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In the United States, a new law proposal called The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) was introduced last week, and there will be a hearing in front of the Judiciary Committee this Thursday.

If passed, this law will allow the government, under the command of the media companies, to censor the internet as they see fit, like China and Iran do, with the difference that the sites they decide to censor will be completely removed from the internet and not just in the US.

Please see the following article from the Huffington Post for more information.

Stop the Internet Blacklist

And if you are a US citizen, please take the time to sign this petition
DemandProgress.org - Petition to Stop the Internet Blacklist!


Update: Also for US citizens, you can email your Senator from the following link and tell him or her your concerns about this bill

Tell Your Senator: No Website Blacklists, No Internet Censorship!

Update, from EFF's website: the Senate Judiciary Committee postponed the scheduled markup of the Internet censorship bill — a fantastic outcome, given that the entertainment industry and their allies in Congress had hoped this bill would be quickly approved before the Senators went home for the October recess. Massive thanks to all who used the EFF Action Center to write to your Senators to oppose this bill.

htownsteve wrote:

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In the United States, a new law proposal called The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) was introduced last week, and there will be a hearing in front of the Judiciary Committee this Thursday.

If passed, this law will allow the government, under the command of the media companies, to censor the internet as they see fit, like China and Iran do, with the difference that the sites they decide to censor will be completely removed from the internet and not just in the US.

Please see the following article from the Huffington Post for more information.

Stop the Internet Blacklist

And if you are a US citizen, please take the time to sign this petition
DemandProgress.org - Petition to Stop the Internet Blacklist!


Update: Also for US citizens, you can email your Senator from the following link and tell him or her your concerns about this bill

Tell Your Senator: No Website Blacklists, No Internet Censorship!

Update, from EFF's website: the Senate Judiciary Committee postponed the scheduled markup of the Internet censorship bill — a fantastic outcome, given that the entertainment industry and their allies in Congress had hoped this bill would be quickly approved before the Senators went home for the October recess. Massive thanks to all who used the EFF Action Center to write to your Senators to oppose this bill.

Shit.
I could see this writing on the wall. It's the beginning of the real end of what the internet was all about.
I will be very surprised if the passage of this bill can be stopped. More than likely it will be watered down a little and then pushed through.

It's a tough one to really bitch about. Because we are stealing and pirating stuff that we should be buying. And if I had all the money in the world, I would.
But I don't. And they do. So who do you think is gonna come out on top?

The reason this will be delayed is because they will have to word it in a way that will assure they won't mis-use the the law, somewhat like the way the patriot act has been abused in some instances. But they will get what they want and we will be cut off from some really neat things that on the internet were common place and truly free. Another step in a bad direction, as far as I'm concerned.

The last thing I want is my government treating me the way China and Iran treat their people.
But let's face it. We were really free people once. Now it's an illusion.
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.