data confidentiality, and civil liberties and [recognize] the civilian nature of cyberspace."
It says that, "The bill also lacks sufficient limitations on the sharing of personally identifiable information between private entities and does not contain adequate oversight or accountability measures necessary to ensure that the data is used only for appropriate purposes."
And the letter goes on to assert that:
The American people expect their Government to enhance security without undermining their privacy and civil liberties.
Without clear legal protections and independent oversight, information sharing legislation will undermine the public's trust in the Government as well as in the Internet by undermining fundamental privacy, confidentiality, civil liberties, and consumer protections.
Click here to sign the petition.
Obama didn't have a record to run on before now he can run as the anti-CISPA candidate.
I guess with Obama's help we can beat this thing so let's send those emails.
Showing posts with label standing up for civil liberties. Show all posts
Showing posts with label standing up for civil liberties. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
CISPA,the new SOPA
From Demand Progress:
Here's their next move: The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, or CISPA, would obliterate any semblance of online privacy in the United States.
And CISPA would provide a victory for content owners who were shell-shocked by the unprecedented outpouring of activism in opposition to SOPA and Internet censorship.
The House of Representatives is planning to take up CISPA later this month. Click here to ask your lawmakers to oppose it.
SOPA was pushed as a remedy to the supposed economic threat of online piracy -- but economic fear-mongering didn't quite do the trick.
So those concerned about copyright are engaging in sleight of hand, appending their legislation to a bill that most Americans will assume is about keeping them safe from bad guys.
This so-called cyber security bill aims to prevent theft of "government information" and "intellectual property" and could let ISPs block your access to websites -- or the whole Internet.
Don't let them push this back-door SOPA. Click here to demand that your lawmakers oppose CISPA.
CISPA also encourages companies to share information about you with the government and other corporations.
That data could then be used for just about anything -- from prosecuting crimes to ad placements.
And perhaps worst of all, CISPA supercedes all other online privacy protections.
Please click here to urge your lawmakers to oppose CISPA when it comes up for a vote this month.
Thanks for fighting for the Internet.
Sign the petition here
and this:
Demand Progress members have been bombarding Congress in opposition to CISPA, with nearly 60,000 emails sent in the last 24 hours.
We need to make sure our lawmakers know that we won't stop fighting for privacy rights and Internet freedom.
Fine,let's add to it. It is our internet too and we want to preserve its freedom. By preserving its freedom we are preserving our freedom particularly our freedom of speech. If you haven't sign the petition to preserve free speech you may want to do so.
Here's their next move: The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, or CISPA, would obliterate any semblance of online privacy in the United States.
And CISPA would provide a victory for content owners who were shell-shocked by the unprecedented outpouring of activism in opposition to SOPA and Internet censorship.
The House of Representatives is planning to take up CISPA later this month. Click here to ask your lawmakers to oppose it.
SOPA was pushed as a remedy to the supposed economic threat of online piracy -- but economic fear-mongering didn't quite do the trick.
So those concerned about copyright are engaging in sleight of hand, appending their legislation to a bill that most Americans will assume is about keeping them safe from bad guys.
This so-called cyber security bill aims to prevent theft of "government information" and "intellectual property" and could let ISPs block your access to websites -- or the whole Internet.
Don't let them push this back-door SOPA. Click here to demand that your lawmakers oppose CISPA.
CISPA also encourages companies to share information about you with the government and other corporations.
That data could then be used for just about anything -- from prosecuting crimes to ad placements.
And perhaps worst of all, CISPA supercedes all other online privacy protections.
Please click here to urge your lawmakers to oppose CISPA when it comes up for a vote this month.
Thanks for fighting for the Internet.
Sign the petition here
and this:
Demand Progress members have been bombarding Congress in opposition to CISPA, with nearly 60,000 emails sent in the last 24 hours.
We need to make sure our lawmakers know that we won't stop fighting for privacy rights and Internet freedom.
Fine,let's add to it. It is our internet too and we want to preserve its freedom. By preserving its freedom we are preserving our freedom particularly our freedom of speech. If you haven't sign the petition to preserve free speech you may want to do so.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Fight for the future by opposing internet censorship today
From Fight For The Future:
Can you believe this? After the largest online protest in history, the Obama administration is still voicing support for SOPA.
We promised to ask for your help if SOPA returned. We're asking now. This kind of backtracking demands a strong, fast response. We're running a petition to demand that Obama drop all support for internet censorship. Our goal? Get more signatures than the top petition on whitehouse.gov -- 151,000 signatures. Tell Obama to promise: "I will never advance legislation that blocks websites or disconnects Americans’ internet access.”
What is the White House working on exactly? Just the other day, the administration sent a letter to Congress to demonstrate their support for new internet censorship legislation. A few weeks ago, the White House struck a deal to give corporations private powers to shut down your internet connection (after "six strikes" without due process or judicial review), completely in secret.
Obama's internet would let private companies block sites and turn off our web connections. Blocking websites censors free speech, hurts jobs, and breaks the internet. These are tactics used by totalitarian governments and we believe they’re never ok. Let's get more signatures than any petition on whitehouse.gov.
As Wired noted*, "The White House did say that it wouldn't endorse a bill that endangers freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risks, or negatively affects the DNS system. On the other hand, it says elsewhere that "combating online infringement" -- not protecting free speech -- is a governmental priority "of the highest order." What about free speech, Obama?
Sign the petition now, then share it to keep the internet strong. Our friends need to know where the President is currently standing on SOPA.
We couldn't have stopped SOPA and PIPA without you and all of your friends! And we can't do it without you now. Let's make sure SOPA 2.0 never gets written. Thank you,
Tiffiniy, Zak, Fight for the Future!
click here to sign the petition.
The Hollywood lobby sure knows how to make everyday people from all walks of life hate them. Free speech advocates,such as myself,need to keep them honest and the best way to do that is with an uncensored internet. An uncensored internet is a threat to the PTB and they know it. To preserve freedom I will sign a lot of petitions so one more won't hurt. Sign today.
Can you believe this? After the largest online protest in history, the Obama administration is still voicing support for SOPA.
We promised to ask for your help if SOPA returned. We're asking now. This kind of backtracking demands a strong, fast response. We're running a petition to demand that Obama drop all support for internet censorship. Our goal? Get more signatures than the top petition on whitehouse.gov -- 151,000 signatures. Tell Obama to promise: "I will never advance legislation that blocks websites or disconnects Americans’ internet access.”
What is the White House working on exactly? Just the other day, the administration sent a letter to Congress to demonstrate their support for new internet censorship legislation. A few weeks ago, the White House struck a deal to give corporations private powers to shut down your internet connection (after "six strikes" without due process or judicial review), completely in secret.
Obama's internet would let private companies block sites and turn off our web connections. Blocking websites censors free speech, hurts jobs, and breaks the internet. These are tactics used by totalitarian governments and we believe they’re never ok. Let's get more signatures than any petition on whitehouse.gov.
As Wired noted*, "The White House did say that it wouldn't endorse a bill that endangers freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risks, or negatively affects the DNS system. On the other hand, it says elsewhere that "combating online infringement" -- not protecting free speech -- is a governmental priority "of the highest order." What about free speech, Obama?
Sign the petition now, then share it to keep the internet strong. Our friends need to know where the President is currently standing on SOPA.
