A dangereous way of censorship

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PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

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At last we got a marvellous medium to get news fast over the boarders of many countries and get people fairly well informed over the censorship in their own country or in other countries.
People also could get enough information to build up their knowledge and to help others get to know more.

As the internet is a blessing for the passing of information and for the spread and assimilation of data, it can also be a danger when this data is misused.  It is an enormous tool to share data with each other.  Hereby it is then well normal that everybody holds himself and satisfies at the expectations of the legal obligations as acknowledgement of copyright and makes his legal contributions to those copyright owners.

But quotations with reference to the author or speaker must remain general possible and can come both parties to the good.  The one quoted can become further known by more readers because of  the present links, through which his further text can become seen and attain more attention.

Today we have to face a serious threat to internet freedom.

The United States of America Federal Government, for better or worse, has always played a major role in the United States economy. Recently, however, the government has taken some major steps to try and regulate the Internet and monitor its users. These steps have come in the form of two separate Acts that are still currently in Congress.

Wanting to Combat Online Infringement they could bring in a kink in the right of free speech and could make that many people and many countries could pay the piper, while those they would like to get rid off get even more playroom.

Legislation could severely hamper free speech on the internet.

Under this bill, U.S. based search engines could theoretically be served a court order to block search results leading to specific sites. This would effectively ban entire domains which would otherwise have a majority of lawful material hosted on it.

The proposed bill gives no safe harbour to Internet providers such as web hosting companies. This means that companies hosting the site with infringing content are seen as acting in concert with whoever uploaded the copy written material on their network, completely side-stepping “presumption of innocence,” a right that should be afforded to every American and every person in the world.
There have also been a number of technically simple workarounds that would completely nullify the goal of the bill. These include redirection services on the DNS level and even a plug-in that is directly integrated into the browser.
In case they would be able to do what they want to do, why did they not take care of all those spammers and fishing companies?

For years, the U.S. government condemned countries like China and Iran for the crackdown on Internet use.
But the impact of the new censorship laws in North America may be even worse – effectively blocking sites for all Internet users around the planet.

Proponents of free speech in the U.S. have already activated the alarm, and some senators are trying to muster enough support to stop this dangerous bill. We have no time to lose. Let’s support them to ensure that lawmakers preserve the right of a free and open Internet as an essential way that people around the world exchange ideas, communicate and work collectively to build the world we want. Subscribe below to prevent censorship in the U.S., and save our Internet.

Today, On January 18, 2012, sites all over the internet will be blacking out to protest and try to mobilize more people to speak out against this bill coming up in the Senate next week — S. 968: the Protect IP Act (PIPA) — in an attempt to let U.S. lawmakers know how much opposition there is.

Image via CrunchBase

WordPress.org, Wikipedia, and even WordPress.com VIP I Can Has Cheezburger? will be participating in the blackout to raise awareness and spur you to action.

Image via Wikipedia

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I am also one of the happy ones who use WordPress and Wikipaedia to write on (not paid for) and to share with others (free of charge).
Using WordPress to blog, to publish, to communicate things online that once upon a time would have been relegated to an unread private journal (or simply remained unspoken, uncreated, unshared) makes you a part of one of the biggest changes in modern history: the democratization of publishing and the independent web.
Every time you click Publish, you are a part of that change, whether you are posting canny political insight or a cat that makes you LOL. How would you feel if the web stopped being so free and independent?

With Jane Wells, Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, and Abigail Phillips of Electronic Frontier Foundation as well as 275 leading industry executives express my opposition to the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) and express my believe that the legislation could severely hamper free speech on the internet.

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You can download a copy of the letter the Save Hosting Coalition, a consortium of businesses in the web hosting and Internet infrastructure industries,  from 275 leading industry executives expressing their opposition to the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA).

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Join WordPress.com Censorship Protest!

Help Stop SOPA/PIPA

275 Internet industry executives sign letter opposing the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA)

Government Threatens Internet Freedom & Privacy Post written by Brandon D.

