Stop Florida's Unconstitutional Plan to Outlaw Anonymous Speech

A dangerously misguided Florida bill would forbid websites from operating anonymously just because they meet a vague definition of disseminating “commercial recordings”—and it's headed for a vote this week.

Supporters of the “True Origin of Digital Goods Act” say it's about “piracy,” but it would actually have disastrous consequences for anonymous online speech both inside and outside the state. Anybody operating a website that is even “likely to” host music or videos “directly or indirectly,”—even their own music or videos—could be ordered to reveal their name and address.

This new law isn't just unnecessary to enforce federal copyright or trademark laws—it also creates a new avenue for legal abuse. Anyone “aggrieved” by an anonymous website owner could take that owner to court, without having to show legal harm.

Anonymous speech is a vital part of the American free speech tradition, and of the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. Artists, writers, and citizens rely on the freedom to speak anonymously through blogs, independent news sites, amateur video and music, and other websites and services. They rely on anonymity to voice unpopular opinions and speak truth to power without fear of harassment or reprisals at work or at home.

If you're in Florida, act now to tell your lawmakers: don't sacrifice anonymous speech at the altar of vague anti-piracy policy. Vote no on “True Origins of Digital Goods Act,” HB271 in the House and SB604 in the Senate.

From the Electronic Frontier Foundation's site - www.eff.org

And, an email from Fight for the Future states:

The news coming out of Florida is not good. Florida is poised to pass a dangerously misguided SOPA-like bill this week. This is bad for the Internet, both inside and outside the state.

Florida state legislature has introduced two related bills - HB 271 and SB 604 - otherwise known as the “True Origin of Digital Goods Act” (TODGA).[1]  

Supporters say the bills will curb online piracy. But really this is about online censorship. Just imagine having to put your home address on all of your websites that contain streaming content? Are you kidding??

Click here to sign the petition to stop the passage of the True Origin of Digital Goods Act”.

Unfortunately TODGA is no joke. If the act become law, any website that has commercial streaming content will be legally required to post their owner’s true name and contact information on the site or risk being taken down.[2]

What else is bad about the “True Origins of Digital Goods Act”?

• The bill is useless. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act already covers what Florida says it needs to fix; TODGA just creates a new avenue for legal abuse. Anyone “aggrieved” by an anonymous website owner could take that owner to court, without having to show legal harm. [3]

• TODGA will allow officials to take down alleged violators without any due process. This sets a dangerous precedence that will curb free speech on the Internet and circumvent normal channels.

We can’t let this happen.

When Congress tries to pass SOPA/PIPA and CISPA, we stop them every time. Now they’re trying to sneak similar bills under the radar at the state level. We are smarter than that.

Please sign the petition to stop Florida’s“True Origins of Digital Goods Act”, and share this petition with your friends.

-Susan, Evan, Holmes, Tiffiniy, Jessica, Vasjen, Charlie and Jeff
Fight for the Future

Sincerely,

----

Sources:

[1] http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=53294&

[2] Electronic Future Foundation. Stop Florida’s Unconstitutional Plan to Outlaw Anonymous Speech. EFF website. https://act.eff.org/action/stop-florida-s-unconstitutional-plan-to-outlaw-anonymous-speech (Note: EFF’s article was written when Florida tried to pass the same bills last year. Thankfully the 2014 bills failed. Let’s make sure the same thing happens in 2015.)

[3] Florida Legislature Considering SOPA/PIPA-like bills. The Internet Association http://internetassociation.tumblr.com/post/115035123138/florida-legislature-considering-sopa-pipa-like

Come on Florida - We don't want to be Flori-DUH - sign the petition and donate. This is important.

Fight for the Future - Net Neutrality

Repost from FFTF:

Guys!

Our protests last week WORKED!

After months of intense public pressure, the second largest online protest in history, and millions of emails and phone calls, President Obama just released an incredibly strong statement calling for the FCC to protect net neutrality using full Title II reclassification. [1]

Yeah, you heard us right. The President of the United States just endorsed our position.

Will you chip in $10 today to help us win more victories like this?

This is game-changing. We’ve been hearing for weeks from our allies in DC that the only thing that could stop FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler from moving ahead with his sham proposal to gut net neutrality was if we could get the President to step in. So we did everything in our power to make that happen. We took the gloves off and played hard, and now we get to celebrate a sweet victory.

With your help, we organized nationwide emergency protests in 30 cities last week, and with just a few days notice we turned out more than 100 people in front of the White House for a spirited rally, capturing media headlines. [2] This is the power of the Internet! With a tiny budget and just a few staff, we are giving some of the wealthiest and most powerful corporate monopolies in the world a run for their money.

We’re closer than ever to winning the fight for REAL net neutrality once and for all, but we need to spend all of our time in the coming weeks organizing -- not fundraising.

Can you help? Please chip in $10 to fund the fight, so we can focus on winning!

Today’s statement from the President changes everything, but this fight isn’t over yet. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler responded quickly, claiming he needs more time, and implying he might have to push back the FCC’s expected December 11th vote.