We couldn't have stopped SOPA and PIPA without you and all of your friends! And we can't do it without you now. Let's make sure SOPA 2.0 never gets written. Thank you,
Tiffiniy, Zak, Fight for the Future!
click here to sign the petition.
The Hollywood lobby sure knows how to make everyday people from all walks of life hate them. Free speech advocates,such as myself,need to keep them honest and the best way to do that is with an uncensored internet. An uncensored internet is a threat to the PTB and they know it. To preserve freedom I will sign a lot of petitions so one more won't hurt. Sign today.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Defeat the McCain bill
From Demand Progress:
Privacy Nightmare: McCain Bill Could Have Military Monitor The Internet
The message still hasn't sunk in. Congress is proposing yet another law to monitor your activities on the Internet -- Here's the ACLU's take on John McCain's new cybersecurity bill:
"This is a privacy nightmare that will eventually result in the military substantially monitoring the domestic, civilian Internet."
Will you fight back against McCain's legislation by adding your name at right?
As Reuters notes, the "types of information that could be shared are broad, and the data would go to 'cybersecurity centers' that specifically include the National Security Agency's Threat Operations Center and the U.S. Cyber Command Joint Operations Center."
We have a key opportunity to help steer this debate away from McCain's inanity and towards a more reasonable alternative.
Just sign up at right to email your lawmakers in opposition to McCain's bill.
Here's some more background from Reuters.
Source:click here
If you think that another internet snooping bill is bullshit then sign the petition. Congress seems to be on a quest to see who can get away with trampling our freedoms and now McCain is taking a shot. Does McCain know what it's like to be Sopa'd? Let's show him how it feels. Sign the petition today.
Privacy Nightmare: McCain Bill Could Have Military Monitor The Internet
The message still hasn't sunk in. Congress is proposing yet another law to monitor your activities on the Internet -- Here's the ACLU's take on John McCain's new cybersecurity bill:
"This is a privacy nightmare that will eventually result in the military substantially monitoring the domestic, civilian Internet."
Will you fight back against McCain's legislation by adding your name at right?
As Reuters notes, the "types of information that could be shared are broad, and the data would go to 'cybersecurity centers' that specifically include the National Security Agency's Threat Operations Center and the U.S. Cyber Command Joint Operations Center."
We have a key opportunity to help steer this debate away from McCain's inanity and towards a more reasonable alternative.
Just sign up at right to email your lawmakers in opposition to McCain's bill.
Here's some more background from Reuters.
Source:click here
If you think that another internet snooping bill is bullshit then sign the petition. Congress seems to be on a quest to see who can get away with trampling our freedoms and now McCain is taking a shot. Does McCain know what it's like to be Sopa'd? Let's show him how it feels. Sign the petition today.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
European versions of SOPA and PIPA:from backrooms to street protests
From Fight For The Future:
Together, we beat SOPA in a huge victory for internet freedom. But this Saturday, internet freedom protests are breaking out in over 200 cities across Europe. Why?
Because the companies behind SOPA are using international trade agreements as a backdoor to pass SOPA-style laws
SOPA's supporters are pushing two agreements: ACTA and TPP1. ACTA would criminalize users, encourage internet providers to spy on you, and make it easier for media companies to sue sites out of existence and jail their founders. Sound familiar? That's right, ACTA is from the same playbook as SOPA, but global. Plus it didn't even have to pass through Congress2.
TPP goes even farther than ACTA, and the process has been even more secretive and corrupt. Last weekend (we wish this was a joke) trade negotiators partied with MPAA (pro-SOPA) lobbyists before secret negotiations in a Hollywood hotel, while public interest groups were barred from meeting in the same building.3
Trade agreements are a gaping loophole, a secretive backdoor track that--even though it creates new laws--is miles removed from democracy. Trade negotiators are unelected and unaccountable, so these agreements have been very hard for internet rights groups to stop.
But now the tide is turning. Fueled by the movement to stop SOPA, anti-ACTA protests are breaking out across the EU, which hasn't ratified ACTA. The protests are having an impact: leaders in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia have backtracked on ACTA.4 Now a massive round of street protests in over 200 cities is planned for this Saturday February 11th.
We're planning an online protest this Saturday to support the protests in the streets. Why? Because together we can drive millions of emails to key decision makers--and start tipping the scales like we did on SOPA.
Can you take part? Scroll down to get the code to run on your site!
We just built an ACTA & TPP contact tool, and it's not just a petition. It's code for your site that figures out the visitor's country and lets them email all their Members of European Parliament--the politicians who will be voting on ACTA in June--or the trade negotiators behind TPP. This direct contact between voters and their officials, driven by websites of all sizes, was instrumental in the fight against SOPA.
We can use the same tactics to defeat ACTA & TPP, but we need your help!
Support the street protests with a flood of emails to the officials responsible for ACTA & TPP. Get the code for your website!
Don't have a website? Tell officials in your country to scrap ACTA & TPP! And spread the word about Saturday's protests!
This is going to be tough fight. But we need to make secretive trade agreements harder to pass than US law. If we don't, our internet's future belongs to the lobbyists behind SOPA.
This is just the beginning,
--Holmes Wilson, Tiffiniy Cheng, Joshua Blount & the whole Fight for the Future team.
P.S. This map of ACTA street protests in Europe is amazing. The largest has almost 50,000 RSVP's!
Sources:
1. For more information on ACTA, read these excellent articles from Techdirt and La Quadrature du Net. For information on TPP, read this Ars Technica piece. For video, watch this.
2. Obama's signing of ACTA may have been unconstitutional. See Anti-counterfeiting agreement raises constitutional concerns and Techdirt.
3. Hollywood gets to party with TPP negotiators, public interest groups get thrown out of the hotel.
4. Ars Technica: Czech, Slovak governments backing away from ACTA, too.
To sign the petition:click here
Sounds good. Let's get the word out. It seems that we are dealing with underhanded individuals who will stoop to whatever level they think they have to just to steal freedoms from other adults. It's bad enough when the government alone tries this but when private enterprise plus government do it is unconscionable. When they act like a oligarchy tyranny then they need to be reined in. Protect you freedoms today,even if you're not in the EU please sign the petition otherwise this monstrosity may come to your country. Stop it before it does,sign the petition today.
Together, we beat SOPA in a huge victory for internet freedom. But this Saturday, internet freedom protests are breaking out in over 200 cities across Europe. Why?
Because the companies behind SOPA are using international trade agreements as a backdoor to pass SOPA-style laws
SOPA's supporters are pushing two agreements: ACTA and TPP1. ACTA would criminalize users, encourage internet providers to spy on you, and make it easier for media companies to sue sites out of existence and jail their founders. Sound familiar? That's right, ACTA is from the same playbook as SOPA, but global. Plus it didn't even have to pass through Congress2.
TPP goes even farther than ACTA, and the process has been even more secretive and corrupt. Last weekend (we wish this was a joke) trade negotiators partied with MPAA (pro-SOPA) lobbyists before secret negotiations in a Hollywood hotel, while public interest groups were barred from meeting in the same building.3
Trade agreements are a gaping loophole, a secretive backdoor track that--even though it creates new laws--is miles removed from democracy. Trade negotiators are unelected and unaccountable, so these agreements have been very hard for internet rights groups to stop.
