[2s.mk-friends] Help the protests this Saturday

Thu Feb 9 19:02:04 UTC 2012

Hi--

Together, we beat SOPA in a huge victory for internet freedom.  But this 
Saturday, internet freedom protests are breaking out in over 200 cities 
across Europe.  Why?

*Because the companies behind SOPA are using international trade 
agreements as a backdoor to pass SOPA-style laws* 
<http://act.fightforthefuture.org/page/m/2e1f20ae/1d182024/706ab818/f863fe3/3425153949/VEsH/>

SOPA's supporters are pushing two agreements: ACTA and TPP^1 .  ACTA 
would criminalize users, encourage internet providers to spy on you, and 
make it easier for media companies to sue sites out of existence and 
jail their founders.  Sound familiar?**That's right, ACTA is from the 
same playbook as SOPA, but global.  Plus it didn't even have to pass 
through Congress^2 .

TPP goes even farther than ACTA, and the process has been even more 
secretive and corrupt.  Last weekend (we wish this was a joke) *trade 
negotiators partied with MPAA (pro-SOPA) lobbyists before secret 
negotiations in a Hollywood hotel, while public interest groups were 
barred from meeting in the same building.*^3

Trade agreements are a gaping loophole, a secretive backdoor track 
that--even though it creates new laws--is miles removed from 
democracy.  Trade negotiators are unelected and unaccountable, so these 
agreements have been /very/ hard for internet rights groups to stop.

But now the tide is turning.  Fueled by the movement to stop SOPA, 
anti-ACTA protests are breaking out across the EU, which hasn't ratified 
ACTA. *The protests are having an impact: leaders in Poland, the Czech 
Republic, and Slovakia have backtracked on ACTA.*^4 _*Now a massive 
round of street protests in over 200 cities is planned for this Saturday 
February 11th.*_

We're planning an online protest this Saturday to support the protests 
in the streets.  Why?  Because together we can drive millions of emails 
to key decision makers--and start tipping the scales like we did on SOPA.

*Can you take part?  Click here to get the code to run on your site!* 
<http://act.fightforthefuture.org/page/m/2e1f20ae/1d182024/706ab818/f863fe0/3425153949/VEsE/>

We just built an ACTA & TPP contact tool, and it's not just a 
petition.   It's code for your site that figures out the visitor's 
country and lets them email all their Members of European 
Parliament--the politicians who will be voting on ACTA in June--or the 
trade negotiators behind TPP. *This direct contact between voters and 
their officials, driven by websites of all sizes, was instrumental in 
the fight against SOPA. ***

We can use the same tactics to defeat ACTA & TPP, but we need your help!

*Support the street protests with a flood of emails to the officials 
responsible for ACTA & TPP.  Get the code for your website!* 
<http://act.fightforthefuture.org/page/m/2e1f20ae/1d182024/706ab818/f863fe0/3425153949/VEsF/>

*Don't have a website?  Tell officials in your country to scrap ACTA & 
TPP!   And spread the word about Saturday's protests! * 
<http://act.fightforthefuture.org/page/m/2e1f20ae/1d182024/706ab818/f863fe3/3425153949/VEsC/>

This is going to be tough fight.  But we need to make secretive trade 
agreements harder to pass than US law.  If we don't, our internet's 
future belongs to the lobbyists behind SOPA.

This is just the beginning,

--Holmes Wilson, Tiffiniy Cheng, Joshua Blount & the whole Fight for the 
Future team.

P.S. This *map of ACTA street protests in Europe* 
<http://act.fightforthefuture.org/page/m/2e1f20ae/1d182024/706ab818/f863fe1/3425153949/VEsD/> 
is amazing. The largest has almost 50,000 RSVP's!

<http://act.fightforthefuture.org/page/m/2e1f20ae/1d182024/706ab818/f863fee/3425153949/VEsA/> 
<http://act.fightforthefuture.org/page/m/2e1f20ae/1d182024/706ab818/f863fef/3425153949/VEsB/>

Sources:

1. For more information on ACTA, read these excellent articles from 
*Techdirt* 
<http://act.fightforthefuture.org/page/m/2e1f20ae/1d182024/706ab818/f863fec/3425153949/VEsO/> 
and *La Quadrature du Net* 
<http://act.fightforthefuture.org/page/m/2e1f20ae/1d182024/706ab818/f863fed/3425153949/VEsP/>. 
For information on TPP, read this *Ars Technica* 
<http://act.fightforthefuture.org/page/m/2e1f20ae/1d182024/706ab818/f863fea/3425153949/VEsHBQ/> 
piece. For video, *watch this* 
<http://act.fightforthefuture.org/page/m/2e1f20ae/1d182024/706ab818/f863feb/3425153949/VEsHBA/>.

2. Obama's signing of ACTA may have been unconstitutional. See 
*Anti-counterfeiting agreement raises constitutional concerns* 
<http://act.fightforthefuture.org/page/m/2e1f20ae/1d182024/706ab818/f863fe8/3425153949/VEsHBw/> 
and *Techdirt* 
<http://act.fightforthefuture.org/page/m/2e1f20ae/1d182024/706ab818/f863fe9/3425153949/VEsHBg/>.

3. *Hollywood gets to party with TPP negotiators, public interest groups 
get thrown out of the hotel.* 
<http://act.fightforthefuture.org/page/m/2e1f20ae/1d182024/706ab818/f863fd6/3425153949/VEsHAQ/>

4. *Ars Technica: Czech, Slovak governments backing away from ACTA, 
too.* 
<http://act.fightforthefuture.org/page/m/2e1f20ae/1d182024/706ab818/f863fd7/3425153949/VEsHAA/>

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