June, 14 2011, 11:40am EDT
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
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.
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