Three online activist groups recently came together to co-author a new document that is intended to preserve the Internet's freedoms.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Free Press and Access Now recently wrote a document they call the Declaration of Internet Freedom, and have already gained significant support for their vision of keeping the Internet as a place for new ideas, free speech and creativity, according to a report from
CBS News. Organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International and Mozilla have all backed the document as worthwhile.
The Declaration of Internet Freedom places importance on five values that help make the online world what it is: Expression, access, openness, innovation and privacy, the report said. In short, the groups want to see the Internet remain uncensored, and for organizations to promote universal access to fast, affordable networks. Further, they want the Internet to be open to as many people as possible, where innovation can be fostered without permission from organizations, and on which privacy can be protected and defended according to users' wants and needs.
The document is seen as an answer to the U.S. governments recent attempts to pass the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act, which spawned the recent Internet blackout day observed by many extremely popular websites, the report said. Those proposed laws were ostensibly framed as ways to crack down on illegal activity online but were seen as being far too broad, and led to fears that consumers' activities online would become far more heavily monitored. And while those bills were delayed indefinitely, another (the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act) has recently been introduced, and faces the same type of criticism.
"Today's launch of the Declaration of Internet Freedom is another major step forward in the growing movement to define and defend the online freedoms all people should enjoy," Free Press chief executive officer Craig Aaron said, according to the news agency. "We've seen the power that millions of people have against threats from corporate and government interests alike - whether in fighting for Net Neutrality or against SOPA. Now comes a moment for us to shape, to debate and to unite behind a positive, proactive vision for the Internet's future."
Eduard Goodman, the chief privacy officer for
Identity Theft 911, maintains a blog about the privacy challenges consumers face online.
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