But now the tide is turning. Fueled by the movement to stop SOPA, anti-ACTA protests are breaking out across the EU, which hasn't ratified ACTA. The protests are having an impact: leaders in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia have backtracked on ACTA.4 Now a massive round of street protests in over 200 cities is planned for this Saturday February 11th.
We're planning an online protest this Saturday to support the protests in the streets. Why? Because together we can drive millions of emails to key decision makers--and start tipping the scales like we did on SOPA.
Can you take part? Scroll down to get the code to run on your site!
We just built an ACTA & TPP contact tool, and it's not just a petition. It's code for your site that figures out the visitor's country and lets them email all their Members of European Parliament--the politicians who will be voting on ACTA in June--or the trade negotiators behind TPP. This direct contact between voters and their officials, driven by websites of all sizes, was instrumental in the fight against SOPA.
We can use the same tactics to defeat ACTA & TPP, but we need your help!
Support the street protests with a flood of emails to the officials responsible for ACTA & TPP. Get the code for your website!
Don't have a website? Tell officials in your country to scrap ACTA & TPP! And spread the word about Saturday's protests!
This is going to be tough fight. But we need to make secretive trade agreements harder to pass than US law. If we don't, our internet's future belongs to the lobbyists behind SOPA.
This is just the beginning,
--Holmes Wilson, Tiffiniy Cheng, Joshua Blount & the whole Fight for the Future team.
P.S. This map of ACTA street protests in Europe is amazing. The largest has almost 50,000 RSVP's!
Sources:
1. For more information on ACTA, read these excellent articles from Techdirt and La Quadrature du Net. For information on TPP, read this Ars Technica piece. For video, watch this.
2. Obama's signing of ACTA may have been unconstitutional. See Anti-counterfeiting agreement raises constitutional concerns and Techdirt.
3. Hollywood gets to party with TPP negotiators, public interest groups get thrown out of the hotel.
4. Ars Technica: Czech, Slovak governments backing away from ACTA, too.
To sign the petition:click here
Sounds good. Let's get the word out. It seems that we are dealing with underhanded individuals who will stoop to whatever level they think they have to just to steal freedoms from other adults. It's bad enough when the government alone tries this but when private enterprise plus government do it is unconscionable. When they act like a oligarchy tyranny then they need to be reined in. Protect you freedoms today,even if you're not in the EU please sign the petition otherwise this monstrosity may come to your country. Stop it before it does,sign the petition today.
Friday, January 27, 2012
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.
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.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Twitter is going to censor in certain countries
From Demand Progress:
Oh no! Reuters, CBS, and other outlets are reporting that Twitter is going to start censoring tweets in certain countries:
Twitter announced Thursday that it would begin restricting Tweets in certain countries, marking a policy shift for the social media platform that helped propel the popular uprisings recently sweeping across the Middle East.
Please click here to sign our open letter and urge Twitter to reverse its decision to start censoring.
And this quote is just tragic, as Twitter tries to rationlize away restrictions on speech:
"As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression," Twitter wrote in a blog post published Thursday.
From the Middle East, to Occupy, to SOPA and PIPA, the importance of open platforms like Twitter couldn't be more clear than it is today.
Will you help fight back, by signing our open letter to Twitter and asking them to reverse course? Just click here.
Nope, it never ends.
-Demand Progress
I can't believe this,first SOPA,PIPA and now Twitter is doing stupid shit. Just because some countries are dictatorships doesn't mean we have to cater to them and bow down to their laws. Those countries are so fucked up people can't wait to get the fuck out of them. If twitter does this they are going to lose a lot of users. Censorship is bad,whether it is from the government or private industry it still sucks. If you have a twitter account you may want to sign this petition because twitter may try more of this crap. Even if you don't but still want to stand up for free speech then by all means sign the petition.
Oh no! Reuters, CBS, and other outlets are reporting that Twitter is going to start censoring tweets in certain countries:
Twitter announced Thursday that it would begin restricting Tweets in certain countries, marking a policy shift for the social media platform that helped propel the popular uprisings recently sweeping across the Middle East.
Please click here to sign our open letter and urge Twitter to reverse its decision to start censoring.
And this quote is just tragic, as Twitter tries to rationlize away restrictions on speech:
"As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression," Twitter wrote in a blog post published Thursday.
From the Middle East, to Occupy, to SOPA and PIPA, the importance of open platforms like Twitter couldn't be more clear than it is today.
Will you help fight back, by signing our open letter to Twitter and asking them to reverse course? Just click here.
Nope, it never ends.
-Demand Progress
I can't believe this,first SOPA,PIPA and now Twitter is doing stupid shit. Just because some countries are dictatorships doesn't mean we have to cater to them and bow down to their laws. Those countries are so fucked up people can't wait to get the fuck out of them. If twitter does this they are going to lose a lot of users. Censorship is bad,whether it is from the government or private industry it still sucks. If you have a twitter account you may want to sign this petition because twitter may try more of this crap. Even if you don't but still want to stand up for free speech then by all means sign the petition.
From Demand Progress
Hollywood thinks Congress is on their leash: Motion Picture Association of America President Chris Dodd just threatened to cut off Hollywood campaign contributions to any member of Congress who doesn’t pass his Internet-censorship legislation.
After Congress shelved the controversial PIPA and SOPA bills, Dodd told Fox News:
“Those who count on quote ‘Hollywood’ for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who’s going to stand up for them when their job is at stake. Don’t ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don’t pay any attention to me when my job is at stake.”
Click here to urge your lawmakers to free themselves from Hollywood's choke collar. Tell them to give back the MPAA's money.
This is what corruption looks like in Washington. It’s outrageous that Dodd — himself a former senator — is leveling these threats. Our elected officials must send a signal back to Dodd and the rest of K Street that our nation’s laws can’t be bought.
It's time that Congress showed that its votes are no longer for sale. Congress must give back the MPAA’s dirty money or give it to charity. Congress must make it clear to the world that it won’t be bullied into supporting censorship.
Please click above to urge your lawmakers to return Hollywood's dirty dollars.
Thanks!
-Demand Progress
Can you believe the gall that Dodd displayed? Fuck him and fuck Hollywood. I hate the misandric movies they put out so as far as I'm concerned they know where to put it and I insist they shove it in sideways. Le'ts sign that petition and put assholes like Dodd in their place.
After Congress shelved the controversial PIPA and SOPA bills, Dodd told Fox News:
“Those who count on quote ‘Hollywood’ for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who’s going to stand up for them when their job is at stake. Don’t ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don’t pay any attention to me when my job is at stake.”
Click here to urge your lawmakers to free themselves from Hollywood's choke collar. Tell them to give back the MPAA's money.
This is what corruption looks like in Washington. It’s outrageous that Dodd — himself a former senator — is leveling these threats. Our elected officials must send a signal back to Dodd and the rest of K Street that our nation’s laws can’t be bought.
It's time that Congress showed that its votes are no longer for sale. Congress must give back the MPAA’s dirty money or give it to charity. Congress must make it clear to the world that it won’t be bullied into supporting censorship.
Please click above to urge your lawmakers to return Hollywood's dirty dollars.
Thanks!
-Demand Progress
Can you believe the gall that Dodd displayed? Fuck him and fuck Hollywood. I hate the misandric movies they put out so as far as I'm concerned they know where to put it and I insist they shove it in sideways. Le'ts sign that petition and put assholes like Dodd in their place.
