Protest Against ACTA / SOPA / PIPA.

Hello Good People of SETI.USA! To whom it may concern:

As you may be aware, legislators across the globe are thinking on implementation of new laws, which are putting more restrictions on Internet and citizen freedoms within it.

Because of this fact, a number of services are going to protest against the new legislature. This is a wide movement, including not only numerous Free/Libre/Open Source Software and civil rights sites, but big names like Wikipedia, Google, Mozilla, Reddit&ArsTechnica as well.

My team, BOINC@Poland, and our affiliated project Radioactive@home, are supporting the protest.

Our side portal www.boinc.com.pl will be blacked out, and the main services like www.boincatpoland.org and http://radioactiveathome.org/pl/ will highlight our message.

We invite all the projects, BOINC teams and volunteers to support the protest, in a way you feel would be appropriate.

Just let me pass the ask of a sysop of Radioactive@home:

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Welcome

Because of acceptance of ACTA agreement, and also other attempts of forcing legal solutions targeting increase of legal control over internet, administrators of Radioactive@home decided to place note of protest on the project site, with the following information.

"With regard to the ACTA (so-called Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) accepted by European Union, we feel obliged to warn you that our website may be unavailable in some countries soon.

ACTA Agreement was initiated by organizations describing themselves as "defending artists from bad pirates" and has been enforced on EU in secret negotiations initiated by US Government. Non government
organizations from all over the world agreed on condemning both the way of negotiations ware taken and allowing by this agreement cutting off websites "uncomfortable" for governments of countries that
signed ACTA, without proving infringements of any laws."


We would like Your project to join this action. We plan to publish this note on Wednesday 18.01.2012 on 0.00am.

Regards,

Krzysztof 'krzyszp' Piszczek

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As far as I know, Krzysztof will run his message for at least three days. The action may be repeated.
You are more than welcome to join or express your concerns.

Best Regards to you all and happy crunching,

aegis maelstrom
BOINC@Poland

P.S. I am sorry I am writing you that late - I hope you got a PM before - so far we don't have professional PR services yet :D and we are making things ad hoc if only we have time after work / studies / family issues etc. - you know how it is. :)

ACTA's main goal is to stop the illegal pirating of music, videos, and software. I'm OK with that -- if that's all it did. Unfortunately, it goes way beyond that. It basically allows the government to infringe on people's rights and search anything on the Internet without proof of any wrongdoing whatsoever.

We would normally call it slander followed by illegal search and seizure. But, by passing ACTA, the government officials have essentially side-stepped numerous legal issues via a treaty and essentially passed legislation without the legislature getting involved. They have declared that any data on the Internet can be searched whether there is proof or not, just on the claim that there may be wrong doing. Normally, one would need a judge to grant a warrant to search someone's premises. Not with ACTA. They can search data transmitted though an ISP without probably cause.

In my opinion, this is similar to the laws passed as a knee jerk reaction after 911. Did they work? Some. Others were either security theater or infringed upon people's rights. How many 90 year old lady's have been patted down or strip searched in airports even though everyone knows they are not a threat? How many peoples rights have been ignored "for national security". What percentage of GITMO detainees have actually done something wrong that can be proven? What's next, water-boarding of Internet music pirates?

If I write software that I don't make public domain, I'd like to get paid for it. That's how I earn my living. But, can I walk into your house and check to see whether my software is installed on your computer? Not without a search warrant. To get one, I first need to have some type of proof that illegal activity has taken place. The warrant has to be specific as to what I will be searching for and why. With ACTA, all they have to do is suspect someone. No proof needed. That's been done before. It was called the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trials, the McCarthy Era. I wonder what they will call this one when power gets abused?

What is up with politicians and their power grabs? Do they honestly think this kind of rubbish is what we wanted when they got voted into office? Why don't they try to fix some *REAL* problems like cutting our spending down to LESS than we bring in. Did they ever think of that? We did NOT vote them in office to make them fat cats and our lives more miserable. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...:mad:

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Originally Posted by DrPop

What is up with politicians and their power grabs? Do they honestly think this kind of rubbish is what we wanted when they got voted into office? Why don't they try to fix some *REAL* problems like cutting our spending down to LESS than we bring in. Did they ever think of that? We did NOT vote them in office to make them fat cats and our lives more miserable. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...:mad:

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It's called lobbyists, with deep pockets promising to give $$$ to re-election campaigns. It's ok though, cuz $$$ = Free Speech!

And I think this sums it up pretty well...

