iwantmyburd: 3liza: ACTA passed one of the several voting gates it needs to get through before becoming law. It was ratified in Poland last night.  This was the scene at Polish parliament afterwards, as (presumably) a bloc of anti-ACTA politicians expressed their displeasure and, perhaps without knowing it, foretell of the Anonymous repercussions to this bill. Some things you should know: Online petitions are meaningless.  While they are well-intentioned and organized, the signing of a digital petition takes about twenty seconds, and does not require that you leave your beanbag chair in the coal cellar.  Politicians know this, and pay just as much attention to online petitions as is warranted by a “political action” that is literally less strenuous than leaving a YouTube comment. Nothing except direct action is going to do a goddamn thing.  This means getting out in the street, it means DDoSing, it means vicious and widespread boycotts, site blackouts, and other strongarm tactics that actually impact the flow of money from corporations to lobbyists to politicians.  How do you, as a tiny flailing consumer, do this?  You can’t, really.  You can join up with groups that are intent on doing actions that actually mean something, adding your voice to a chorus of hundreds or thousands, instead of screaming alone.  You can contact celebrities, the spokespeople of our time, as ask them to leverage their followers on the issue.  You can write to Tumblr and ask for more blackouts.  None of these things will be very effective, so don’t be too disappointed when they don’t work, but they sure as fuck are more effective than online petitions, and the intense response to SOPA by corporations and consumers was responsible for getting it “tabled” (not dead, but dreaming lies). ACTA was already signed by Obama in September of 2011.  He had been praising the bill for over a year prior, and signed it without reservation.  Most of us didn’t hear about it, and he likely used the 9/11 coverage to make sure of that. Eventually, one of these bills will pass, and the pro-corporate laws will go into effect.  Expect it.  Be prepared.  Learn to circumvent this garbage and you’ll have a leg up when the feds shut down the internet as we know it. The best thing you can do now is install Tor and learn how to use it.  Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security known as traffic analysis.  In order to circumvent the coming corporate takeover of the web, we’re going to have to go underground, creating a sub-internet of encrypted nodes known as a “darknet”.  It’s probably going to be like the internet was in the beginning, with most people only seeing what AOL wanted them to see, and only a small group of super-nerds existing outside of that bubble in the “real” internet.  It’ll take another twenty years for them to catch up to us again. Welcome to the grim cyberpunk future.
epic4chan: DEAR WORLD, Internet service providers will begin spying on you! This is not just the USA, this is also Europe, UK, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and more. ACTA is another attempt by Hollywood and others to end privacy and freedom to protect their profits. These well done videos provide an overview: Video 1 Video 2 We got to stop this! Poland is planning protests. Europe, contact your representatives. UK, sign this petition. USA, reblog this post. Make new posts. Join the EFF. Stay involved. They won’t give up, and neither will we.
youranonnews: ACTA in a Nutshell – What is ACTA?  ACTA is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. A new intellectual property enforcement treaty being negotiated by the United States, the European Community, Switzerland, and Japan, with Australia, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Mexico, Jordan, Morocco, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada recently announcing that they will join in as well. Why should you care about ACTA? Initial reports indicate that the treaty will have a very broad scope and will involve new tools targeting “Internet distribution and information technology.” What is the goal of ACTA? Reportedly the goal is to create new legal standards of intellectual property enforcement, as well as increased international cooperation, an example of which would be an increase in information sharing between signatory countries’ law enforcement agencies. Essential ACTA Resources -  Read more about ACTA here: ACTA Fact Sheet Read the authentic version of the ACTA text as of 15 April 2011, as finalized by participating countries here: ACTA Finalized Text Follow the history of the treaty’s formation here: ACTA history Read letters from U.S. Senator Ron Wyden wherein he challenges the constitutionality of ACTA: Letter 1 | Letter 2 | Read the Administration’s Response to Wyden’s First Letter here: Response Watch a short informative video on ACTA: ACTA Video Watch a lulzy video on ACTA: Lulzy Video Say NO to ACTA. It is essential to spread awareness and get the word out on ACTA. Very good and informative post. Please help spread the word ! If we could also get the help of everyone as we helped for SOPA… this would be great.
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