Friday, January 20, 2012
SOPA and PIPA postponed
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.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
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.
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.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
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.
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.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Congress is pulling a fast one
I received the following from Demand Progress:
Some annoying news: As was widely reported last Friday, all indications were that the House Judiciary Committee would delay its vote on SOPA for a few weeks. Now it looks like they might vote this week, if Congress stays in session:
PCMAG: "SOPA vote might happen this week after all"
ACTIVIST POST: "Congress tries to pull a fast one"
You've all been amazing as we've worked to spread word about SOPA, convinced more and more lawmakers to oppose it, and dragged out the hearing for a week -- that's pretty much unheard of.
But we need to ask you to pick up the phone once more:
Will you call Speaker of the House John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor and ask them to reign in Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith?
Speaker John Boehner: (202) 225-6205 (Email Contact)
Majority Leader Eric Cantor: (202) 225-2815 (Email Contact)
Please be polite, but firm. You can work off of this script:
I'm calling because Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith is pushing the Stop Online Piracy Act even though it will kill jobs, undermine cybersecurity, stifle free speech, and give comfort to totalitarian regimes that want to censor the Internet. And they're doing it all to prop up a few Hollywood bigwigs.
His hearings are turning into a circus that's embarrassing for our country and for the House of Representatives. Please ask him to back down and hold real hearings on this legislation before rushing it through his committee.
These powerful leaders control what will be voted on by the full House, and we need to put them on notice.
And you can use these links to ask your friends to join the effort and email and call their lawmakers about the Internet censorship bills, or just ask them to visit StopCensorship.org.
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance and when needed activism. We'll we need the activism part right now so call and/or send email to the above to rein in Lamar Smith and his evil quest to censor the net.
UPDATE:
Received the following from Damand Progress:
That was close -- after threatening to hold a vote this week, the House Judiciary Committee just cancelled tomorrow's hearing on SOPA!
WASHINGTON POST: The House Judiciary Committee confirmed Tuesday that it will delay continuing debate on the Stop Online Piracy Act until after Congress returns from its winter recess.
In January of one year ago it looked like Internet censorship legislation could pass in a matter of months. But then Demand Progress members stepped in: We've pushed the legislation back a full year, and now it's on the ropes.
Demand Progress is doing everything in our power to make sure that our members' voices are heard in the halls of power.
We've organized press conferences on Capitol Hill, hosted policy briefings. We've delivered countless petitions to Congress, and met with the White House as they consider whether to oppose SOPA and its Senate cousin, the PROTECT IP Act.
We've repeatedly been slammed by the Chamber of Commerce, the Motion Picture Assocaition of America, and other censorship proponents -- proving the importance of our work and the righteousness of our cause.
Most importantly, we've driven hundreds of thousands of constituent contacts to Congress -- And helped lead an unprecedented coalition of activist groups, websites, and tech firms which together have helped more than 3 million people send anti-censorship emails and make anti-censorship phone calls to Congress and the White House.
But the fight isn't over yet: The Senate is still threatening to hold a vote in January, and we need to make sure we're in a position to keep pushing back. We've proved that our voices make a real difference, but we can't afford to let up one bit.
Thanks so so much,
The Demand Progress team
PS: We know we've been sending a ton of emails over the last few weeks -- we promise it'll calm down a bit over the next couple of weeks, now that the most immediate threat is behind us.
No problem because as I have said before the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. I'd rather do this than have someone else decide what I can and cannot view or listen too. Maybe as a child I had others make my decisions for me but as an adult I'll be damned if I'll let that happen.
Some annoying news: As was widely reported last Friday, all indications were that the House Judiciary Committee would delay its vote on SOPA for a few weeks. Now it looks like they might vote this week, if Congress stays in session:
PCMAG: "SOPA vote might happen this week after all"
ACTIVIST POST: "Congress tries to pull a fast one"
You've all been amazing as we've worked to spread word about SOPA, convinced more and more lawmakers to oppose it, and dragged out the hearing for a week -- that's pretty much unheard of.
But we need to ask you to pick up the phone once more:
Will you call Speaker of the House John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor and ask them to reign in Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith?
Speaker John Boehner: (202) 225-6205 (Email Contact)
Majority Leader Eric Cantor: (202) 225-2815 (Email Contact)
Please be polite, but firm. You can work off of this script:
I'm calling because Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith is pushing the Stop Online Piracy Act even though it will kill jobs, undermine cybersecurity, stifle free speech, and give comfort to totalitarian regimes that want to censor the Internet. And they're doing it all to prop up a few Hollywood bigwigs.
His hearings are turning into a circus that's embarrassing for our country and for the House of Representatives. Please ask him to back down and hold real hearings on this legislation before rushing it through his committee.
These powerful leaders control what will be voted on by the full House, and we need to put them on notice.
And you can use these links to ask your friends to join the effort and email and call their lawmakers about the Internet censorship bills, or just ask them to visit StopCensorship.org.
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance and when needed activism. We'll we need the activism part right now so call and/or send email to the above to rein in Lamar Smith and his evil quest to censor the net.
UPDATE:
Received the following from Damand Progress:
That was close -- after threatening to hold a vote this week, the House Judiciary Committee just cancelled tomorrow's hearing on SOPA!
WASHINGTON POST: The House Judiciary Committee confirmed Tuesday that it will delay continuing debate on the Stop Online Piracy Act until after Congress returns from its winter recess.
In January of one year ago it looked like Internet censorship legislation could pass in a matter of months. But then Demand Progress members stepped in: We've pushed the legislation back a full year, and now it's on the ropes.
Demand Progress is doing everything in our power to make sure that our members' voices are heard in the halls of power.
We've organized press conferences on Capitol Hill, hosted policy briefings. We've delivered countless petitions to Congress, and met with the White House as they consider whether to oppose SOPA and its Senate cousin, the PROTECT IP Act.
We've repeatedly been slammed by the Chamber of Commerce, the Motion Picture Assocaition of America, and other censorship proponents -- proving the importance of our work and the righteousness of our cause.
Most importantly, we've driven hundreds of thousands of constituent contacts to Congress -- And helped lead an unprecedented coalition of activist groups, websites, and tech firms which together have helped more than 3 million people send anti-censorship emails and make anti-censorship phone calls to Congress and the White House.
But the fight isn't over yet: The Senate is still threatening to hold a vote in January, and we need to make sure we're in a position to keep pushing back. We've proved that our voices make a real difference, but we can't afford to let up one bit.
Thanks so so much,
The Demand Progress team
PS: We know we've been sending a ton of emails over the last few weeks -- we promise it'll calm down a bit over the next couple of weeks, now that the most immediate threat is behind us.
No problem because as I have said before the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. I'd rather do this than have someone else decide what I can and cannot view or listen too. Maybe as a child I had others make my decisions for me but as an adult I'll be damned if I'll let that happen.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Fighting back against PROTECT IP
I received this from Demand Progress:
Huge Victory In House -- Let's Slam The Senate
Holy moly. We did it -- at least for now. The House Judiciary Committee looked certain to vote for the Stop Online Piracy Act today. Instead, because of the work of so many rank-and-file Internet users, the bill's lead sponsor acknowledged that our concerns are legitimate, and adjourned the committee without holding a vote!
