This is an update to my previous blog Please Save the World’s Internet Now!
Incredible — 800,000 signers in days, Congress is hesitating, and one Senator will block the vote by reading out our petition for hours!!
919,550 have signed at the time when this blog was posted.
Please help us get to 1 million!
Here is a follow-up letter from the Avaaz team:
“Dear Friends,
 Right now, the US Congress is debating a law that would give them the power to censor the world’s Internet — creating a blacklist that could target YouTube, WikiLeaks and even Avaaz! Now if we stand with key members of the US Congress, we can defeat this attempt at global Internet censorship. Click here and help build an unprecedented global petition for a free and open Internet:  |
Right now, Congress is debating a law that would give them the power to censor the world’s Internet — creating a blacklist that could target YouTube, WikiLeaks and even groups like Avaaz!
Under the new law, the US could force Internet providers to block any website on suspicion of violating copyright or trademark legislation, or even failing to sufficiently police their users’ activities. And, because so much of the Internet’s hosts and hardware are located in the US, their blacklist would clamp down on the free web for all of us.
The vote could happen at any time now, but we can help stop this — champions in Congress want to preserve free speech and tell us that a global outcry would strengthen their hand, and one of them — Senator Wyden — says he will “filibuster” or block any vote on the bill by reading out our petition names until the clock runs out! Let’s urgently raise our voices from every corner of the world to build an unprecedented global petition. Click below to sign and then forward to everyone:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_internet/?vl
For years, the US has condemned countries like China and Iran for their clampdown on Internet use. But now, the impact of these new censorship laws could be far worse — effectively blocking sites to every Internet user across the globe.
Last year, a similar Internet censorship bill was killed before reaching the US Senate floor, but it’s now back in a different form. Copyright laws already exist and are enforced by courts. But this new law goes much further — granting the US government and big corporations enormous powers to force service providers and search engines to block websites based just on allegations of violations — without a trial or being found guilty of any crime!
Free speech advocates have already raised the alarm, and some key senators are trying to gather enough support to stop this dangerous bill. We have no time to lose. Let’s stand with them to ensure that American lawmakers preserve the right to a free and open Internet as an essential way for people around the world to exchange ideas, share communication and work collectively to build the world we want. Sign below to stop censorship, and save the Internet as we know it:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_internet/?vl
In the past months, from the Arab Spring to the global Occupy Movement, we’ve seen first hand how the Internet can galvanize, unify and change society. Now, if we stand together, we can stop this new attack on Internet freedom. We’ve done it before — in Brazil and Italy, Avaaz members have won major victories in the fight for a free Internet. Let’s galvanize our global web community to crush the most powerful censorship threat that the Internet has ever seen.
With hope,
Luis, Dalia, Diego, Emma, Ricken, Aaron, Antonia, Benjamin and the rest of the Avaaz team”
Sources
Op-Ed: Blacklist Bill allows Feds to remove websites from Internet (Digital Journal)
http://digitaljournal.com/article/313463
Disastrous IP Legislation Is Back – And It’s Worse than Ever (EFF)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/10/disastrous-ip-legislation-back-%E2%80%93-and-it%E2%80%99s-worse-ever
Silicon Valley legislators oppose online piracy act (SFGate)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/15/BUO81LV0KI.DTL
House Hearing on Stop Online Piracy Act Scheduled (PC World)
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/243659/house_hearing_on_stop_online_piracy_act_scheduled.html
Growing Chorus of Opposition to “Stop Online Piracy Act”
https://www.cdt.org/report/growing-chorus-opposition-stop-online-piracy-act
The stop online piracy act: summary, problems, and implications
https://www.cdt.org/files/pdfs/SOPA%202-pager%20final.pdf
Why Is Justin Bieber So Pissed Off?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-karr/why-is-justin-bieber-so-p_b_1071055.html
Stop Online Piracy Act
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr3261ih/pdf/BILLS-112hr3261ih.pdf
PROTECT IP Act
http://leahy.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/BillText-PROTECTIPAct.pdf