Thank you Aegis Maelstrom for starting this thread. I was thinking of doing it myself after hearing how Wikipedia and others are going to protest this POS legislation. I have added my voice in the past and will do so again.

I've been watching this for weeks and those bastards need to stay out of censoring the Internet. I've signed all the petitions that I've seen against this crap.

This is a link I received this AM to only support candidates that vote against this crap.
http://voteforthenet.com/

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Originally Posted by DrPop

What is up with politicians and their power grabs? Do they honestly think this kind of rubbish is what we wanted when they got voted into office? Why don't they try to fix some *REAL* problems like cutting our spending down to LESS than we bring in. Did they ever think of that? We did NOT vote them in office to make them fat cats and our lives more miserable. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...:mad:

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The problem with Democracy is that, once someone gets voted in, then we find they are a bunch of assholes, there's no way to vote their asses back out again and we are stuck with them until either their term runs out, or they die. Another problem that really ticks me off, is that laws are created by people that think they are doing something wonderful and they get put into effect without the consent of the public at large. We are not asked to vote for these new laws, they are just simply put in place without regard to the people's personal opinion.
Then, they don't bother to tell you what they've done until you find you're getting a ticket for "indecency" because someone got a cell phone pic. of you while you were pulling your underwear outta your ass in public somewhere. Another problem is that the law books keep growing in size. Old dumb-assed stupid laws that serve no purpose, remain on the book and there just continues to be more and more of them getting added all the time.

This however, is not generally a forum of politics, so, I'll get off my soapbox now.

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Originally Posted by YoDude9999

The problem ...
This however, is not generally a forum of politics, so, I'll get off my soapbox now.

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Don't go so soon, I was enjoying the min-rant. ;) :-B

I just found this site to contact your members of congress about it. Does almost everything automatically for you once you put in your address info on the right side there, it brings up your Senators and Rep for your jurisdiction. Seems to save some time looking for all that info, and you can personalize the message on the left like I did before you hit send.

LINK: http://www.opencongress.org/contact_...osition=oppose

Also, this might be good news...

http://mashable.com/2012/01/18/pipa-sopa-abandon-bill/

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Originally Posted by Maxwell

Also, this might be good news...

http://mashable.com/2012/01/18/pipa-sopa-abandon-bill/

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Alright! Hopefully it will get through to more of them. :)

It's nothing more that the Few trying to control the Many with a We know what's best for you Mentality ...

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Originally Posted by STE\/E

It's nothing more that the Few trying to control the Many with a We know what's best for you Mentality ...

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And the scariest part of it, though the very ideology itself is horrifying, is that those few are some of the most deceitful, corrupt, narcissistic individuals (aka politicians) on the planet.

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Originally Posted by Fire$torm

And the scariest part of it, though the very ideology itself is horrifying, is that those few are some of the most deceitful, corrupt, narcissistic individuals (aka politicians) on the planet.

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You forgot to mention Money Grubbers, You can't get rid of them either, no matter who you Vote in to take their place will be just as bad & they just Appoint the Person you voted out to some Cushy Special Interest Government Sponsored Job. Politicians will tell you anything you want to hear to get you to Vote for them & then once their in office it's back to the Good Ole Boy way of doing things again.

Look at Federal or State Lobbyists, most of them are Ex Politicians, they go right from supposedly working for the people to really working for the Corporations, you just have to know who's interest they really had in mind while the were in Office. All they do the whole time their in Office is try to cozy up to the Corporations so they can land a high paying job at one of them when they get out of Office ... :mad:

Another link

http://fightforthefuture.org/pipa

get to signing people !!!!!!!!

Apparently "Anonymous" hacked MPAA, RIAA, and the Justice Dept websites...

http://www.geekosystem.com/anon-justice-universal/

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Originally Posted by Maxwell

Apparently "Anonymous" hacked MPAA, RIAA, and the Justice Dept websites...

http://www.geekosystem.com/anon-justice-universal/

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Very, very nice! ;)

.....and another thing that really pisses me off is, "Intro rates", "Certain restrictions apply", "For 12 months..." and "High yield"!

These are nothing more than, ADVERTISING for MORONS to get you to put your very hard earned dollars into something that will make THEM a PILE of dough while they have it, and in the mean time, they give you a pissy little REWARD for allowing them to make money from yours, but you get a blast of spody in your eye for something that yields nothing worthwhile back to you! Come on...2%...WTF? I give them $20,000 that they will play with it to their hearts content and in return I get back 2% over a year? That's $400 for a year? That's all I get? Oh, but this is making you money, they say! After inflation and a years worth of time and the gas prices, that amounts to me pissing in the ocean and feeling relieved about it!

