Digital Dialogues

SOPA & PIPA on First Person Radio

 

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as House Bill 3261, is legislation introduced in the United States House of Representatives to enforce current laws that make stealing intellectual property and trafficking in counterfeit goods illegal.

The legislation will provide a way for United States courts to penalize foreign websites that are currently outside the reach of United States courts. If SOPA becomes law, Internet service providers (ISPs) will be required to filter domain names to identify sites that are found by federal courts to be in violation of the law.  ISPs will be required to redirect traffic from such sites. The legislation also specifies that a federal court can order a direct payment company to sever ties with a site that has been found in violation.

Proponents of the legislation are eager to shut down sites that break United States laws, pointing out that online piracy and the trafficking of counterfeit goods deprives the United States economy of a highly significant amount of revenue each year. 

Critics of the legislation and its United States Senate equivalent, the Protect IP Act, are concerned that legislators do not fully understand how the Internet works. On the technical side, IT security professionals throughout the world have raised concerns that PIPA's domain name system (DNS) filtering is incompatible with DNSSEC.  DNSSEC is a set of Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standards that address vulnerabilities in the Domain Name System (DNS) and protect it from online threats. 

Continue reading about SOPA and PIPA:

The United States House of Representatives website has more information about SOPA.

The United States Senate website has more information about PIPA. 

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Winning the Arts and Minds of the 99%

This month's Digital Dialogue features the strategies that artists and arts & culture organizations have been using to amplify the growing 99Percent Movement (aka Occupy Movement). In the U.S., the hardest hit communities, historically disenfranchised people representing the 99%, have been organizing for many years to organize for racial, economic and social justice.  These communities understand the power of arts and culture and have been using it effectively in their organizing and movement building work. Since mid-September, cultural workers and artists from these social justice, working class, immigrant and communities of color have worked hard to use these same platforms to unify the hearts and minds of the 99%.   Arts and culture working groups have been springing up in virtually every local 99Percent actions.  They have been engaged in a wide array of artistic mediums, everything from music, independent newspapers, videos, poster art, fine art, poetry, performance, theater and dance just to name a few.

Our features some of these cultural workers and artists whose creative works have helped to inspire tens of thousands to come together to get involved in the Occupy Together 99% movement.

Special Guests: (moderated by Betty Yu, Center for Media Justice):

 

 

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Black Voices for Internet Freedom: Why this is our fight!

This month's Digital Dialogue features a newly launched coalition, Black Voices for Internet Freedom, spearheaded by grassroots organizations working to defend a free and unfettered Internet.  On the heels of the successful sister coalition, Latinos for Internet Freedom, Black communities are organizing and coming together to keep the Internet open and free from discrimination. Because communities of color rely on the Internet for basic everyday needs and are increasingly embracing wireless technology, we are organizing to protect our online communication rights. These rights are currently at risk: FCC Net Neutrality rules provide few protections for wireless users — and a pending congressional resolution would overturn these rules and hand control of the Internet to corporations. What’s more, the Department of Justice has acknowledged that AT&T’s proposed merger with T-Mobile is a serious threat to wireless competition and would raise prices for consumers.  This digital dialogue addresses the importance of black communities and families coming together to get involved in this fight.  

Special Guests Include:
Albert Syke, Young People's Project
Sage Krump, Art is Change
Chance Williams, Free Press

Moderated by Betty Yu, Center for Media Justice
 

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Mountain Talk - The Rural Broadband Hearing

Hosted by Mimi Pickering. 

On October 12 a group gathered at Appalshop to talk about the importance of accessible, affordable high-speed Internet in Appalachian communities. Residents from across the region came to share their concerns and ideas with special guests Jonathan Adelstein, administrator of the Rural Utilities Service in the US Department of Agriculture, and Mark DeFalco from the Appalachian Regional Commission. The first broadband hearing to be held in rural America, was co-sponsored by the Center for Rural Strategies, the Center for Media Justice, and Free Press, with the local support ofAppalshop, the Partnership of African American Churches, and the Central Appalachia Regional Network.  This WMMT Mountain Talk highlights excerpts from the presentations and public comments shared at the event.

 

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