One year ago today , Internet users of all age , races , and political stripes participated in the heavy protest in Internet chronicle , flooding Congress with millions of email and phone calls to demand they dropthe Stop Online Piracy Act ( SOPA)-a dangerous bill that would have allowed corporations and the govenrment to ban tumid parts of the Web .
But the damage of exemption is eternal vigilance , and the fighting for Internet exemption extend . Here ’s a look at the top five issues SOPA activist should focus on next :
The Electronic Frontier Foundation ( EFF ) is the first phone line of defense against the legion , lasting attacks on net exemption . We may have all team up up to trounce SOPA a yr ago , but the fight ’s not over . And the EFF bed what ’s derive over the sensible horizon better than anyone else .
Stop the Trans Pacific Partnership
After the historic collapse of SOPA , the content industry has claim it wants to shy forth from anymore excessive legislation that could potentially censor the Internet . or else , it has reverse its attention to the external stage . The Trans - Pacific Partnership , well known as TPP , is the in style many-sided barter agreement bear scurrilous right of first publication commissariat that the United States , on behalf of Hollywood and major copyright - holding pursuit , is forcing onto citizen of other countries .
Unfortunately , the accord is being negotiated in complete secrecy and with no popular supervising , so we do n’t even know just what these countries have been debating . luckily , drafts of the agreement have leak , and it ’s at least clear TPP would force countries to drastically lengthen their copyright footing , restrict fair utilization , institute digital locks to keep people from sharing information , and place neat burdens on websites hosting message . Youcan read a elaborated explanationhere . Thisinfographic shows how TPPwill affect nation around the world .
Pleasego to our military action centerto tell your representative in Congress to demand transparency surrounding TPP negotiations .
Demand Patent Reform
late , our reveal patent of invention system has show to be one of the freehanded threat to innovation online . Big technical school company have been locked in billion buck legal patent wars that do nothing for the consumer . Last class , Google and Applespent more on patent suitsthan they did inquiry and developing . Meanwhile , untold numbers of patent lawsuits ( and even mere threats of suits ) ask patent trolls , those who sue outset - ups for vague patents that can ruin their business before it gets commence .
EFF has set up a web page calleddefendinnovation.orgwhere we lay out possible reforms for the letters patent system . you may depart you own comment about how the patent organisation has affected you and sign our petition , which we be after on taking to Congress along with a inclination of reforms .
Reforming Draconian Computer Crime Law
The net has been in mourn this week as one of its true innovators and trailblazer , Aaron Swartz , took his own living at the age 26 . He was , of course , an former developer of the RSS spec , Creative Commons , Reddit , and a multitude of other task . Notably , the SOPA objection likely would not have happened without him . He set up Demand Progress , one of the groups which unionize the blackout .
At the time of his death , Aaron was face a relentless and unfair prosecution underthe outdated and draconian Computer Fraud and Abuse Actfor the supposed “ crime ” using MIT ’s data processor meshing to download millions of academic articles from the on-line archiveJSTOR , allegedly without “ authorization . ” For that , he faced13 felony counts(pdf ) , which carried the possibility of decades in prison house and crippling mulct . His case would have gone to tryout in April .
Stop the new Internet Surveillance Law
There are rumors that the Obama Administration will pop the question a far - reach new Internet surveillance law , dramatically expanding the the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act ( CALEA ) , which forces thrust telephony company to progress a tap - friendly backdoors into all their technology - but not societal meshwork and other web - based communications divine service .
The White House and the FBI have not released what is in the propose legislation , butone report state the FBI wants to requireInternet companies , like Google , Facebook , and Twitter to make the same case of back entrance for veridical - prison term government surveillance . This not only poses a threat to privacy , but cyberspace security department and instauration as well . We need to tell Congress this is unacceptable before it ’s too late .
Protect Cell Phone Location Data
Cell phone localisation data point is some of the most sensitive data one can maybe send out . Your cell headphone sends a signaling back to cell headphone column every seven seconds ; that data , mapped out over twenty-four hours or weeks , can show “ an versed portrait of a somebody ’s familial and professional associations , political and spiritual opinion , even wellness status,”as the New York Times put it .
The government made astaggering 1.3 million requests for that sort of data point last year – and the government consider they can get it without a sanction . The GPS Act , a bill introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden would draw jurisprudence enforcement to get a stock-purchase warrant for this data , just like the Fourth Amendment should require .
Meanwhile , app developer have also been suck up user ’ location info , many meter without the user being aware of that compendium . It paint just as intimate a picture of the great unwashed ’s lives as government trailing does . To that end , Sen. Al Frankenhas introduced a bill to restrictand regulate the practice so users are well inform and protected when give this type of entropy to private companies . In improver , EFFhas also written a Mobile Privacy Bill of Rights , serving as a best practices guide that developers should follow when write applications for cell earphone .
Republished from theElectronic Frontier Foundation
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