[liberationtech] If you didn't like SOPA, EU signs ACTA. The good fight isn't over. Plus twitter censorship.

[M Al-Masani]

1. http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-01/26/eu-signs-up-to-acta

The EU has signed ACTA which is similar to SOPA, but as a trade agreement. It hasn't ratified it yet. Now if individual constituents lobby their MPs, if tech firms hold black outs, etc. like what they did in Silicon Valley there is a strong chance of quashing this. The French MEP didn't join the ceremony. 


Canada signed it as a treaty but it has yet to be ratified in parliament. The campaign against SOPA was amazing. We have Hollywood and other organizations with longstanding relations with their capitals and politicians over decades who came up with this. Yes, copyright is important but at the same time so is freedom so we need a balance, and this is not what balance looks like.

So what should we do about this?

2. I heard a lot about twitter censorship. What is going on? Are they listening to court orders. Will the tweep get a copy of the court order? Can a country like Iran issue dozens of court orders to shut down dissidents? Where is the line. I know the people at twitter have been pretty good in not succumbing to censorship and holding the fort so this really surprised me. When I brought up the topic on twitter it block me from a journalist with a large following. Some activists say its a non-issue and minor and others in the Middle East are very mad and working to shut down traffic and call it censorship. What is going on and what should we do about it.


All the best,
Maria Al-Masani
@al_masani