Internet Freedom

The Real Power Of Twitter Activism

April 1, 2014 Maryam Jamshidi, www.medium.com Strategize! Activism, Democracy, Internet Freedom

Some may believe you need to wear a suit and stalk the corridors of government to actually engage in politics. But, for the influential political theorist Hannah Arendt, “real politics” takes place almost anywhere people come together to speak and act in concert. On Arendt’s terms, politics is not a function of voting at a ballot box or passing a piece of legislation. It is a form of human togetherness in which people bravely come out from the shadows and into the public sphere, to reveal their thoughts and actions to one another. Of course, much of what happens on Twitter has little to do with grassroots activism, let alone the kind of speech and action that can bring about broad institutional change or generate meaningful political influence. But, the exceptions are becoming more and more common, as tweets turn into national debates about racism and privilege.

The Internet Should Be A Public Utility

April 1, 2014 Susan Crawford, www.vox.com Create! Internet Freedom

We need a public option for internet access because internet access is just like electricity or a road grid. This is something that the private market doesn't provide left to its own devices. What they'll do is systematically provide extraordinarily expensive services for the richest people in America, leave out a huge percentage of the population and, in general, try to make their own profits at the expense of social good. When it comes to fiber penetration — that’s the world class kind of network we should have — we’re behind Sweden, Estonia, Korea, Hong Kong, Japan. A whole host of other developed countries. We should be looking the rest of the world in the rearview mirror. Instead, for more than 77% of Americans, their only choice for a high capacity connection is their local cable monopoly.

This Is OUR Moment. It’s Time To Realize OUR Power

March 30, 2014 Staff, www.resetthenet.org Resist! Internet Freedom, NSA, Privacy, Surveillance

It is Time for US to Reset The Net; Not To Ask For Our Privacy but to Take It Back. This is about freedom. When governments steal our data and invade our private lives, they change how we think, how we express ourselves, and how much power they have over us. Luckily, we’re stronger than they are. On June 5th, websites, organizations, and thousands of people are closing the door on the mass surveillance by resetting the net. Together, we'll turn off the parts of the web that governments have infected, and bring them back with new armor that directly confronts the spying. We'll make the Internet ours again, for all of our thoughts and dreams. No one can stop us now. Now that we know how bulk surveillance programs work, we know they have a weakness . . .

Tech Companies Tell Wyden: Oppose Any Form Of TPP “Fast Track”

March 23, 2014 Staff, www.fightforthefuture.org Resist! Free Trade Agreements, Internet Freedom, TPP

More than 25 leading tech companies and startups have joined a public letter urging Senator Ron Wyden, the newly appointed Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, to firmly oppose any form of “fast track” authority for trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and to demand transparency and an opportunity for public participation in negotiations that affect Internet freedom, free speech, and the tech economy. “These highly secretive, supranational agreements are reported to include provisions that vastly expand on any reasonable definition of ‘trade,’ including provisions that impact patents, copyright, and privacy in ways that constrain legitimate online activity and innovation,” the companies write. The letter continues: “Our industry, and the users that we serve, need to be at the table from the beginning,” which has not been the case with TPP negotiations.

Edward Snowden: Here’s How We Take Back The Internet

March 19, 2014 Chris Anderson, www.ted.com Educate! Edward Snowden, Internet Freedom, NSA, Video

Appearing by telepresence robot, Edward Snowden speaks at TED2014 about surveillance and Internet freedom. The right to data privacy, he suggests, is not a partisan issue, but requires a fundamental rethink of the role of the internet in our lives — and the laws that protect it. "Your rights matter,” he says, "because you never know when you're going to need them." Chris Anderson interviews, with special guest Tim Berners-Lee. In 2013 Edward Snowden leaked thousands of classified American National Security Agency documents, sparking a global conversation about citizens' rights to privacy on the Internet.

The Rebranding of SOPA

March 15, 2014 Staff, www.techdirt.com Educate! Internet Freedom, SOPA

First, as was pointed out in the 5 myths piece, content itself is not illegal. It's actions concerning a piece of content. So, by doing a notice and staydown, you're guaranteeing that perfectly legitimate uses -- including both licensed uses and fair uses -- get blocked as well. That's because to determine if something is infringing, you have to view it in the full context. No matter how much some copyright maximalists want to believe that copyright is a strict liability law, it is not. The very same content may be infringing in some cases and not infringing in others. Not checking the context of each use would clearly block forms of perfectly legitimate expression. That's a big problem.

Reset the Net to Shut Off NSA Spying

March 12, 2014 Fight for the Future, www.resetthenet.org Educate! Internet Freedom

Governments have twisted the Internet into something it was never intended to be: a system for invading our private lives. We're fighting back and demanding needed reforms, but we don’t have to to wait while politicians promise change. We won’t stop the spying in a single day, but we can take the first steps toward making mass surveillance impossible and restoring human rights to the web. On June 5th, we will reset the Internet, turn off the parts that governments have invaded, put on new armor, and come back stronger than ever before.

Shadow Of Liberty: Machinations Of Concentrated Media

March 1, 2014 Dan Cantagallo and Jean-Philippe Tremblay, www.thoughtmaybe.com Educate! Internet Freedom, Media

Ninety percent of American media is controlled by five big, for-profit-conglomerates, creating a media monopoly of informational and social control never before possible. The overwhelming collective power of these firms raises troubling questions about democracy. Using a handful of in-depth cases out of a vast array of examples, speaking with renowned journalists, activists, and others, Shadows of Liberty reveals the hidden machinations of the news media, drawing into focus the vast mechanisms of censorship, cover-ups, and corporate control that have been built up over many decades. Journalists are prevented from pursuing controversial news stories, people are censored for speaking out against abuses of government power, and individual lives are shattered as the arena for public expression has been turned into a vessel for advertising, warmongering and distraction.

