[kode]

Internet censorship...in the US?

It's more likely than you think.

[Snail]

nice one

[Klaustrophobia]

this reminds me of the "internet kill switch" mess that was flying around for a bit a while ago.  i guess blacklisting is slightly better than that idea. 

as for using google or other DNS servers to bypass, what makes you think the law won't require them to deny the same sites?  even if workarounds DO work, saying "it's not really going to be effective anyway" is hardly a justification for having a law.

[Grizzly]

He who fights monsters...

[Charismatic]

Anyway, censorship is bad.

 

[Thaeris]

BRETHEREN AND SISTEREN! IT IS NOT YET OVER!

To my horror, I looked in my inbox today and found this:

Thaeris--

Thanks to your help, we got the Internet blacklist bill tabled until after the election. But now the big guys are fighting back: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce just sent a letter demanding the Senate pass the bill as soon as they come back in November.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is one of the most powerful groups in Washington -- you may have heard about the $75 million they're spending this year to get their favorite politicians elected. That's on top of hundreds of millions they've already spent on lobbyists. If they're going to take us on, we need to fight back.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce draws support from local businesses all across the country who join through local chambers of commerce. Many of these locals have no idea about the extreme agenda their money is supporting. So we're letting them know -- and pressuring them to quit today.

Can you write a letter to your local chamber? It just takes a second -- click here.

It's not just the Internet blacklist bill the Chamber has been pushing for. They've fought to let ISPs block BitTorrent and even tried to stop a treaty letting blind people share ebooks ("[it] creates a bad precedent by loosening copyright restrictions, instead of tightening them as every previous copyright treaty has done").

Even many businesses find them too extreme -- in just the past couple days, several businesses and local chambers have decided to quit. With your help, we can turn this spark into a nationwide trend and deal a serious blow to our biggest opponent.

Click here to send a letter today. Don't worry, we'll deliver it for you.

Thanks again for being a fighter,

-- Aaron Swartz and the Demand Progress team

Kill the Czar and his minions! People, Unite! (...In a non-communist way, despite the allusion...)

But, seriously...

[General Battuta]

Net neutrality!

But no giant text plz.

[Bearstrike]

I'm not sure what became of the net-filter our bloody pollies tried to push through a while though, think the supposed 'left wing' government is still trying to push it through (Oh the irony!  The left wingers want teh net censored and the right wing doesn't!  What is wrong with us :S )  But I think it's pretty safe to say it's died out (unless with the big NBN thing they hold all the ISP's to ransom that they will enforce the blacklist, even without legislating on it).

DDOS them a bit, maybe rile up 4chan, you'l be fine.

[Klaustrophobia]

that sounds right to me.  generally speaking, "leftist" government likes their fingers in everything while the "right" is willing to leave more stuff alone.

VERY, VERY generally speaking.  [/flameshield]

[karajorma]

that sounds right to me.  generally speaking, "leftist" government likes their fingers in everything while the "right" is willing to leave more stuff alone.

VERY, VERY generally speaking.  [/flameshield]

Generally speaking planets have no life on them. So generally speaking, you don't exist.

We're talking that kind of generality here.

[Spicious]

Half the coalition wants internet filtering too. Being obstructionist just happens to be winning right now.

[General Battuta]

that sounds right to me.  generally speaking, "leftist" government likes their fingers in everything while the "right" is willing to leave more stuff alone.

I don't think so - in general the left is associated with more economic control (oh god, socialism!) while the right is associated with more social control (oh god, authoritarianism! - USA PATRIOT, bans on various forms of behavior, so on)

They're both into control.

[Bearstrike]

ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL.

[Sushi]

that sounds right to me.  generally speaking, "leftist" government likes their fingers in everything while the "right" is willing to leave more stuff alone.

I don't think so - in general the left is associated with more economic control (oh god, socialism!) while the right is associated with more social control (oh god, authoritarianism! - USA PATRIOT, bans on various forms of behavior, so on)

They're both into control.

While those of us who just want less control are apparently all just crazy. 

[General Battuta]

No, you're on a separate axis.

[Scotty]

                                  Good
                                    |
Less Control--------------+--------------More Control
                                    |
                              Politicians

[Thaeris]

AGAIN, IT IS NOT YET FINISHED!!!

Thaeris--

We just found out that they're bringing back the Internet blacklist bill for a vote on Thursday -- less than a week from now! We've spent the week meeting people in DC and I can tell you our petition is definitely making a difference. This bill was supposed to pass without objection, but now even Politico is calling it "hotly debated" -- all thanks to you.

The first vote will be by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Do you have any friends in California, Vermont, Wisconsin, New York, Minnesota, or Illinois who haven't signed the petition yet? Their senators will be the key votes in deciding whether this bill passes. Can you forward them this email and ask them to sign on at:

http://act.demandprogress.org/go/11?akid=20.172846.V_uZrE&t=2

Remember, this bill--in blatant violation of the Constitution--would let the Attorney General create a blacklist of websites that every American ISP would be required to block. Wikileaks, YouTube, and others are all at risk. Human rights advocates, constitutional law experts, and the people who invented the Internet have all spoken out against this bill -- but some of the most powerful industries in the country are demanding that Congress rush it through. The music industry is even having all of their employees call Congress to pose as citizens in support of the bill.

We need to fight back -- can you ask any friends you know to sign on at:


http://act.demandprogress.org/go/11?akid=20.172846.V_uZrE&t=4

Keep on fighting,

-- Aaron Swartz, David Segal, and the Demand Progress team

P.S. So far over 250,000 people have signed. Can you help us hit 300,000 before the vote next week?

This, Ladies and Gentlemen, is from today. Please respond in kind.

[MR_T3D]

hell, I'm canadian, but as far as they're concerned, I live in 90210, just because its wrong.