Don’t Be Fooled By the Bogus – “Open Internet Preservation Act” – Which does the opposite it claims

Congress’ latest bait and switch tactic regarding Net Neutrality is called the “Open Internet Preservation Act ,” which pretty much does the opposite that the title suggests.

This legislation will kill Net Neutrality for good and even prohibit states from having their own legal protections (against such unfair practices as throttling the speed on websites that can’t pay additional fees).

Keep calling your congress critters every day on the Senate Hotline: (202) 224-3121, put the code on your site from BattleForTheNet.com, and keep the fight going through to the next year!

Here’s the scoreboard showing all the members of congress and where they stand on this issue.

To catch you up a bit:  At this point, the FCC vote has happened. That means that the Title II-regulated Net Neutrality is dead. But Congress could use the Congressional Review Act to pass a Resolution of Disapproval, overriding the vote.  But instead, Marsha Blackburn has introduced legislation that will kill the Title II qualification for good and legalize throttling internet speeds, calling it the “Open Internet Preservation Act,” like a bad Orwellian parody of itself.

During the holidays, right now, is when these tricky dickies like to push through especially appalling legislation that would never fly when everyone is paying attention. We’ve done a pretty good job of keeping the pressure on Congress right now despite the holidays, so all we have to do is keep up our momentum :-)

To put code on your site and join in the fight, go to BattleForTheNet.com

References:

The Republican net neutrality bill doesn’t save net neutrality“, By Adi Robertson, For The Verge, https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/19/16797778/congress-open-internet-preservation-act-marsha-blackburn-net-neutrality-bill

 

Chelsea Manning’s Statement for Aaron Swartz Day 2017

Chelsea Manning Turns 30 today!

Happy Birthday Chelsea!

CHELSEA E. MANNING AT AARON SWARTZ DAY – NOVEMBER 4, 2017.

“You don’t have to engage in direct action to support those who do.” – Chelsea E. Manning.

Here is a transcription of her statement from this year’s event! :-)

Video available here at the Internet Archive.

Well hello.

Here I am.

So, I see things have changed a little bit since last year. Since I was last out and about in the world.

First off, I’ve “spoken” – actually I’ve had two statements read at this event in the past (2015) (2016), and that’s a little different — I’m actually here.

I want to talk a little bit about where we are today. What we’re looking at and what we’re dealing with.

Because I’ve been out and about for a few months, I’ve obviously seen the sights and I see what’s going on. There’s a lot that’s changed. There’s Nazis and KKK running around. :-( (I don’t remember that being a big deal, whenever I was out.)

So, I think it’s really important to remember – especially at a time like this – that institutions – the institutions we depend on. Institutions that matter to us. Institutions that make decisions over us. Whether it’s a large corporation or a criminal justice system or media entities or whatever, like these large institutions can and they regularly do fail, and I think it’s important to recognize that sometimes institutions don’t work. And when they don’t work, you can’t ask them to work again. You know? You just can’t.

So, what we’re seeing today, I think, is more institutions that are depending on secrecy. More institutions that are depending on cracking down on any forms of dissent or disagreement or even just a hint of potential threat to them. And all of this is surrounded by this notion of power. Institutions have power. They have the ability to make decisions over our lives, and they’ve kind of rigged the systems.

The ways in which we engage in public. The ways in which we engage with our institutions – they are usually very administrative. Like you go to your ballot box and you have an election, or you have a procedure, or an administrative complaint, or a redress request, or something like that. And also, there’s a lot of compromise that happens between institutions and us. And a lot of us end up asking the question “well, you know, this really sucks” you know, “this isn’t working. Maybe somebody should do something about this?”

And I think that’s a really important moment that happens in each and every one of us. Is that moment where it’s like “this isn’t working, but what can I do?” I get asked a lot: “What can I do?” And, I think it’s really important to remember that whenever systems fail, and whenever institutions don’t work, you do have agency. You do have power. And every single person who’s spoken today introduces us to different ways in which we can engage with power and which we can actually have a forceable impact to have the political agency beyond what we see. Beyond the ballot box. There’s more to politics than just elections or court orders or requests or lawsuits. There’s so much more.

I look at the various forms of direct action as an answer to that process. Whether it’s…I engage in a form of direction but it’s different than another form. We all have different ways in which we can engage in political agency, and together as a collective group of people. We have power and we have the ability to make decisions, and we have the ability to make that be known, even whenever institutions ask us not to. Or tell us not to, forcefully.

I look at how each and every one of us has power. Once of the most inspiring moments I’ve seen since I’ve been out is when I watched as a group of people taking down a Confederate statue in Durham, North Carolina, and I found that inspiring. I found that powerful. I relate to that. I feel like that’s very similar. It feels empowering.

We don’t have to engage in direct action. We don’t all have to do these things. We can also support each other and we can support people who do the right thing or make a decision and end up in trouble or whether its facing getting fired or getting prosecuted or going to prison. We can provide support for people. You don’t have to engage in direct action to support those who do.