Here's Wired's take:
The House Judiciary Committee considering whether to send the Stop Online Piracy Act to the House floor abruptly adjourned Friday with no new vote date set – a surprise given that the bill looked certain to pass out of committee today.
It's amazing work: Politicians are, for the first time, having to contend with the Internet as a political force -- and we might actually win.
But now we need to focus attention back on the Senate, where Marjority Leader Harry Reid says the PROTECT IP Act will be the first bill he calls for a vote next year.
Will you let him and your Senators know that they need to stop pushing this legislation? It's an election year, and they don't want to do any heavy lifting. Pushing hard now could get them to back down altogether.
Just fill out the form at right to email Reid and your Senators.
This is great news and it shows we've made great strides but there is more work to do and we can do it so if internet freedom is something you love send those emails today.
Huge Victory In House -- Let's Slam The Senate
Holy moly. We did it -- at least for now. The House Judiciary Committee looked certain to vote for the Stop Online Piracy Act today. Instead, because of the work of so many rank-and-file Internet users, the bill's lead sponsor acknowledged that our concerns are legitimate, and adjourned the committee without holding a vote!
Here's Wired's take:
The House Judiciary Committee considering whether to send the Stop Online Piracy Act to the House floor abruptly adjourned Friday with no new vote date set – a surprise given that the bill looked certain to pass out of committee today.
It's amazing work: Politicians are, for the first time, having to contend with the Internet as a political force -- and we might actually win.
But now we need to focus attention back on the Senate, where Marjority Leader Harry Reid says the PROTECT IP Act will be the first bill he calls for a vote next year.
Will you let him and your Senators know that they need to stop pushing this legislation? It's an election year, and they don't want to do any heavy lifting. Pushing hard now could get them to back down altogether.
Just fill out the form at right to email Reid and your Senators.
This is great news and it shows we've made great strides but there is more work to do and we can do it so if internet freedom is something you love send those emails today.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
SOPA going down to the wire
I received the following from Demand Progress:
Want a window into the minds of our opponents? Former Senator Chris Dodd -- head of the Motion Picture Association of America -- says that China censors its Internet, so we can too:
"When the Chinese told Google that they had to block sites or they couldn't do [business] in their country, they managed to figure out how to block sites."
These are the voices our lawmakers listen to. If we're going to win, we need to drown them out before TOMORROW's committee vote on SOPA.
Our goals for the week are one call per congressmember per minute -- and one million emails: Please click here to make a call or send an email, or do both right away -- it'll really only take a couple of minutes.
It's do-or-die time: The House Judiciary Committee will likely pass the Stop Online Piracy Act TOMORROW, Thursday. Once the bill moves out of committee, the House can pass it at any time.
If you've already made a call, please use our "censor anything" tool to urge your friends to contact Congress:
We want to make sure people understand what the Internet could be like if SOPA passes, so we're asking millions of people to protest censorship as part of our #CensorshipEverywhere campaign -- use our tool to censor parts of your own posts to Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and anything and everything else.
To uncensor it, your friends will need to contact their lawmakers and ask them to oppose SOPA.
The most important thing this week is that EVERYONE join the protests in some way. If all of us drive our audiences to make phone calls, we're unstoppable. We need to jam Congress's inboxes and melt their phone lines if we're going to stop SOPA.
Let's make those calls and/or write those emails to preserve our internet freedoms. I'm not a big fan of the Chinese government and I don't believe we need to emulated them. If you feel the same way call and/or email today.
Want a window into the minds of our opponents? Former Senator Chris Dodd -- head of the Motion Picture Association of America -- says that China censors its Internet, so we can too:
"When the Chinese told Google that they had to block sites or they couldn't do [business] in their country, they managed to figure out how to block sites."
These are the voices our lawmakers listen to. If we're going to win, we need to drown them out before TOMORROW's committee vote on SOPA.
Our goals for the week are one call per congressmember per minute -- and one million emails: Please click here to make a call or send an email, or do both right away -- it'll really only take a couple of minutes.
It's do-or-die time: The House Judiciary Committee will likely pass the Stop Online Piracy Act TOMORROW, Thursday. Once the bill moves out of committee, the House can pass it at any time.
If you've already made a call, please use our "censor anything" tool to urge your friends to contact Congress:
We want to make sure people understand what the Internet could be like if SOPA passes, so we're asking millions of people to protest censorship as part of our #CensorshipEverywhere campaign -- use our tool to censor parts of your own posts to Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and anything and everything else.
To uncensor it, your friends will need to contact their lawmakers and ask them to oppose SOPA.
The most important thing this week is that EVERYONE join the protests in some way. If all of us drive our audiences to make phone calls, we're unstoppable. We need to jam Congress's inboxes and melt their phone lines if we're going to stop SOPA.
Let's make those calls and/or write those emails to preserve our internet freedoms. I'm not a big fan of the Chinese government and I don't believe we need to emulated them. If you feel the same way call and/or email today.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Don't sacrifice your rights for the war on terror
I received this from Campaign For Liberty:
You and I both know that freedom is not free. Its price cannot be measured in dollars - and its defense requires eternal vigilance.
On December 1, the U.S. Senate passed S. 1867, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), by a vote of 93-7.
A slightly different NDAA, H.R. 1540, had already passed the U.S. House in May, and it has been reconciled with the Senate version in a closed session of a Joint Conference Committee.
The NDAA is passed annually to specify the budget and expenditures for the U.S. Department of Defense, but this year's version would essentially strip American Citizens of due process - protections that used to set us apart from despotic nations.
The Senate version of the NDAA declares the homeland to be part of the battlefield in the "War on Terror."
In simple terms, Sections 1031 and 1032 of S. 1867 allow American citizens to be detained indefinitely - without charges or trial - until the War on Terror is declared over.
There has been some recent confusion over what exactly the Senate bill actually stipulates.
In fact, when you call your representative and BOTH of your senators, as I'm about to ask you to do, the staff will probably give you one of two canned responses:
1.) "The Feinstein amendment #1456, which passed on Dec. 1 (by a vote of 99-1), says that no provision of Sec. 1031 can be taken to "affect existing law or authorities, relating to the detention of United States citizens."
In reality, this was added nearly unanimously at the last minute to appease those of us rightly opposed to these detention provisions. In the Congressional Record that day, there are arguments from Senators Lindsey Graham and Carl Levin, both of whom supported this amendment, stating they believe the President and Congress already have the authority to detain American Citizens, since the Supreme Court hasn't yet ruled otherwise. This is not the case, but it explains why the bill's main supporters did not oppose the Feinstein amendment.
2.) "It already exempts American Citizens. You should know that Sec. 1032 actually states: "The requirement to detain a person in military custody under this section does not extend to citizens of the United States."
Don't fall for their cleverly chosen legislative language.
A careful reading of the suspect sections bears out that, while there is no requirement to detain an American citizen, the act thereof is not explicitly prohibited. By extension, it is actually permitted.
As if the above is not bad enough, the power to determine which American citizens will be indefinitely detained without charges or trial will be left to the President alone.
I'm certain you would agree that something as important as overturning longstanding American jurisprudence deserves to be the subject of a vigorous debate in a public forum.
But, late last week, the House, by an overwhelming majority (406-17), passed a motion that allowed this Joint Committee to meet in secret.
Last night, the House and Senate conferees emerged without having changed the offending detainee provisions of the NDAA.