> Please do find the letter > Petition To Save The Internet

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  I try to avoid delving into the realm of politics here at WolfheadOnline but there is a very important issue that affects almost everyone here in America and in the world. The freedom of the Internet has come under attack by big corporations that have managed to influence American politicians under the guise of “stopping piracy”.If we don’t stop this bill the U.S. Government will start blocking offending sites using the same draconian techniques used by totalitarian regimes and human rights violators such as China, Iran and Syria.
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  It highlights some problems with the bills – that it won’t stop downloading, but will encourage less secure work-arounds by hackers, that it would allow corporations to sue companies that they feel aren’t doing a thorough enough job to try to stop copyright violations on their websites, that other countries may follow in our footsteps, leading to “different internets in different countries” and giving unscrupulous governments powerful tools to hinder free expression, and it points out that corporations already have legislation in place to fight piracy.
• CENSORSHIP-THE MEAT IN THE SOPA and the Protect IP ACT (eatingliberty.wordpress.com)
  I’ve censored the following, in protest of a bill that gives any corporation and the US government the power to censor the internet–a bill that could pass THIS WEEK. To see the uncensored text, and to stop internet censorship, visit:
  http://americancensorship.org/posts/39283/uncensor
• NO to SOPA/PIPA – NO to Internet Censorship (with censored display) (illuminared.wordpress.com)
  Doesn’t SOPA/PIPA violate the Right to Freedom of Speech and Innovation? Doesn’t it show what the U.S Government is actually not meaning what they have proudly claimed Right to Freedom?
  Same thing to the Indian censorship demands by the Government: Doesn’t it violate the Right to Freedom of Speech, and in general Right to Freedom proudly stated in the Indian Constitution? The Internet has always been a free place to exchange views, thoughts, ideals and ideas alike. It has helped in the downfall of many unfaithful and inhumane governments ; eg. the Arab Spring. It helps students, professionals and everyone alike. And they want to censor this beautiful invention?
• Propagandaing (awakeninspiration.wordpress.com)
  I understand that the main ‘goal’ is to stop copy-written items from being abused and overused. But it’s the core idea that is what matters and offends me. It is my opinion that if this bill passes we honestly lose the right to protect our rights to free speech, and privacy, if we are being censored it will not be long before ANYone that speaks out in one way or another will be deleted, and the message or whatever it was or whatever it is that were being relayed would never be known of (such as the Occupy Movement it wouldn’t have become a movement without the media footage {even as little as it was} wouldn’t have been heard if it weren’t for the internet, blogs, Facebook, tweets, all of those places that they are wanting to censor).
• Join The Censorship Protest! (dailyaspects.wordpress.com)

Update on 19 Januari 2012:

• What’s with the blackouts? (iamnotfromhere.wordpress.com)
  For those of you NOT in the US, you may be wondering why there are “blackouts” on websites all over the place. Google.com, Wikipedia and yes, even WordPress. What is going on?
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  SOPA/PIPA just gives companies and the US government too much power.
• January 18th: The Internet Revolts Against SOPA and PIPA and the General Trend Towards the Censorship of the World Wide Web (todayifoundout.com)
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• SOPA & PIPA pt. 2 (chunterfactor.wordpress.com)
  The Internet is an international treaty. Although the computers that make up the Internet are under the jurisdiction of many different countries, and particular parts of its network are governed by these countries’ laws, the Internet in its entirety belongs to the whole world and is without precedent.Only a body with worldwide scope should have the jurisdiction to decide what can or cannot be accessed on the Internet.
• How SOPA Could Kill Libraries (portrayaloftichwi.wordpress.com)
  Someone complains that Wikipedia has posted an article containing information that infringes on their copyright. The library’s ISP blocks access to Wikipedia. Students can no longer use the site to begin their research, librarians can no longer look there for a quick answer, or even a link to a more reputable site for an answer. (This situation could also work for any site that is used for ready reference style questions.)
  A library posts a video from a program on their YouTube channel. In the background, you can hear a radio playing a song. The video is flagged, YouTube is blocked, and instead of just being asked to remove the video, the library is held on copyright infringement charges.
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  two pieces of proposed Great Firewall of America legislation:

  

