Reddit Drafts “The Freedom of Internet Act”

Unsatisfied with Washington’s parade of corporate sell-out politicians, Reddit users have taken it upon themselves to draft legislation in place of SOPA and PIPA. Using a Google Doc open for anyone to help write and edit, they’ve come up with a draft version of “The Freedom of Internet Act”.

The act addresses some basic tenets they’ve set forth, but these proclamations are subject to change as this is a living document:

• Censorship – No government of any form presiding over any land, people, or assets in any form within the United States of America shall pass any law, nor ratify any treaty, which imposes or administers any kind of censorship on the Internet, except content found to be illegal content in accordance with this act.
• Culpability – Only the creator or uploader of data is responsible for whether that data is legal to upload, possess or make available to other users or information services.
• Restrictions on the Internet - No federal union or sovereign state may pass unilateral restrictions on the Internet.
• Content removal - Notice must be given to an administrator of the information system and to the uploader of the content within at least 30 days in advance of any deletion of data from any information system or service, or within 24 hours of the transfer of the data in question from publicly accessible storage to privately accessible storage.
• Judicial proceedings - Anyone undergoing judicial proceedings based on this document must be judged in the courts of the nation where the alleged offence was committed.
• Appropriate punishment - TBD
• Rights of the user – Addresses right to anonymity, privacy, use of proxies, encryption without fear of discrimination or suspicion.
• Liability and Settlement of Copyright Infringement Claim - All calculations related to this are to be carried out in a consumer, retail, individual level pricing upon which the production cost, marketing cost will not influence, capped at 200% of calculated damage.

The sub-Reddit page for FIA is located here, where it was created by a user named “RoyalwithCheese22”

The act seeks to protect transformative works taken from copyrighted materials, such as mash-ups, memes and other types of content shared on sites like Reddit, YouTube, Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter. It also aims to address issues at an international level not just in the U.S.

1) If an individual resided in more than one country when committing violation(s) of this document, they shall be judged based on their physical location at the time of the offence.

2) The individual in question may demand extradition to their country of residence or citizenship, where they must then be tried for the listed offences. The court proceeding shall judge the crime as if the offence had been committed in his country of residence or citizenship during the event of the crime.

3) No person is to be extradited, deported or forced to leave, nor forcibly taken from a country for the need of legal proceedings. Any legal proceeding must be conducted in the country of which the crime was committed.

The Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act Would Record All Your Online Activity

So We all thought SOPA/PIPA was bad, huh? Well say hello to the Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act, the big bill that has very little to do with protecting children and everything to do with the federal government monitoring your every keystroke when you are on the internet.

The bill was actually passed last year by the House and largely ignored by the same corporate media that largely ignored SOPA and PIPA until the internet decided to force the issue.

The majority of backers for SOPA and PIPA have reserved course and dropped support for the bills since the denizens of the internet voiced their outrage loud and clear. Some may have seen this as a victory but the Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act reminds us that the fight is far from over.

Misleading title aside this bill is far worse than SOPA and PIPA and not so ironically has the same exact sponsor, one Senator Lamar Smith of Texas. The bill requires ISPs to store customer’s names, phone numbers, search history, credit card numbers, bank account numbers and temporarily assigned IP addresses for at least one year. Privacy laws? We don’t need no stinking privacy laws.

While SOPA and PIPA have been shelved indefinitely the battle for internet freedom is hardly over and now is the time to fight harder than ever against an out of control government that seeks to undermine the very ideals that define this country.

 

Anonymous Launches Largest Attack Ever

In response to the Department of Justice taking down the popular file sharing site Megaupload Anonymous launched #OpMegaupload. On their blog anonops.blogspot.com they announced that the op was their largest attack ever, crippling government and music industry sites including the ones for the Department of Justice, Universal Music Group, RIAA and the Motion Picture Association of America.

The outrage and subsequent protests over the threat that SOPA and PIPA are to the internet have caused some members of Congress as well as some online based companies to change their stances on the controversial Acts, but the raid on Megaupload proved that the feds don’t need SOPA or PIPA in order to impose their will on the internet.

That being the case it appears Anonymous has sent a message loud and clear to the federal government and any entity for that matter that seeks to restrict the freedom of the internet.

