[Scpg] Fw: Stop the Switch!

[Barbara Wishingrad]

this seems like a part of the invisible structures of Permaculture so I have 
forwarded it to two Permaculture listservs.
bw

 "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come 
alive and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come 
alive." 

~ Howard Thurman, African American mystic & activist



----- Forwarded Message ----
From: AccessNow <info at accessnow.org>
To: Barbara Wishingrad <seaandmts2 at yahoo.com>
Sent: Wed, February 9, 2011 7:29:33 AM
Subject: Stop the Switch!


Dear Barbara,

Have you heard about the “internet kill switch”? It gives governments the 
technical or legal power to cut off their entire country’s internet access, and 
it’s no longer just a pipedream of dictators, but a very real threat to all of 
us who use the internet around the world.

Egypt used it last week, Austria’s already got it, the U.S. has a law drafted to 
establish it, while other governments across the globe are testing to see how 
easily they could plunge their country into an information blackout. And they 
can do it one of two ways: either by creating the legal authority that gives 
them the power to demand that the internet service providers (ISPs) operating in 
their country shut down, or by configuring a “switch” that controls their 
country’s entire internet infrastructure.

Just because we use the internet everyday, doesn’t mean we always will be able 
to do so. A global movement of internet users can help stop our governments 
(democratic and authoritarian alike) from acquiring an internet kill switch, but 
only if we act fast. Add your name to our global "Stop the Switch" 
petition, which we'll deliver to those countries considering the switch and 
globally to the United Nations, which is meeting soon to discuss freedom of 
speech online:

https://www.accessnow.org/Stop-the-Switch

From Australia to Zimbabwe, we see how vital access to the internet, both on 
computers and mobile phones, is for people to freely express themselves. An 
internet kill switch puts your ability to communicate with friends and family 
online in jeopardy by placing control over the internet firmly into the hands of 
your government, who may not necessarily have your interests and rights in mind 
when they flip the switch.

With the U.S. just a few votes away from giving President Obama and any of his 
successors ultimate control over the country’s internet access, imagine what is 
being considered in other countries across the world. We need a global internet 
uprising to protect our rights, and we are starting at the top with the United 
Nations. Please join our call before the internet kill switch becomes the global 
norm:

https://www.accessnow.org/Stop-the-Switch

As online communication becomes an increasingly important part of all aspects of 
our lives, governments have sought to censor, filter, surveil, and now, shut off 
access to these vital tools. Just imagine if your government decided to switch 
your internet -- and you -- off. 

In Egypt, using powers granted to Mubarak under emergency law, the government 
was able to shut off the internet with a couple of phone calls to each of the 
internet service providers (ISPs) operating in Egypt. Egyptians employed 
innovative work-arounds to avoid the shutdown like using international dial-up, 
but do we really want to resort to that? Lets draw a line in the sand 
as governments around the world race to acquire an "internet kill switch."

Governments habitually put their own survival above the wellbeing of their 
people. The only real deterrent to the internet kill switch is us -- a global 
movement for digital freedom; please join the international campaign to “Stop 
the Switch!”

https://www.accessnow.org/Stop-the-Switch

With hope,
The Access Team

P.S. If you missed our live web symposium last week on The Middle East, The 
Revolution, & The Internet, you can watch it at: 
https://www.accessnow.org/policy-activism/press-blog/The-Middle-East-The-Revolution-And-The-Internet 


P.P.S. You can also read Access' open letter to Vodafone's CEO 
here: https://www.accessnow.org/policy-activism/press-blog/open-letter-from-access-to-the-ceo-of-vodafone


For more information on the internet kill switch see:

http://opennet.net/blog/2011/01/egypt%E2%80%99s-internet-blackout-extreme-example-just-time-blocking


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/02/05/INO91HHD7P.DTL

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/global-net-crackdown-to-shatter-utopian-internet-experts-20110204-1ag3i.html?from=smh_sb


http://www.renesys.com/blog/2011/01/egypt-leaves-the-internet.shtml

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20029282-281.html
________________________________


To unsubscribe, go to: 
http://www.accessnow.org/unsubscribe



 
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