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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact: Email:,press@demandprogress.org

Coalition Emerges to Oppose Internet Censorship Bill

Dozens of Groups Share NY Times & LA Times Concerns with PIPA

WASHINGTON

Reflecting the growing concern over Sen. Leahy's Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), dozens of organizations now oppose the legislation. This comes amid new criticism over PIPA's censorship provisions from the New York Times and Los Angeles Times editorial boards. Both publications questioned the overly broad scope of the bill in editorials last week.

PIPA would give the government the power to force Internet service providers, search engines, and other "information location tools" to block users' access to sites that have been accused of copyright infringement -- initiating a China-like censorship regime here in the United States.

More than 350,000 people have signed Demand Progress's petitions against PIPA and the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act -- an earlier version of the same bill. Over 50,000 members emailed their lawmakers last week to demand that they join Senator Wyden in opposing the bill. And more than 6,000 Demand Progress members have called their lawmakers to urge them to oppose PIPA.

Aaron Swartz, Demand Progress Executive Director stated: "Increasingly, ordinary Americans realize how vital a free-flowing Internet is for their daily interactions, free expression, and America's economic future. The business interests pushing Leahy's Internet censorship bill have gone too far and are now galvanizing the opposition to PIPA."

The following organizations oppose the current version of PIPA:

Editorial Boards

LA Times Editorial Board

New York Times Editorial Board

Elected Officials

Representative Jared Polis (CO-2)

Senator Ron Wyden (OR)

Representative Zoe Lofgren (CA-16)

Human Rights Groups

American Civil Liberties Union

Human Rights First

Human Rights Watch

Tor Project

World Press Freedom Committee

Technology Companies

Computer and Communications Industry Association

Consumer Electronics Association

Google

Grooveshark

NetCoalition

Public Interest Registry

Tucows Incorporated

Public Interest Groups

Bill of Rights Defense Committee

Calyx Institute

Center for Democracy and Technology

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Knowledge Ecology International

Public Knowledge

Revolution Truth

Special Libraries Association

Non-Profit Organizations and Other Entities

American Association of Law Libraries

American Library Association

Association of College and Research Libraries

Association of Research Libraries

Citizen Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto

EDUCAUSE

Home Recording Rights Coalition

May First/People Link

Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF)

Individuals

Tim Berners-Lee, Inventor of the World Wide Web

Larry Downes, Author of Business Week and Unleashing the Killer App: Digital Strategies for

Market Dominance

Michael Geist, Law Professor at the University of Ottawa and the Canada Research Chair in

Internet and E-commerce Law

Rebecca MacKinnon, Former CNN Journalist and Co-Founder of Global Voices Online

Reihan Salam, Associate Editor at The Atlantic and regular contributor to The Weekly Standard and Slate

Jonathan Zitrain, Professor of Internet Law at Harvard Law School and Harvard Kennedy School

Over 50 Law Professors: https://www.eff.org/files/filenode/coica_files/Professors%27%20Letter%20re%20COICA%20and%20Signatories.pdf

Over 50 Internet Engineers:
https://www.eff.org/files/filenode/coica_files/internet-engineers-letter-opposing-S.3804-v2.pdf

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.