 

Anonymous Retaliates Against Feds for Shutting Down Megaupload

Internet freedom fighting group Anonymous, have apparently crashed the Justice Department website in retaliation for prosecutors shutting down the popular file-sharing site, Megaupload.com.

“The government takes down Megaupload? 15 minutes later Anonymous takes down government & record label sites,” the group tweeted.

A Justice Department spokesman did not confirm whether the agency was a victim of a cyberattack, but justice.gov was not loading as of Thursday afternoon.

Anonymous also claimed to have crashed the site of Universal Music, which was also failing to load.

Prosecutors seized Megaupload.com on Thursday and charged seven of its employees with criminal copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit racketeering and other charges.

The crackdown came just one day after a massive online protest against the Stop Online Piracy and Protect IP Acts (SOPA/PIPA), both of which would dramatically expand the power of the federal government to shut down websites accused of infringing on copyrights.

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

Anonymous Calls For National Day of Resistance

TRANSCRIPT
____________

Citizens of the United States,
We are Anonymous.

This message is an immediate call for a day of action. On February 3rd, the collective is calling upon the citizens of the united states to protest against the new sections in the national defense authorization act that were passed a short while ago. While we cannot force the american people to protest, we must tell them that this law will strip away any rights they thought they had including, but not limited to, Free speech, Free press, Free access to information, and the right to protest, assemble, and bear arms. This law cannot be changed according to the Feinstein Act.

Sections Ten thirty one and ten thirty two of the national defense authorization act have been passed and ratified. It grants unlimited powers to the executive branch of the government to indefinitly detain suspects, even American citizens, without trial. All a person has to do is to commit a belligerent act.

What is a belligerent act? Is protesting a belligerent act? Is being Anonymous a belligerent act?

This is where we draw the line. This is when we leave our computers. This is when we take out our masks and defy the corrupt rule of law.

This is when we revolt.
The time has come for you to accept the truth and join us in overthrowing yet another corrupt military regime.

Operation Blackout, engaged.

We are Anonymous.
We are Legion.
we do not Forgive.
we do not Forget.
To the United States government, you should’ve expected us.

Six GOP Co-Sponsors of the Protect IP Act Ask Sen. Reid to Cancel Vote

Six Republican Senators have asked Majority Leader Harry Reid to cancel a vote on the Senate version of SOPA, the Protect IP Act or PIPA.

In a letter to Reid they write, “Prior to committee action, some members expressed substantive concerns about the bill, and there was a commitment to resolve them prior to floor consideration. That resolution has not yet occurred.”

The grassroots activism of those opposed to SOPA, led by groups like Fight for the Future, EFF, Public Knowledge, and Demand Progress seems to have had some impact. The Senators also write “Since the mark-up, we have increasingly heard from a large number of constituents and other stakeholders with vocal concerns about possible unintended consequences of the proposed legislation, including breaches in cybersecurity, damaging the integrity of the Internet, costly and burdensome litigation, and dilution of First Amendment rights.”

Senators Charles Grassley, Orrin Hatch, Jeff Sessions, John Cornyn, Mike Lee, and Tom Coburn signed the letter.

Here’s the text of the letter. PDF is here.

January 13, 2012

Dear Majority Leader Reid:

We write to express our concerns with your decision to file cloture on the motion to proceed to the PROTECT IP Act (S, 968), We strongly believe that the theft of American intellectual property is a significant problem that must be addressed to protect property rights. However, for both substantive and procedural reasons, the process at this point is moving too quickly and this step may be premature.

As you know, on May 26. 2011. the Senate Judiciary- Committee favorably reported the bill by voice vote. Prior to committee action, some members expressed substantive concerns about the bill, and there was a commitment to resolve them prior to floor consideration. That resolution has not yet occurred.

Since the mark-up, we have increasingly heard from a large number of constituents and other stakeholders with vocal concerns about possible unintended consequences of the proposed legislation, including breaches in cybersecurity, damaging the integrity of the Internet, costly and burdensome litigation, and dilution of First Amendment rights. Moreover, in light of potential cybersecurity implications, we believe hearing from the Administration and relevant agencies is imperative, As always, our current fiscal crisis demands we carefully consider legislation that would cost taxpayers up to $48 million according to the Congressional Budget Office, These are serious issues that must be considered in an informed, deliberative and responsible manner. This underscores the need to resolve as many outstanding concerns as possible prior to proceeding to floor consideration.