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• SOPA Outside The U.S.: What it Means for The Rest of The World (currenteditorials.wordpress.com)
  PIPA and SOPA will not stop piracy. There are ways around DNS blocking, and piracy will persist. In truth, the entertainment companies already have the power to fight piracy. They can get a video taken off of YouTube. They can sue companies using their intellectual property without permission. SOPA and PIPA were created to give the media companies the ability to target and take-down previously untouchable foreign piracy sites by blocking their domain and cutting off their revenue. But it includes loopholes that, when abused (consciously or not), would allow the government to effectively censor the internet. This effect would be far-reaching, and would have global ramifications.Say goodbye to your favourite sites.
  To an uninformed judge, social networks like YouTube, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, and SoundCloud might seem like they support piracy due to the amount of copyrighted content that appears on their respective websites. And under SOPA, a website is responsible for any content its users upload, and the government could block any site that contains even one infringing link. Sites such as these would constantly have to worry about the content their users are uploading, posting, and sharing. This is a huge legal burden to carry, and social networks and other similar online sharing services would find it impossible to exist with laws like SOPA and PIPA in place. Those of us outside the U.S. would have to say goodbye to our favorite sites.
• Ask the Attorneys: Intellectual Property & The Web, Part 2 (fracturedatlas.org)
  You have a script, a video camera, and a great performance to launch your web series.
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  Uploading your video content for your web series onto social media websites such as Facebook.com and Youtube.com does not mean that you are relinquishing your copyright ownership. Instead, you are granting these websites a license to use, display and store that content in connection with the services that they provide.
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  Always be sure to review a website’s Terms of Service before uploading your content, since deleting your content from your account usually does not terminate all of the website service’s rights to your content.
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• On Censorship: Millions Say No To SOPA & PIPA…(eof737.wordpress.com)“The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion.” Henry Steele Commager
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• SOPA Will Effect Black Folk,Too (ashy2classy.net)
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• Internet Blackout! (justmejewel.wordpress.com)
  I have learned more, researched many things, hence my dismay about Wikipedia this morning, and I have even reconnected with old friends, some of whom live in other countries!  I know there are people who use the internet for the wrong reasons.  If you ever watch the show “In Session,” you will see the evidence against those sitting in the court room can be traced back to their internet searches.  But I also know that a lot of good comes from the internet as well.  Many school projects have been completed because of the information we were able to obtain through the wonderful world that exists beyond our computer screens.
• Sopa: Another country’s legislation messing with my Internet (journomel.com)
  One analyst provided this metaphor: “Imagine lawmakers saw that bank robbers are using getaway cars, so they banned all cars to cut down on robberies.”
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  So a policy, whipped up in a (admittedly beloved neighbour) country other than my own, affects my access to information.
• A Breakdown of SOPA and PIPA: What It Means For All Of Us…with Videos (grizzlybomb.com)
• Stop SOPA / PIPA (popbytes.com)
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• Don’t Stop Until SOPA & PIPA Are Stopped (greg.org)
  a grave threat to the Internet as a platform for economic, cultural, and political exchange. They are unnecessarily broad and ambiguous and give vast, new, unchecked power to corporations who have consistently lied and misrepresented their case and the supposed threat they face.
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• What Mark Zuckerberg Says About SOPA/PIPA (readwriteweb.com)
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• Stop Censorship! Protect Internet Freedoms! (ansionnachfionn.com)
  The dangerous nature of the proposed US bill is not just an American concern but an international one since it threatens freedoms across the world wide web, and I felt it only right that the site join in with the campaign. As an Irish Republican website An Sionnach Fionn faces its own troubles with would-be censors, so I’m quiet aware of the issue of restricted internet freedoms (yes Facebook, Yahoo, Flickr, et al, I do mean you).
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• Wikipedia to go offline to protest anti-piracy legislation – Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)
• Learn All About SOPA: Why Wiki and WordPress Closed for the Day (buzfairy.com)
  Mashable [link] did an excellent job summarizing the threats of the proposed bills:
• Why Canadians Should Participate in the SOPA/PIPA Protest (michaelgeist.ca)
  … millions of Canadians rely on the legitimate sites that are affected by the legislation. Whether creating a Wikipedia entry, posting a comment on Reddit, running a WordPress blog, participating in an open source software project, or reading a posting on BoingBoing, the lifeblood of the Internet is a direct target of SOPA. If Canadians remain silent, they may ultimately find the sites and services they rely upon silenced by this legislation.
• SOPA/PIPA And A Virtual Blackout (theknockingthrush.wordpress.com)
• What Is SOPA? [Sopa] (gizmodo.com)
  Potential for abuse is rampant. As Public Knowledge points out, Google could easily take it upon itself to delist every viral video site on the internet with a “good faith belief” that they’re hosting copyrighted material. Leaving YouTube as the only major video portal. Comcast (an ISP) owns NBC (a content provider). Think they might have an interest in shuttering some rival domains? Under SOPA, they can do it without even asking for permission….while exacting a huge cost from nearly every site you use daily…
• Wikipedia Blackout: Websites Wikipedia, Reddit, Others Go Dark on Wednesday to Protest SOPA, PIPA (aquariuschannelings.com)
  the devil is in the details, said NetCoalition’s Erickson.

  “This bill reverses the policy that has been in place since the beginning of the Web,” he said, “that Internet companies shouldn’t be liable, nor should they be required to police or snoop on their users.”

• We’re sorry, you’re not allowed to read this. (const4ntinos.com)
  All they have to do is file notice (not prove to a court, but simply file notice) that their copyright has been infringed to a service provider, such as the one which registers the name greenpeace.org on the Internet, and that entity has 5 days to take action to end service to the site.If in fact there was no copyright infringement, the service provider is immune from lawsuit by Greenpeace for taking the site down or suspending any other services.
• Join the Fight Against SOPA and PIPA: immoral US internet legislation that WILL affect you regardless of what country you live in (davidjrodger.wordpress.com)
• All Lathered Up About SOPA (wallstreetpit.com)
• SOPA And PIPA May Cripple The Web Video Ecosystem, Unless We Fight It (reelseo.com)
• Canada would feel effects of U.S. web-piracy laws (cbc.ca)
• SOPA and PIPA: Why the Internet is Going Black (towleroad.com)
• Fab Flash: Senate Bill Targets Knockoffs (fabsugar.com)
• Get Help With IP Infringement From Intellectual Property Lawyers – Law (rawbusinesslaw.com)
  Intellectual property plays an important part in many people’s lives as they spend a lot of time and effort in creating an idea which will help them earn financially. However it is a fact of life that some other people will just come along and steal ideas through counterfeiting and infringem