[AfrICANN-discuss] Will 2012 be the year the Internet dies?

[Maye diop]

We need to state our position about this real danger.
Best regards
Le 3 janv. 2012 20:03, "Anne-Rachel Inné" <annerachel at gmail.com> a écrit :

>
> http://lubbockonline.com/interact/blog-post/bert-knabe/2012-01-02/will-2012-be-year-internet-dies#.TwHYi4HNmCc
>
> Will 2012 be the year the Internet dies?
> Submitted by Bert Knabe on January 2, 2012 - 6:00am
>
> This month two very dangerous bills will continue to be pushed in the
> House and Senate. The "Stop Online Privacy Act" (SOPA) and the
> "Protect IP Act" (PIPA) are among the most anti-Constitutional bills
> considered in the last decade. If passed they will make it possible
> shut down websites in the U.S. without warning and limited right to
> appeal. It's only because of the "National Defense Authorization Act"
> President Obama signed into law Saturday that they aren't the worst of
> 2011. More on the NDAA next time.
>
> Eighty three of the scientists and engineers who created and developed
> the internet have signed an open letter to Congress expressing their
> concerns. Their concerns aren't minor. The technical concerns should
> be enough to lay the bills to rest:
>
>    If enacted, either of these bills will create an environment of
> tremendous fear and uncertainty for technological innovation, and
> seriously harm the credibility of the United States in its role as a
> steward of key Internet infrastructure. Regardless of recent
> amendments to SOPA, both bills will risk fragmenting the Internet's
> global domain name system (DNS) and have other capricious technical
> consequences. In exchange for this, such legislation would engender
> censorship that will simultaneously be circumvented by deliberate
> infringers while hampering innocent parties' right and ability to
> communicate and express themselves online.
>
> Unlike laws against yelling "fire" in a crowded theater, these bills
> don't really do anything to protect anything, but do quite a bit to
> damage everything. When you start looking at possible political and
> economic consequences, it's even worse:
>
>    The US government has regularly claimed that it supports a free
> and open Internet, both domestically and abroad. We cannot have a free
> and open Internet unless its naming and routing systems sit above the
> political concerns and objectives of any one government or industry.
> To date, the leading role the US has played in this infrastructure has
> been fairly uncontroversial because America is seen as a trustworthy
> arbiter and a neutral bastion of free expression. If the US begins to
> use its central position in the network for censorship that advances
> its political and economic agenda, the consequences will be
> far-reaching and destructive.
>
> In the end, these bills are perfect censorship tools. Having a site
> removed from the DNS listings is insanely easy. That's the idea. Make
> it easier for the groups owning intellecutal property to take down
> sites that might be stealing it - or helping others steal it. It's so
> easy you don't even have to give any evidence, just the accusation is
> enough to get a site taken down.
>
> The companies that would be hurt most by these bills are well aware of
> the potential damage. An article by Declan Mcullagh at CNET.com says
> that some of the largest companies on the internet - Google, eBay,
> Amazon and others - are contemplating an Internet blackout, possibly
> for the January 23rd, the day before the Senate starts debate on PIPA.
> Imagine what would happen if for a day you couldn't access Facebook,
> Twitter, or any other major social network. You couldn't go to eBay or
> Amazon to buy or sell stuff. Youtube and other video sites are down.
> And all of them have a placeholder telling you that this is exactly
> what could happen if the Congress passes an Internet censorship bill
> similar to PIPA and SOPA. Would you sit up, pay atten, and contact
> your representatives? You should, because that is exactly what could
> happen.
>
> SOPA and PIPA are dangerous. They don't do anything for the problem
> they are allegedly trying to solve and could do a whole lot of damage.
> A good place to learn more is the EFF website. The article 2011 in
> Review: Fighting the Internet Blacklist Bills is a good place to
> start. Then contact your congressmen. For your senators go to the U.S.
> Senate website. For your Representative go the the U.S. House website.
> Tell them to fight SOPA (House) and PIPA (Senate).
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