And the section numbers (formerly 1031 and 1032) have been changed to 1021 and 1022.
A vote on the conference report could come as early as this Wednesday in the House of Representatives!
So I need your members of Congress to know where you stand immediately!
It is imperative you contact your representative and both of your senators today to urge them to vote NO on the NDAA (H.R. 1540/S. 1867) Conference Report unless Secs. 1021 and 1022 are removed or modified to explicitly exclude all U.S. citizens and lawful resident aliens.
Also related to this story is this one:
Here at C4L, we've been getting a wide range of questions from our members about what happened in the Senate during the fight over S. 1867, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and what the current status of the bill is.
Legislative battles are often fast-paced fights where details are changing minute-to-minute. Unfortunately, the internet doesn't always help clear things up because many political reporters who think they have a grasp of what is occurring, don't, and they unintentionally mislead people. To help clear things up, we'll start with the most recent, and work our way back, then finish up with where the bill is now.
To begin, the Senate passed the NDAA on Thursday Dec. 1, by a vote of 93-7. This is not the end of the fight. The House passed a different version, H.R. 1540, near the end of May. Both versions will now end up in a joint House/Senate conference where differences will be hammered out, but more on that at the end.
On Friday, Dec. 2nd, C4L's Vice President, Matt Hawes sent around an email describing an amendment to S. 1867 that would have allowed the military to keep an individual locked up even after they had been tried and found NOT GUILTY until after the conclusion of the "War on Terror." Senator Paul helped defeat the amendment, S.A. 1274, by a vote of 41-59, just by calling for a roll call vote on Thursday night.
What you won't see from looking at the roll call vote on S.A. 1274, is that Senators Carl Levin, John McCain, and members of both parties had agreed to allow the amendment to pass by voice vote, but when forced to record Yea or Nay next to their name, the majority voted against it.
Next, we move back to last Thursday afternoons vote on Senate Amendments (S.A.) 1125 & 1126. Campaign for Liberty urged a "YES" vote on both of these amendments.
S.A. 1125 would have clarified that military requirement to detain individuals only applies to those captured overseas by adding the word "abroad" after "captured" in Section 1032 of S. 1867. This amendment failed by a vote of 45-55.
S.A. 1126 would have amended Section 1031 of S. 1867 to clearly state that the authority to detain individuals does not confer any authority of the military to detain American citizens without trial until the end of hostilities. This amendment also failed by a vote of 45-55.
Now, it's important to make something very clear here. We've received a number of messages from well-intentioned folks who contacted us saying something like, "But, Section 1032 already says it doesn't apply to U.S. Citizens, you're making a fight where there isn't one and really just being used as pawns in the ACLU's liberal agenda..."
I cannot stress this enough (nor can I express how many times I responded to it by email, phone, and private message) -- don't be fooled by Section 1032, Subsection (b) on "Applicability to United States Citizens and Lawful Resident Aliens."
Despite what a straight-forward reading of the text would appear to say, that the "requirement to detain a person" does not apply to U.S. Citizens and Lawful Resident Aliens this is just cleverly worded political-speak to deceive the American people. Just because they aren't "required" doesn't mean they aren't allowed.
With all that cleared up (hopefully clear as glass rather than mud) let's look at where we're at now.
The National Defense Authorization Act, (H.R. 1540/S. 1867) is now in a conference committee squaring the differences between the House and the Senate version. The House passed a motion that allows them to hold the meetings for this important conference committee behind closed doors. Arguments pertaining to something as important as overturning the Posse Comitatus Act and Habeus Corpus deserve to be heard in a public forum.
Click here to see a list of House & Senate Conferees. If your representative or senator is one of those listed, please contact them immediately at 202-224-3121 and urge them not to sign the conference report unless the language of Sec. 1031 & 1032 is removed or modified to explicitly exclude all U.S. Citizens and lawful resident aliens.
A vote on the conference report could come as early as this Thursday in the House of Representatives. It is imperative you contact your representative and both of your senators today to urge them to vote no on the NDAA Conference Report unless Sec. 1031 & 1032 are removed or the offending sections are modified in such a way as to prohibit the application to U.S. Citizens and lawful resident aliens.
Source:click here
Let's contact our elected leaders by clicking here and let them know to make the modifications to safeguard U.S. citizen's rights. The more of us they hear from the better so email them today.
You and I both know that freedom is not free. Its price cannot be measured in dollars - and its defense requires eternal vigilance.
On December 1, the U.S. Senate passed S. 1867, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), by a vote of 93-7.
A slightly different NDAA, H.R. 1540, had already passed the U.S. House in May, and it has been reconciled with the Senate version in a closed session of a Joint Conference Committee.
The NDAA is passed annually to specify the budget and expenditures for the U.S. Department of Defense, but this year's version would essentially strip American Citizens of due process - protections that used to set us apart from despotic nations.
The Senate version of the NDAA declares the homeland to be part of the battlefield in the "War on Terror."
In simple terms, Sections 1031 and 1032 of S. 1867 allow American citizens to be detained indefinitely - without charges or trial - until the War on Terror is declared over.
There has been some recent confusion over what exactly the Senate bill actually stipulates.
In fact, when you call your representative and BOTH of your senators, as I'm about to ask you to do, the staff will probably give you one of two canned responses:
1.) "The Feinstein amendment #1456, which passed on Dec. 1 (by a vote of 99-1), says that no provision of Sec. 1031 can be taken to "affect existing law or authorities, relating to the detention of United States citizens."
In reality, this was added nearly unanimously at the last minute to appease those of us rightly opposed to these detention provisions. In the Congressional Record that day, there are arguments from Senators Lindsey Graham and Carl Levin, both of whom supported this amendment, stating they believe the President and Congress already have the authority to detain American Citizens, since the Supreme Court hasn't yet ruled otherwise. This is not the case, but it explains why the bill's main supporters did not oppose the Feinstein amendment.
2.) "It already exempts American Citizens. You should know that Sec. 1032 actually states: "The requirement to detain a person in military custody under this section does not extend to citizens of the United States."
Don't fall for their cleverly chosen legislative language.
A careful reading of the suspect sections bears out that, while there is no requirement to detain an American citizen, the act thereof is not explicitly prohibited. By extension, it is actually permitted.
As if the above is not bad enough, the power to determine which American citizens will be indefinitely detained without charges or trial will be left to the President alone.
I'm certain you would agree that something as important as overturning longstanding American jurisprudence deserves to be the subject of a vigorous debate in a public forum.
But, late last week, the House, by an overwhelming majority (406-17), passed a motion that allowed this Joint Committee to meet in secret.
Last night, the House and Senate conferees emerged without having changed the offending detainee provisions of the NDAA.
And the section numbers (formerly 1031 and 1032) have been changed to 1021 and 1022.
A vote on the conference report could come as early as this Wednesday in the House of Representatives!
So I need your members of Congress to know where you stand immediately!
It is imperative you contact your representative and both of your senators today to urge them to vote NO on the NDAA (H.R. 1540/S. 1867) Conference Report unless Secs. 1021 and 1022 are removed or modified to explicitly exclude all U.S. citizens and lawful resident aliens.
Also related to this story is this one:
Here at C4L, we've been getting a wide range of questions from our members about what happened in the Senate during the fight over S. 1867, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and what the current status of the bill is.
