(no subject)
Dear Internet Users:
I don't ask this often, but please take a look at Demandprogress.org and americancensorship.org to find about an attempt to change the legislation that allows the internet to function as a whole within this country. If it passes the content "protection" laws it institutes will allow content providers vast draconian powers, rivaling China in scope. Users would have little to no legal recourse under this bill.
I know many of you may not agree with me on a normal basis, but altering the fundamental basis the internet is built on, to a system where innovation and free speech are stymied, this cannot be allowed to happen. Whatever your political leaning, we should all be allowed to still use the internet for free speech. Even if it is to trade political, religious, or moral jabs with each other. That should be up to us to decide, not the government, or worse yet corporations.
If passed, this could be the start of a terrible trend for free speech and the Internet as a whole.
To quote Niemoller:
"First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me"
If we lose this, we take the first step down a very slippery road that none can say exactly where it will end nor can we total what may be lost.
I try not to fan the flames like this too much or often, but sometimes it becomes necessary. Copy this to your status here on LJ, on Facebook, resend it on Twitter if that's your thing. Spread the word. Let the world know what is being attempted. The worst thing we can do is be silent. A voice lost now may not be recovered. American Censorship Day is tomorrow, the 16th.
I don't ask this often, but please take a look at Demandprogress.org and americancensorship.org to find about an attempt to change the legislation that allows the internet to function as a whole within this country. If it passes the content "protection" laws it institutes will allow content providers vast draconian powers, rivaling China in scope. Users would have little to no legal recourse under this bill.
I know many of you may not agree with me on a normal basis, but altering the fundamental basis the internet is built on, to a system where innovation and free speech are stymied, this cannot be allowed to happen. Whatever your political leaning, we should all be allowed to still use the internet for free speech. Even if it is to trade political, religious, or moral jabs with each other. That should be up to us to decide, not the government, or worse yet corporations.
If passed, this could be the start of a terrible trend for free speech and the Internet as a whole.
To quote Niemoller:
"First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me"
If we lose this, we take the first step down a very slippery road that none can say exactly where it will end nor can we total what may be lost.
I try not to fan the flames like this too much or often, but sometimes it becomes necessary. Copy this to your status here on LJ, on Facebook, resend it on Twitter if that's your thing. Spread the word. Let the world know what is being attempted. The worst thing we can do is be silent. A voice lost now may not be recovered. American Censorship Day is tomorrow, the 16th.