Prisoner support works. I was a prisoner for seven years. Lisa, she supported me when I was in prison. Lisa Rein. I’ve had many many many hours on the phone with Lisa, and she helped me in times when I was troubled. When I was alone. Whenever I was doubting myself. Whenever I felt I wasn’t being heard or whenever I felt I was being forgotten. And she was there. And she would sometimes pick up the phone in the supermarket. Or pick up the phone, ya know, while running. Or like, as she’s doing live things. So, she was there for me, and that support really mattered.

We can write letters. We can give inmates money for commissary or for legal defense. We can show our solidarity. We can show up to court hearings. We can write petitions. We can actively do things to help people that do place themselves at risk against their institutions. And it’s really important remind people that have been in positions like we have that we’re not forgotten cause it’s really easy to feel like we’re forgotten sometimes.

On a more positive note for the future though. I think it’s really important to remember that we live in a time where we don’t need leaders to tell us what to do, or to guide us in a time like this. I think we need each other. I lean upon people that are closest to me. I learned this in prison that the people closest to you are the people that matter the most. I looked to them when the prison staff was treating me awfully. Or, just as much as I could reach out to Lisa, I had my prison friends across the table from me. Or down the hall. Or in the cell two doors down that I could reach out to. We worked together. We can depend on each other. We needed each other.

That works out here as well. We need each other. We know what our communities need. Each one of us knows what our community needs. Someone that’s way up upon high that makes decisions doesn’t know what our community needs.

I also think it’s important to remember – especially because I’m told a lot: “You really give me hope.”

I don’t give anybody hope. Hope is not something that anyone can give to you. Nobody can give you hope. Hope is something that you already have. You just have to find it, and we have to help each other find it. Nobody gave me hope when I was in prison. I had to find it. I found it and it got me through. And the support helped me find it.

It’s really important to remember that we do have this. “We got this” – that’s a hashtag that I use very frequently on my Twitter, and it actually comes from a phrase that I said many many times to Lisa, whenever we were having troubled moments over the phone. Whenever she was helping me. Even whenever it looked like… Cause ya know, I didn’t think this would happen. I didn’t think I’d be standing here today. I really didn’t. We had moments when neither of us did. But, she worked so hard.

And and one of the things that we used to say was “We got this. We got this.” Even whenever it didn’t look like we did. And I think it’s real important to remember that sometimes, even whenever it looks like you don’t have it, you really do. And so we got this. Thank you Lisa. Thank you everyone. It’s very powerful for me to be here tonight.

Time To Drop Everything NOW and Save the Internet!

December 16 UPDATE:

Read this by Evan Greer in the Huffington post about what to do next: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/we-can-get-the-fccs-decision-to-kill-net-neutrality_us_5a32df48e4b02bd1c8c60545

The FCC just voted to repeal all existing net neutrality protections. They are giving giant ISPs like Verizon and Comcast the power to control what we can see and do online with new fees, throttling, and censorship. This will ruin the fundamentally open nature of the internet. This fight isn’t over, though. There is still a clear path to victory.

The organizations behind Battle For The Net are launching a new campaign to demand that Congress step in and restore net neutrality via the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The CRA lets elected officials in Congress overrule actions taken by Federal agencies like the FCC. And it’s different from a normal bill because it only requires a simple majority in the Senate and House to pass.

 

This is it guys! The FCC plans to kill net neutrality this Thursday.

Explanation below – if you’re in a hurry and already know why, here’s what to do/everything you need to “Break the Internet” for the 48 hours before the FCC vote here: https://www.breaktheinternetprotest.org

DO THIS STUFF! THEN SPREAD THE WORD:

1) Add Widgets to your websites and apps, send a push notification or drive action using our widgets and banners.

2) Change your icon on Twitter, Facebook and everwhere and use <–this one

3) Change your Facebook relationship status to “Married” (to net neutrality) and add a comment linking to BattleForTheNet.com

4) Add a new “job” on LinkedIn: “Defending Net Neutrality at BattleForTheNet.com” and make sure you’ve got the “notify people when my profile changes” setting on.

5) Change your Twitter and Instagram featured website to BattleForTheNet.com and post frequently using the content.

6) Tweet stuff all day about saving the internet!

This is a watershed moment. What we do (or don’t do) between now and the vote could determine the fate of the Internet. We’re planning a mass online protest called “Break the Internet” today.

If enough of us participate, we can spark a political crisis for Congress and force them to step in and stop the FCC vote or overturn it.

The Internet is rising up in protest. Major sites like Tumblr, Reddit, Kickstarter, Etsy, and Mozilla are joining – but we can’t do it with just them! This is going to require all of us to buckle down for the next 48 hours.

We have a chance, if we all work together.

So! There’s no time for petitions now. The entire Internet needs to come together and get creative to create the kind of moment we need to stop the FCC from handing Comcast and Verizon the power to control what we can do online with censorship, throttling, and new fees.

We’ve got a plan that EVERYONE can use to sound the alarm and drive a flood of net neutrality action to Congress before the vote.

 

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