UK and US Intelligence Grabs Millions Of Webcam Images

March 1, 2014 Spencer Ackerman and James Ball, www.thegguardian.com Educate! Internet Freedom, NSA, Surveillance

Britain's surveillance agency GCHQ, with aid from the US National Security Agency, intercepted and stored the webcam images of millions of internet users not suspected of wrongdoing, secret documents reveal. GCHQ files dating between 2008 and 2010 explicitly state that a surveillance program codenamed Optic Nerve collected still images of Yahoo webcam chats in bulk and saved them to agency databases, regardless of whether individual users were an intelligence target or not. In one six-month period in 2008 alone, the agency collected webcam imagery – including substantial quantities of sexually explicit communications – from more than 1.8 million Yahoo user accounts globally. Yahoo reacted furiously to the webcam interception when approached by the Guardian.

How To Take On Comcast In Your Neighborhood

February 28, 2014 Christopher, www.muninetworks.org Create! Corporatism, Economic Democracy, Internet Freedom

While Comcast focuses on increasing its market power rather than improving services in the communities it monopolizes, no one should be surprised that we are seeing a surge in interest for building community owned networks. We've heard from many people who want to learn how they can start - more than we can always respond to, unfortunately. We are working on a resource to answer many of those questions, but it always boils down to 2 things: building a supportive network of people and getting informed. Get the word out - especially to local business leaders and anyone else who may be supportive. There are many potential business models and financing opportunities, but some will work better than others in each community. That said, there are some basics that every community should be immediately considering.

Why The Comcast-Netflix Deal Should Worry You

February 24, 2014 Craig Aaron and S. Derek Turner, www.freepress.net Educate! Corporatism, Internet Freedom

On Sunday, Netflix agreed to pay Comcast an undisclosed amount to ensure that its videos stream smoothly to Comcast customers. But fans of Francis Underwood’s manipulations on House of Cards might want to temper their celebrations. This is more than a deal between two giant companies: It will affect everyone who uses the Internet. And as with so many things involving Comcast, consumers will end up paying for it in the end. The deal should also be a wake-up call to regulators who are weighing the proposed Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger and grappling with what to do about Net Neutrality. And if the game of chicken that preceded this pact becomes the norm, it will be a disaster for the future of online video.

Surveillance Puts A Damper On Democratic Dissent

February 23, 2014 K. Titchenell, www.PopularResistance.org Educate! Democracy, Internet Freedom, NSA, Privacy, Surveillance

Though the highly repressive Stasi and Securitate strove to surveil and censor all communications in East Germany and Romania respectively, the efficacy and extent of those campaigns pales into rather feeble and ineffectual insignificance when compared to the unprecedented scope, depth and rigor of current comprehensive and indiscriminate network information sweeps. Not only were the spying efforts of East Germany and Romania limited by highly labor intensive systems to what could be eavesdropped upon by an army of full-time operatives, but the means to collect, store, search and scrutinize data collected was pitifully plodding and primitive when compared with that which is now in use. Not only can modern electronic eavesdroppings -- every word said or written, heard or read, every place visited, purchase made -- be archived and searched in retrospect and perpetuity . . .

Thousands Protest New Internet Law In Turkey

February 8, 2014 Staff, www.rt.com Resist! Internet Freedom, Police abuse, Türkiye

Turkish police have fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse crowds of protesters rallying against “draconian” internet laws approved by parliament. Police approached the crowd along Istanbul's Istiklal Avenue and fired water cannons from behind armored vehicles as protesters tried to march to the city’s main square. "Everywhere is bribery, everywhere is corruption," protesters chanted. As riot police fired water cannons at protesters, some of them responded by throwing stones or setting off fireworks aimed at law enforcement officers. The new bill was passed late Wednesday by the parliament dominated by the Erdogan’s AKP party. If the president approves the legislation, it would give authorities the power to block web pages without a court order within just hours.

Popular Resistance Newsletter – People-Powered Media Beats Corporate Media

February 7, 2014 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.popularresistance.org Newsletter Internet Freedom, Media, NSA, Tar Sands, TPP

We are in the midst of an era of media transition. The corporate media is facing tremendous financial, employee and audience challenges. At the root of their problem is credibility. A 2013 Gallup poll found only 1 in 4 Americans trust television or newspaper news. At the same time technology has given rise to a new people-powered media. People can now turn their telephones into a video outlet and their social networks into a newspaper. Cities have groups like the DC Media group, citizen activists from the occupy movement, or like the Media Mobilizing Project in Philadelphia building media teams. And, through activist organizations, news that is not covered in the media is shared widely.

International Day Of Protest: STOP WATCHING US

February 3, 2014 Staff, revolution-news.com Resist! Edward Snowden, Internet Freedom, Privacy

Never before has the level of daily monitoring been so clear to so many. With the recent revelations brought to light from former NSA security contractor Edward Snowden and the many whistle blowers before him, the world is opening its eyes to the reality that everything we do in a digital format is collected by Governmental bodies like the NSA and GCHQ, but also by private security corporations and used to form a digital fingerprint of our every keystroke, often in complete secrecy and without any oversight.

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