Legislative battles are often fast-paced fights where details are changing minute-to-minute. Unfortunately, the internet doesn't always help clear things up because many political reporters who think they have a grasp of what is occurring, don't, and they unintentionally mislead people. To help clear things up, we'll start with the most recent, and work our way back, then finish up with where the bill is now.
To begin, the Senate passed the NDAA on Thursday Dec. 1, by a vote of 93-7. This is not the end of the fight. The House passed a different version, H.R. 1540, near the end of May. Both versions will now end up in a joint House/Senate conference where differences will be hammered out, but more on that at the end.
On Friday, Dec. 2nd, C4L's Vice President, Matt Hawes sent around an email describing an amendment to S. 1867 that would have allowed the military to keep an individual locked up even after they had been tried and found NOT GUILTY until after the conclusion of the "War on Terror." Senator Paul helped defeat the amendment, S.A. 1274, by a vote of 41-59, just by calling for a roll call vote on Thursday night.
What you won't see from looking at the roll call vote on S.A. 1274, is that Senators Carl Levin, John McCain, and members of both parties had agreed to allow the amendment to pass by voice vote, but when forced to record Yea or Nay next to their name, the majority voted against it.
Next, we move back to last Thursday afternoons vote on Senate Amendments (S.A.) 1125 & 1126. Campaign for Liberty urged a "YES" vote on both of these amendments.
S.A. 1125 would have clarified that military requirement to detain individuals only applies to those captured overseas by adding the word "abroad" after "captured" in Section 1032 of S. 1867. This amendment failed by a vote of 45-55.
S.A. 1126 would have amended Section 1031 of S. 1867 to clearly state that the authority to detain individuals does not confer any authority of the military to detain American citizens without trial until the end of hostilities. This amendment also failed by a vote of 45-55.
Now, it's important to make something very clear here. We've received a number of messages from well-intentioned folks who contacted us saying something like, "But, Section 1032 already says it doesn't apply to U.S. Citizens, you're making a fight where there isn't one and really just being used as pawns in the ACLU's liberal agenda..."
I cannot stress this enough (nor can I express how many times I responded to it by email, phone, and private message) -- don't be fooled by Section 1032, Subsection (b) on "Applicability to United States Citizens and Lawful Resident Aliens."
Despite what a straight-forward reading of the text would appear to say, that the "requirement to detain a person" does not apply to U.S. Citizens and Lawful Resident Aliens this is just cleverly worded political-speak to deceive the American people. Just because they aren't "required" doesn't mean they aren't allowed.
With all that cleared up (hopefully clear as glass rather than mud) let's look at where we're at now.
The National Defense Authorization Act, (H.R. 1540/S. 1867) is now in a conference committee squaring the differences between the House and the Senate version. The House passed a motion that allows them to hold the meetings for this important conference committee behind closed doors. Arguments pertaining to something as important as overturning the Posse Comitatus Act and Habeus Corpus deserve to be heard in a public forum.
Click here to see a list of House & Senate Conferees. If your representative or senator is one of those listed, please contact them immediately at 202-224-3121 and urge them not to sign the conference report unless the language of Sec. 1031 & 1032 is removed or modified to explicitly exclude all U.S. Citizens and lawful resident aliens.
A vote on the conference report could come as early as this Thursday in the House of Representatives. It is imperative you contact your representative and both of your senators today to urge them to vote no on the NDAA Conference Report unless Sec. 1031 & 1032 are removed or the offending sections are modified in such a way as to prohibit the application to U.S. Citizens and lawful resident aliens.
Source:click here
Let's contact our elected leaders by clicking here and let them know to make the modifications to safeguard U.S. citizen's rights. The more of us they hear from the better so email them today.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Hillary Clinton is anti-censorship when it comes to the net
It's official;hell just froze over. It appears that Hillary Clinton and I are in agreement that internet freedom is a right to be enjoyed by all American adults. Here is what I mean,from Demand Progress:
We Agree With Sec Of State: "If The Internet's Not Broke, Don't Fix It"
We sure weren't expecting it: Yesterday Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a truly visionary speech about Internet freedom -- about the human right to a free Internet.
It culminated in these profound words about how governments should engage with the Internet: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Some forces in the Obama administration support Internet freedom. Others want to ram through the Internet censorship bills backed by Hollywood, Big Pharma, and the Chamber of Commerce. As our government considers instituting its own Internet censorship regime, we need to support those who stand with us. Let Clinton -- and her boss, Obama -- know that we stand with her sentiments: They need to keep the Internet free.
Will you sign our petition to Clinton and Obama? You'll generate an email to the White House that says this:
PETITION TO PRESIDENT OBAMA AND SEC OF STATE CLINTON: Secretary Clinton's remarks on Internet freedom were prescient and profound. We need to stand by her sentiments: If the Internet's not broke, don't fix. Please ensure continued Internet freedom by opposing the PROTECT IP Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act.
Please just fill out the form at right to support Secretary Clinton.
Also sign the petition while you are there to safeguard your rights. Also the House is going to vote on SOPA next week so you can call or email your congressperson and let them know you want SOPA torpedoed as soon as possible. You can contact them here.
From Demand Progress
Call To Tell Your Representative To Oppose Censorship Bill!
Internet censorship legislation is scheduled for vote in the House next week: Please fill out the form at bottom and we'll give you your reprentative's name and phone number and a short call script.
The Stop Online Piracy Act would ruin so much of what's best about the Internet: It will give the government and corporations new powers to block Americans' access to sites that are accused of copyright infringement, force sites like YouTube to go to new lengths to police users' contributions, and put people in prison for streaming certain content online. To learn more about SOPA, please click here.
Just fill out the form below to call your representative and urge him or her to oppose Internet censorship.
You can call or email your representative and let them know you oppose SOPA and that you want them to as well.
We Agree With Sec Of State: "If The Internet's Not Broke, Don't Fix It"
We sure weren't expecting it: Yesterday Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a truly visionary speech about Internet freedom -- about the human right to a free Internet.
It culminated in these profound words about how governments should engage with the Internet: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Some forces in the Obama administration support Internet freedom. Others want to ram through the Internet censorship bills backed by Hollywood, Big Pharma, and the Chamber of Commerce. As our government considers instituting its own Internet censorship regime, we need to support those who stand with us. Let Clinton -- and her boss, Obama -- know that we stand with her sentiments: They need to keep the Internet free.
Will you sign our petition to Clinton and Obama? You'll generate an email to the White House that says this:
PETITION TO PRESIDENT OBAMA AND SEC OF STATE CLINTON: Secretary Clinton's remarks on Internet freedom were prescient and profound. We need to stand by her sentiments: If the Internet's not broke, don't fix. Please ensure continued Internet freedom by opposing the PROTECT IP Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act.
Please just fill out the form at right to support Secretary Clinton.
Also sign the petition while you are there to safeguard your rights. Also the House is going to vote on SOPA next week so you can call or email your congressperson and let them know you want SOPA torpedoed as soon as possible. You can contact them here.
From Demand Progress
Call To Tell Your Representative To Oppose Censorship Bill!
Internet censorship legislation is scheduled for vote in the House next week: Please fill out the form at bottom and we'll give you your reprentative's name and phone number and a short call script.