Furthermore, we want to ensure that S. 968 will be afforded full and fair consideration on the Senate floor. It is important that the bill be fully debated and amendments not limited. We would like a firm commitment that once the Senate considers S. 968, the amendment process will be open, with senators being able to offer their amendments without the filling of the amendment tree, and that cloture will not be prematurely filed on the bin.

We are all in agreement that the online distribution and sale of pirated content and counterfeit goods impose a huge cost on the American economy in terms of lost jobs, lost sales, lost innovation and lost income. We also believe, however, that we need to arrive at the right solution in the right way on this important issue. To do so, we must have adequate time to properly analyze and resolve these concerns to the best extent possible prior to proceeding to the bill.

While we remain fully committed to addressing outstanding issues with S. 968, we believe that, at this point, the scheduled consideration of the bill on January 24, 2012, may not permit Oslo work through many of the concems that have been raised.

Sincerely,

Charles Grassley, Orrin Hatch, Jeff Sessions, John Cornyn, Mike Lee, Tom Coburn

 

While this isn’t necessarily a victory it does grant those actively working to protect freedom and the internet more time to educate others on the dangers of PIPA/SOPA and garner more opposition.

Reddit Plans Jan. 18th Blackout in Protest of SOPA/PIPA

In a blog post, community news-sharing site Reddit announced that it will be shutting down normal operations on January 18 in protest of the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA).

From the blog post:

The freedom, innovation, and economic opportunity that the Internet enables is in jeopardy. Congress is considering legislation that will dramatically change your Internet experience and put an end to reddit and many other sites you use everyday. Internet experts, organizations, companies, entrepreneurs, legal experts, journalists, and individuals have repeatedly expressed how dangerous this bill is. If we do nothing, Congress will likely pass the Protect IP Act (in the Senate) or the Stop Online Piracy Act (in the House), and then the President will probably sign it into law. There are powerful forces trying to censor the Internet, and a few months ago many people thought this legislation would surely pass. However, there’s a new hope that we can defeat this dangerous legislation.

We’ve seen some amazing activism organized by redditors at /r/sopa and across the reddit community at large. You have made a difference in this fight; and as we near the next stage, and after much thought, talking with experts, and hearing the overwhelming voices from the reddit community, we have decided that we will be blacking out reddit on January 18th from 8am–8pm EST (1300–0100 UTC).

If passed, SOPA would allow the U.S. Department of Justice and copyright holders to seek court orders against foreign and domestic websites that enable or facilitate copyright infringement. Accused websites would be removed from search engine results, barred from online advertising networks, and blocked from payment processing networks. Sites like Facebook, Wikipedia, YouTube and Reddit could be crippled for hosting or linking user-uploaded content that potentially infringes on copyrights.

The bill would also make the unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content, such as a song or TV show, a crime punishable by up to five years in prison.

Reddit’s planned 12-hour blackout coincides with a congressional hearing on SOPA, at which tech and security leaders, including Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, will air their grievances toward SOPA and PIPA.

During the downtime, Reddit will stream the hearing and display a statement on why this legislation would mean the end of user-generated content sites.

Last month, Reddit user selfprodigy started a boycott against domain-hosting company GoDaddy, for supporting SOPA. Selfprodigy asked domain holders to transfer their websites to other hosting companies. The next day, GoDaddy withdrew its support for SOPA citing a spike in domain name transfers.

On Twitter, reactions to the Reddit blackout have been overwhelmingly positive. The hacker group Anonymous came out in support of Reddit, tweeting a link to the blog post announcing the blackout.

In December, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales considered a site-wide black out to demonstrate what the site might look like should this legislation pass. The blackout never happened, but Wales did withdraw Wikipedia and Wikia domains from GoDaddy as part of the December boycott.

Some suggest that the Reddit blackout could lead to more collective efforts against SOPA. According to VentureBeat, “there have been rumblings that Google, Twitter and Facebook are also planning a collective protest effort against SOPA and PIPA.”