Those are stalling tactics. The FCC has had plenty of time to discuss the various options available to them. We need to refocus our campaign on the FCC to make sure that Wheeler – a former Cable lobbyist – doesn’t delay the vote in a last ditch attempt to sneak through rules that his buddies at Comcast and Verizon can live with. Time is of the essence.

We’re all in on this fight and we’ve proven that we can win it. We’ve got major strategic plans for this week including more protests on Thursday (info coming soon!)

Please chip in $10 (or more!) to help us win net neutrality once and for all. And really, if you can donate more, please do. You know we’ll use it well.

We’re so close! I am so personally proud of every single person on this list. Whether you can make a donation today or not, we LOVE you and are honored to be in this fight with you.

Thanks for all you do,

-Evan, Tiffiniy, Holmes, Kevin, Jeff, and Jessica

Fight for the Future

P.S. It’s crucial that we ratchet up the pressure on Tom Wheeler and the FCC now, and this morning our friends at PopularResistance.org pulled off an amazing action that does just that. At 6:55am they blockaded Tom Wheeler’s driveway just as he was getting into his car. After a while walked down the street, presumably to take public transit to work. Talk about a slow lane.

P.P.S. If you watch the Obama statement closely, you’ll see many moments where he incorporates the memes and talking points we’ve built, together, as part of battleforthenet.com campaign, from the “buffering” joke at the beginning to the way he talks about this as cable companies vs. the public. Obama’s statement has this movement’s fingerprints all over it, and it wouldn’t have happened without our work together. We’re proud. You should be too. I can’t think of a better time to make your first donation to this movement.

1. “Net Neutrality: President Obama's Plan for a Free and Open Internet” http://www.whitehouse.gov/net-neutrality
2. “Breaking: Emergency Protests” https://www.battleforthenet.com/#protest

Repost - Fight for the Future! Net Neutrality Affects Us All.

If you use the internet, read/send emails, have a website, use social media, read online articles, research, look at pictures online - if you do any of that - this affects you. If the net stopped being neutral most of the small businesses based on a website would be starved out.

Hey,

I just wanted to make sure you saw this email? There's good news! Thanks in part to the response we helped generate, the FCC has extended the deadline to receive comments about Comcast's attempted internet takeover until October 29th.

50,000 people have taken action already. The FCC will be surprised by this kind of response to a merger question, but the deck is stacked against us so we need to go all out. Can we count on you to help us get to 100,000 comments by the end of this week?
Click here to submit a comment to the FCC opposing the Comcast merger that would dismantle Internet freedom.

Read the email below for more background, and please forward this to your friends and family. It affects all of us!

Sincerely,
-Tiffiniy from FFTF

Dear Fight for the Future member,

Urgent: there are just a few days left to stop Comcast from taking over Time Warner Cable and signing a death sentence for net neutrality. Click here to take action now.

This one really requires no explanation. The most hated company in the US is trying to take over the second most hated company in the US, in a move that would raise our cable and Internet bills, stifle online free speech, and make them one of the most powerful lobbies in history. [1]

This merger is bad for EVERYONE, and there is tons of opposition, even from within the FCC. We have a real chance at stopping this but we have to act quickly. [2]

The deadline is next week! Click here to stop Comcast in its tracks.

Comcast is already the largest and most powerful opponent of net neutrality, online privacy, and Internet freedom. They’ve been caught several times abusing their “gatekeeper” power as an Internet provider to further their own interests. [3] If the FCC lets Comcast forcibly absorb Time Warner Cable -- the second largest Internet provider in the U.S. -- they will control access to information in nearly 6 of 10 people’s homes (more if you're only counting truly high speed Internet). [4]

Millions of you have sent comments to the FCC in support of net neutrality. We’re asking for your help again because if this merger goes through, Comcast gets even more powerful -- in the marketplace, online, and in Washington, DC. If we don’t stop this takeover right now, we'll be fighting an uphill battle on net neutrality and online free speech for years to come.

Will you sign? Click here to submit a comment opposing the Comcast merger.After you sign, please forward this email to everyone you know and share the petition on social media.

Here’s the link one last time: http://www.battleforthenet.com/comcast?org=fff 

Thanks for all that you do,

-Tiffiniy Cheng

Fight for the Future

SOURCES:

1. Brad Reed. "Massive survey finds Comcast and TWC are the two most hated companies in America – period". BGR.http://bgr.com/2014/05/20/comcast-twc-customer-satisfaction-survey-study/
2. Brendan Sasso. “FCC Chief: Cable Companies Are Wrong About Internet Competition”. National Journal.http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/fcc-chief-comcast-is-wrong-about-internet-competition-20140904
3. Cecilia Kang. “Comcast, Time Warner Cable merger faces a grilling in Washington this week”. Washington Post.http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/04/08/comcast-time-warner-cable-merger-faces-a-grilling-in-washington-this-week/
4. S. Derek Turner and Matt Wood. “Petition to deny free press”. Free Press.http://www.freepress.net/sites/default/files/resources/Free%20Press_14-57_Petition%20to%20Deny_Final.pdf

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