The Stop Online Piracy Act would ruin so much of what's best about the Internet: It will give the government and corporations new powers to block Americans' access to sites that are accused of copyright infringement, force sites like YouTube to go to new lengths to police users' contributions, and put people in prison for streaming certain content online. To learn more about SOPA, please click here.
Just fill out the form below to call your representative and urge him or her to oppose Internet censorship.
You can call or email your representative and let them know you oppose SOPA and that you want them to as well.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Legislation would give miltary the right to patrol the streets
I received the following from Demand Progress about the military doing police functions:
Ask Obama To Veto Indefinite Military Detention of AMERICAN CITIZENS
An unimaginable violation of due process: The Senate just voted to allow the military to detain American citizens indefinitely -- without even charging them with a crime -- if they are said to be suspected of terrorism.
As Senator Dianne Feinstein put it, "Congress is essentially authorizing the indefinite imprisonment of American citizens, without charge" if the bill passes as it's currently written.
Thankfully, President Obama has threatened to veto the bill, noting that:
Applying this military custody requirement to individuals inside the United States, as some Members of Congress have suggested is their intention, would raise serious and unsettled legal questions and would be inconsistent with the fundamental American principle that our military does not patrol our streets.
Obama will only have a few days to make up his mind: Will you urge him to make good on his veto threat? Just fill out the form at right.
PETITION TO PRESIDENT OBAMA: We urge you to stand by your threat to veto the new National Defense Authorization Act. Allowing indefinite military detention of American citizens -- without even being charged -- is an unfathomable violation of due process.
Please sign on at right to urge Obama to veto the legislation -- doing so will generate an email to the White House.
It looks like our Consitutional rights are on the chopping block again and we have a petition to sign to let's get to it. If military checkpoints are un-American to you then by all means sign this petition.
Ask Obama To Veto Indefinite Military Detention of AMERICAN CITIZENS
An unimaginable violation of due process: The Senate just voted to allow the military to detain American citizens indefinitely -- without even charging them with a crime -- if they are said to be suspected of terrorism.
As Senator Dianne Feinstein put it, "Congress is essentially authorizing the indefinite imprisonment of American citizens, without charge" if the bill passes as it's currently written.
Thankfully, President Obama has threatened to veto the bill, noting that:
Applying this military custody requirement to individuals inside the United States, as some Members of Congress have suggested is their intention, would raise serious and unsettled legal questions and would be inconsistent with the fundamental American principle that our military does not patrol our streets.
Obama will only have a few days to make up his mind: Will you urge him to make good on his veto threat? Just fill out the form at right.
PETITION TO PRESIDENT OBAMA: We urge you to stand by your threat to veto the new National Defense Authorization Act. Allowing indefinite military detention of American citizens -- without even being charged -- is an unfathomable violation of due process.
Please sign on at right to urge Obama to veto the legislation -- doing so will generate an email to the White House.
It looks like our Consitutional rights are on the chopping block again and we have a petition to sign to let's get to it. If military checkpoints are un-American to you then by all means sign this petition.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Oppose blacklist bill in the Senate and get officially recognized
The above video is from Senator Ron Wyden who like the rest of us is opposed to internet censorship and he has promised to vigorously oppose this bill he will even filabuster if necessary. Wyden will read the names of those of us who are opposed to this bill into congressional records (that's a million + BTW) recording our opposition to this bill. Sign the petition to let your Senators know where you stand on this issue. Sign that petition today.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Let's send Congress a reminder
I received the following from Demand Progress:
More Than 700k Have Acted: Let's Finish Strong
It's been a show of force like no other: More than 700k anti-censorship contacts have been delivered to Congress so far this week, as the Blacklsit Bill gets heard in committee.
What an amazing day -- let's top it off with one more push. Please send one more message to Congress -- even if you already have -- touting our numbers and telling them they need to back down. Let's make it clear that the Internet has risen up, and won't back down until Congress heeds our calls.
Please just use the form at right to send one more message to Congress.
The Stop Online Piracy Act would ruin so much of what's best about the Internet: It will give the government and corporations new powers to block Americans' access to sites that are accused of copyright infringement, force sites like YouTube to go to new lengths to police users' contributions, and put people in prison for streaming certain content online.
Just use the form at right to send one more message to Congress to help us finish strong today.
And please use the links below to ask your friends to join -- and if you ahve a website, please link back to our petition page.
Source:click here
Good news indeed but there is still another petition that needs to be signed so if you are believer in the Constitution and the protections it affords the people you may want to sign it.
More Than 700k Have Acted: Let's Finish Strong
It's been a show of force like no other: More than 700k anti-censorship contacts have been delivered to Congress so far this week, as the Blacklsit Bill gets heard in committee.
What an amazing day -- let's top it off with one more push. Please send one more message to Congress -- even if you already have -- touting our numbers and telling them they need to back down. Let's make it clear that the Internet has risen up, and won't back down until Congress heeds our calls.
Please just use the form at right to send one more message to Congress.
The Stop Online Piracy Act would ruin so much of what's best about the Internet: It will give the government and corporations new powers to block Americans' access to sites that are accused of copyright infringement, force sites like YouTube to go to new lengths to police users' contributions, and put people in prison for streaming certain content online.
Just use the form at right to send one more message to Congress to help us finish strong today.
And please use the links below to ask your friends to join -- and if you ahve a website, please link back to our petition page.
Source:click here
Good news indeed but there is still another petition that needs to be signed so if you are believer in the Constitution and the protections it affords the people you may want to sign it.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Defend net neutrality
I received the following from Demand Progress which states that Telecom is going to threaten our rights when it comes to the internet. I'll let Demand Progress take it from here:
Net Neutrality Is Under Attack: Email Your Senators Before Tuesday's Vote
The Senate is voting to kill Net Neutrality on TUESDAY -- it's a power grab by big Telecom so they can control what information you're able to access online.
According to Free Press:
The Senate is expected to vote next week on a resolution of disapproval that would strip the FCC of the authority to enforce its Open Internet rules, and would render null all existing protection for Internet users. The vote could be incredibly tight.
The resolution only needs a simple majority to pass, so the future of Net Neutrality could come down to the whims of a handful of senators.
Will you urge your Senators to stand strong and fight back? Just fill out the form at right.
As The Hill newspaper notes, "Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) said she will push for a Senate vote on a resolution of disapproval to negate the regulations....A similar vote passed the House earlier this year but stalled in the Senate."
Sounds like our rights are at stake so let your senators know that you oppose this measure by Telecom and that you won't take it. This is a bad bill and it must be defeated.
Net Neutrality Is Under Attack: Email Your Senators Before Tuesday's Vote
The Senate is voting to kill Net Neutrality on TUESDAY -- it's a power grab by big Telecom so they can control what information you're able to access online.
According to Free Press:
The Senate is expected to vote next week on a resolution of disapproval that would strip the FCC of the authority to enforce its Open Internet rules, and would render null all existing protection for Internet users. The vote could be incredibly tight.
The resolution only needs a simple majority to pass, so the future of Net Neutrality could come down to the whims of a handful of senators.
Will you urge your Senators to stand strong and fight back? Just fill out the form at right.
As The Hill newspaper notes, "Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) said she will push for a Senate vote on a resolution of disapproval to negate the regulations....A similar vote passed the House earlier this year but stalled in the Senate."
Sounds like our rights are at stake so let your senators know that you oppose this measure by Telecom and that you won't take it. This is a bad bill and it must be defeated.
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