The Progressive

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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

David Segal, david@demandprogress.org and (401) 499-5991

Internet VS Lamar Smith, Round Two: Demand Progress Takes On Snooping Bill, HR 1981

WASHINGTON

Fresh off of a hard-fought victory against SOPA and PIPA, Demand Progress and its million-plus members are taking on appalling snooping legislation which is awaiting a floor vote in the House of Representatives. HR 1981, introduced by SOPA author Lamar Smith, would require Internet Service Providers to capture information about all of their users -- ranging from sites they've visited to credit card numbers -- and store it for at least 18 months. The bi-partisan legislation passed through Smith's House Judiciary Committee in 2011.

As of Thursday afternoon more than 70,000 Internet users had written emails to their lawmakers via Demand Progress's petition page:

https://act.demandprogress.org/letter/snooping/

Said Demand Progress executive director David Segal "This is yet another government assualt on the Internet and its users. We taught Congress a lesson last month: We need to do to HR 1981 what we did to SOPA, and make it clear to Lamar Smith and the rest of Congress that they can't run roughshod over Internet freedom."

Demand Progress amplifies the voice of the people -- and wields it to make government accountable and contest concentrated corporate power. Our mission is to protect the democratic character of the internet -- and wield it to contest concentrated corporate power and hold government accountable.