[Wikimedia-l] Update on the CISPA drafting process, and its significance to the Wikimedia movement.
There have been drastic changes to the CISPA language, (and here "drastic" is an understatement). Not only have they removed the language that would have made Wikimedia look like right prat -- hooray...ish -- but the emphasis on the agreement between large scale traffic sites giving their userinformation over in a quid pro quo fashion, has shifted towards language enabling them to deputise (security clearances in an expedited fashion) small time hacker collectives to conduct activities which might or might not be illegal, as long as it is for the good of the country, and as long as they can be relied to keep their mouths shut. At this point I think *any* action by Wikimedia would be misinterpreted. There is no-longer any text there that would affect Wikimedia directly. There may be an argument that the bill as a whole is still detrimental to the internet as a whole and to the United States economy, and by that route to Wikimedia. But that is such an involved chain, that we would certainly be accused of being political, if Wikimedia protested in any shape or form, on those grounds. Assuming the draft prevails of course. That is a gamble. I think the backdoor option we have is to pressure Obama to Veto the bill. He needs a win against Congress, and afte the SOPA affair this could well be his, He certainly could activate all the people who phoned in on the SOPA thing, if he wants to. -- -- Jussi-Ville Heiskanen, ~ [[User:Cimon Avaro]] ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
Re: [Wikimedia-l] Update on the CISPA drafting process, and its significance to the Wikimedia movement.
On Fri, Apr 20, 2012 at 8:37 AM, Jussi-Ville Heiskanen wrote: > There have been drastic changes to the CISPA language, (and > here "drastic" is an understatement). ... > At this point I think *any* action by Wikimedia would be misinterpreted. > There is no-longer any text there that would affect Wikimedia directly. I think we should take our cues from the American Library Association. Wikimedia is really an outcrop of the Public Library movement. If the librarians oppose it, we are on solid ground opposing it to. Indeed, we can justify our opposition merely by pointing to the ALA's position-- Librarians are like the Military in the US-- everyone loves librarians. Going full black may not be justified, but releasing a statement of some kind (or a small banner of some kind) might be appropriate. Also, remember that we are a global organization. If the US 'legitimizes' universal cyber-surveillance, it could have deep ramifications for our readers editors living under authoritarian regimes. Even if the US is a good steward of these new powers, non-US users are unlikely to be so lucky. The language is reportedly in flux. I strongly suggest taking our cues from the ALA. If they librarians oppose it, let us oppose it too. ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
Re: [Wikimedia-l] Update on the CISPA drafting process, and its significance to the Wikimedia movement.
On Thu, Apr 26, 2012 at 11:29 AM, Alec Meta wrote: > On Fri, Apr 20, 2012 at 8:37 AM, Jussi-Ville Heiskanen > wrote: >> There have been drastic changes to the CISPA language, (and >> here "drastic" is an understatement). > ... >> At this point I think *any* action by Wikimedia would be misinterpreted. >> There is no-longer any text there that would affect Wikimedia directly. > > I think we should take our cues from the American Library Association. > Wikimedia is really an outcrop of the Public Library movement. If > the librarians oppose it, we are on solid ground opposing it to. > Indeed, we can justify our opposition merely by pointing to the ALA's > position-- Librarians are like the Military in the US-- everyone > loves librarians. > > Going full black may not be justified, but releasing a statement of > some kind (or a small banner of some kind) might be appropriate. > > Also, remember that we are a global organization. If the US > 'legitimizes' universal cyber-surveillance, it could have deep > ramifications for our readers editors living under authoritarian > regimes. Even if the US is a good steward of these new powers, non-US > users are unlikely to be so lucky. > > The language is reportedly in flux. I strongly suggest taking our > cues from the ALA. If they librarians oppose it, let us oppose it > too. > I totally agree with all of the above, butI think we have a good opportunity to frame the argument as one of Obama and the People against a corrupt system on the Hill. Not Wikimedia as a nine-hundred pound gorilla against the peoples duly elected representatives. -- -- Jussi-Ville Heiskanen, ~ [[User:Cimon Avaro]] ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
