Stop Internet Censorship

[Guest guest]

One of the first things to be attacked is unconventional health/medical advice.

Years ago the Food & Drug Administration got a unit to monitor the internet in the name of regulating om line pharmacies. This IS alternative health related.

arnold

Subject: Bieber Is So Like 'WTF?'

Stand Against Online Censorship

Dear Blake,

Bieber is pissed off about Internet censorship and you should be, too.

What's made Bieber so angry? A bill in Congress that could rip apart the open fabric of the Internet.

Stand with against censorship

The “Stop Online Piracy Act†or SOPA gives corporations the power to blacklist websites at will. And it violates the due process rights of the thousands of users who could see their sites disappear from the Internet. The crime? Doing something as innocent as posting videos of themselves singing along to their favorite songs.1

These are the sort of heavy-handed tactics you’d expect to see in China, not from the U.S. Congress. SOPA (HR 3261) not only lets companies silence websites but also allows banks to freeze financial deposits to the accounts of website owners, potentially forcing falsely accused Internet enterprises out of business.

The bill was intended to discourage illegal copyright violations, but it addresses this problem by giving corporations way too much authority over the way the Internet works. It deputizes the private sector with the power to disconnect the URLs of any websites corporations contend are behaving improperly.

The consequences for free speech online are grave. Imagine your kid sister creates a "fansite" featuring videos of her singing Swift songs into a hairbrush. The bill not only gives Swift’s record label the authority to “disappear†your sister’s site from the Web but could also land her in jail, where she would face severe penalties and long prison time.

Bieber called SOPA "ridiculous." He added that "people need to have the freedom... to sing songs," and that any member of Congress who supports this bill "needs to be locked up — put away in cuffs." 2

We’re not so sure about the handcuffs. But at the very least Congress should kill this bill:

Tell your representative, Dave Loebsack, to stop SOPA in its tracks.

A Senate version of SOPA, called the Protect IP Act, passed committee approval in the spring following a massive push by film and music industry lobbyists. These lobbyists are back, but now Silicon Valley companies and venture capitalists have joined forces with civil liberties groups, independent musicians and free speech advocates to stop the bill.

If this is allowed to stand, we could see the private sector’s authority expand to a point that undermines the fundamental openness of the Internet.

We can’t let corporations become the Internet police. SOPA must be stopped.

Karr Campaign Director Free Press www.freepress.net www.savetheInternet.com

P.S. Great news: If we raise $300,000 by Dec. 31, 2011, two longtime supporters will kick in an additional $300,000. Donate today and your gift will pack double the punch in the fight for better media. Thank you!

1. Allworth, “The Great Firewall of America,†Harvard Business Review, Oct. 28, 2011: http://act2.freepress.net/go/7026?akid=2981.9495612.6jVdjq & t=8

2. Toby Knapp, “ Bieber Calls out a Member of Congress over So-Called ‘Bieber Bill,'" Hot 99.5, Oct. 27, 2011: http://act2.freepress.net/go/7063?akid=2981.9495612.6jVdjq & t=10

-- -- Best regards,Eileen DannemannDirector, National Coalition of Organized Womenwww.ProgressiveConvergence.comwww.VaccineLiberationArmy.com319 855-0307To remove from e list: Hit reply with Remove in the subject.