From our friend, Tina Lee, at ZeroDivide. Read more here.
Artists against SOPA/PIPA
We’re excited to be part of a letter put together by a handful of individuals within the creative community to highlight the harms of PIPA and SOPA, and their belief in continued openness of the Internet. These are musicians, actors, and authors that the vast majority of Americans have welcomed into their lives and by virtue, into their homes.
Like all of us, these artists are keenly aware of the harms posed by copyright infringement, but wish to highlight for lawmakers that this legislation -- which is being moved through Congress at an alarming pace -- goes too far, threatening an ecosystem they rely on to reach their current fans and find new ones.
At a time when music sales are at an all time high due to distribution methods that rely on the Internet, and entertainment spending across the board is up 15% over the last decade, it is important to remember that the web continues to open up new markets and new possibilities every day. And that our favorite content creators have been able to harness that power in ways that would never have been imaginable 20 years ago.
We all must urge the Senate and House to carefully consider the ramifications of their actions and engage everyone impacted by this legislation to ensure we are protecting rightsholders’ creations
and
the platforms they (and we) rely on.
Censorship Around the World
While we’ve been fighting SOPA and PIPA, other countries around the world are also waging battles against the dire consequences of internet censorship.
The oppressive regime in Belarus set a new law into effect today which tightens the already strict regulation of internet use by making it illegal for Belarussians to visit foreign websites. The Eastern European country established an extreme level of control over internet use last year when it issued Presidential Decree No. 60 , under which ISPs are required to block access to certain types of content and specific URLs – which are so far not disclosed to the public. A similar, US version of this legislation – the Communications Decency Act of 1996 - sparked controversy in the mid-90’s and was eventually overturned for violating First Amendment rights.
The new law is ostensibly to regulate online commerce – that is, making sure only domestic domains are used to provide online services – and violating it will result in a misdemeanor with a fine not to exceed the equivalent of about $125. However, the implications could be much more serious than a slap on the wrist and a small fine. The law requires that internet cafes and individuals providing internet access to other parties be responsible for any illegal browsing or e-commerce, and failure to report illegal usage of foreign sites could result in the business being shut down. This kind of excessive punishment essentially discourages public internet use. The government also has authorization to change and add to the list of banned sites – a level of governmental control that civil rights groups are distressed by ( Freedom House rates Belarus’ press freedom “not free” with “substantial political censorship”).
Meanwhile, Spain has passed anti-piracy legislation remarkably similar to the SOPA bill. Under the new Sinde law , a special commission will be formed to react to copyright infringement complaints made by rightsholders. Slightly less draconian than SOPA, the websites will have ten days to remove the infringing material before being shut down. However, the bill has generated major opposition in Spain to what people see as a misleading law enacted for the benefit of Hollywood.
These battles mark crucial junctions for the future of open internet. Just as the rejection of the Communications Decency Act was a pivotal moment in the creation of an unrestricted and dynamic internet landscape back in 1996, laws like Decree No. 60, Sinde, and SOPA/PIPA could set the tone for a more closed, stifled, and creatively impoverished world wide web.
SOPA Markup on Hold. Now What?
In an unexpected move this morning, the House Judiciary Committee voted to suspend the markup of the hotly-contested Stop Online Piracy Act until the "next reasonable business day." To the 10,180 of you who (as of this writing) have made phone calls to your respective legislators, consider the beginning of this post a hearty, well-deserved congratulatory pat on the back.
The good news is that we now have more time to sway more hearts and minds on the committee and in the Congress and educate them as to why SOPA is such bad legislation in its current form.
The bad news is, the next meeting could be as early as Tuesday.
Let's keep the pressure on. Your voice is working. We heard that loud and clear in the halls of Congress this week. Now is the time to double down, make another phone call and let Congress know that as it stands right now, we stand united against SOPA and for finding a new way forward.
You can make a call right now at engineadvocacy.org/voice and now is the perfect time to let Congress know you won't stand for an internet that is easily censored and made insecure.
Thank you for your work so far, and for the work we all will do over the next weeks and months. The tide is turning in our favor, so stand up, keep fighting, and together we can protect the this essential resource in our lives.
UPDATE: Chairman Smith has scheduled the next round of markup for next Wednesday, December 21st according to multiple sources.
Internet Censorship in Malaysia
We’ve heard through third parties that there have been a number of inquiries from both the Malaysian government and in-country press expressing disapproval for our having included their nation in our ad on Wednesday. They object to being listed along with China and Iran as example governments who have been known to censor Internet traffic within their borders.
We included Malaysia in this list because it recently ordered various sites to be blocked for copyright reasons without meaningful due process for the affected sites -- just as the current versions of SOPA and PIPA in the United States would propose to do.
The Malaysian government's desire to stop large-scale, commercial piracy is an admirable goal, and one that we agree with, but site blocking is not the right way to do it -- it censors legal content unnecessarily (like the legitimate artists who use sites Megaupload to distribute their works); it is ineffective; and it threatens the security and integrity of the Internet.
By putting Malaysia in between China and Iran in that sentence, we did not mean to imply that its level of censorship and repression of free expression is akin to theirs. That would be a false comparison. To our knowledge, Malaysia's action in this particular instance of copyright is a break from their history of fostering ICT development.
It is our hope that Malaysia will take steps to ensure it has no place on this list.
Stand with Tech Entrepreneurs; Call Congress now to Stop SOPA
Today, 17 Web luminaries sent a letter to Congress opposing SOPA - the Internet censoring, innovation killing copyright legislation.
Will you stand with them and call Congress now.
Please spread the word to friends too - SOPA is heading for a committee vote tomorrow, so time is of the essence. The founders' letter will run as print ads, full page in today's New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Washington Times, Roll Call, The Hill, Politico, and CQ. You will not be able to pick up a paper in the DC area (or, really, many other places) without reading this letter. There will also be an online ad on CNET, TechCrunch, Gigaom, and Mashable, and Politico already has a story up. The ads point to a call Congress alert run by Engine Advocacy: http://stopthewall.us/
Tumblr Staff: SOPA Update
This weekend, we hosted a meeting at Tumblr HQ with top technology companies, politicians and advocacy groups to coordinate our effort to reform or prevent the well-intentioned but deeply flawed Stop Online Piracy Act from becoming law. You guys have already made a huge impact in Washington, but...
Benetech: Why I'm Scared of SOPA
So, we shouldn’t have anything to fear from a bill entitled “Stop Online Piracy Act,” right? Unfortunately, that’s not the case.
Keep the Web #OPEN
One of the main criticisms Hollywood has levied at Silicon Valley throughout the SOPA/PIPA debate is "Hey, it's not a perfect bill but it's not like you guys are offering better solutions."
The esteemed gentleman from California (and a few friends) beg to differ.
Today, Congressman Darrell Issa launched KeepTheWebOPEN.com, a site on which he invites public comment on his proposed Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act, which is envisioned as a more sensible option to protect copyright online by using international trade laws as enforcement mechanisms.
You can visit the website, read the proposed bill in full and add your voice to what you would like to see in the proposed legislation at the same time. So take a look, and do what you can to keep the web #OPEN.