I especially hate the, "For 12 months" thing! I want to know what the charges are going to be AFTER the 12 months, but do they ever disclose that?. Sometimes, yes, but you really have to dig to find that answer. AT&T is notorious for this and the, "Certain restrictions apply"! You see them state that in every ad they put on TV or whatever, that is, if you're looking at the fine print at the bottom of the screen that can barely be read during the 1.5 seconds they show it with 200 words. You better be a full fledged speed reader with a good set of glasses to get that one, I know I never do.

Credit cards and banks are notorious for the, " Intro rates" and "High yield". Okay, intro rate of 2% does not make for making any money whatsoever and a, "High yield" of 1% doesn't do anything else either!

In a nutshell, it's about money grubbers and any way they can find to get their hand into your pocket and I'm sick of it and the mentality that goes with it.

But, I'm not really pissed off, after all, this is America!

http://i.imgur.com/Wf6Uh.png

got this in my e-mail :)



Hi everyone!

A big hurrah to you!!!!! We’ve won for now -- SOPA and PIPA were dropped by Congress today -- the votes we’ve been scrambling to mobilize against have been cancelled.

The largest online protest in history has fundamentally changed the game. You were heard.

On January 18th, 13 million of us took the time to tell Congress to protect free speech rights on the internet. Hundreds of millions, maybe a billion, people all around the world saw what we did on Wednesday. See the amazing numbers here and tell everyone what you did.

This was unprecedented. Your activism may have changed the way people fight for the public interest and basic rights forever.


The MPAA (the lobby for big movie studios which created these terrible bills) was shocked and seemingly humbled. “‘This was a whole new different game all of a sudden,’ MPAA Chairman and former Senator Chris Dodd told the New York Times. ‘[PIPA and SOPA were] considered by many to be a slam dunk.’”

“'This is altogether a new effect,' Mr. Dodd said, comparing the online movement to the Arab Spring. He could not remember seeing 'an effort that was moving with this degree of support change this dramatically' in the last four decades, he added."

Tweet with us, shout on the internet with us, let's celebrate: Round of applause to the 13 million people who stood up - #PIPA and #SOPA are tabled 4 now. #13millionapplause

Hi,

Now loads of interesting thinks happened in Poland.
We lost battle for not-signin ACTA, but non-internet people can see how lobbyst works.
140k people in two days protest against ACTA on FB, 500k people says "NO for ACTA" on Internet, and polish Prime Minister is sure that Poland HAVE TO sign ACTA!!!

Today he told on press conference that whole process of negotiation was not secret - can you imagine that?

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Originally Posted by krzyszp

Hi,

Now loads of interesting thinks happened in Poland.
We lost battle for not-signin ACTA, but non-internet people can see how lobbyst works.
140k people in two days protest against ACTA on FB, 500k people says "NO for ACTA" on Internet, and polish Prime Minister is sure that Poland HAVE TO sign ACTA!!!

Today he told on press conference that whole process of negotiation was not secret - can you imagine that?

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That is most likely because the corporations responsible for creating ACTA have promised him LOTS of money to go along with their desires.

Anyone listen to the state of the union address last night? Seemed pretty clear to me that Obama is for policing the Internet.

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Originally Posted by Slicker

Anyone listen to the state of the union address last night? Seemed pretty clear to me that Obama is for policing the Internet.

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Yeah, I caught that part of his speech. And the way he stated it most people will not comprehend the full impact if any such policy goes into effect. Why is it that so many do not realize this is really about controlling the flow of information? All the MPAA/RIAA waling nonsense is just smoke and mirrors. Welcome to the new USSR of the United States...........

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Originally Posted by Slicker

Anyone listen to the state of the union address last night? Seemed pretty clear to me that Obama is for policing the Internet.

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Anything to do with that man and his party just ticks me off to no end. If anyone feels like arguing about that, please move to California and try starting a small business from scratch.:mad::p

One year of Protest Against ACTA / SOPA / PIPA

https://www.accessnow.org/internetfreedomday

A broad-based coalition of activist organizations, communities like Reddit and Wikipedia, and sympathetic lawmakers worked together to stop SOPA and PIPA. People flooded Congress with phone calls and emails demanding that representatives oppose the bills. With the pressure on, dozens of Congressmen and Congresswomen came out against SOPA and PIPA--and the legislation was dropped.