I just saw those articles in a post. I was shocked to say the least, and decided to post this on several forums I frequent so the word can be spread.
In summary, all major American ISP’s are implementing a system to spy on their users in order to police copyright infringement. There was no legal debate let alone any discussion with the users, and this decision was simply taken and will be applied starting 1 or 12 July. Users considered to be infringing copyright will be punished in several ways… such as their internet being cut off, selective websites being censored, their bandwidth being lowered, and if the offense is repeated users will be constrained to go to special copyright lessons to be allowed on the internet again.
I believe that this is the worst attack initiated against internet users in the US, worse than what SOPA and ACTA were meant to be. If what’s said about this initiative is true, something worse than SOPA is already being put in practice starting next week. It’s clear that the government and / or Hollywood have started another backroom deal, this time asking ISP’s to pretend they’ve taken the decision on their own so they could censor the internet without any debate in the house or senate (which as proven by SOPA would not pass).
I couldn’t begin describing how horrible and surreal this is after what I read. It will be used to cut users off the internet, and even worse to purposely humiliate them in spite (copyright lessons required to access the internet, and lowered data transfer rates as punishment). It will also be used to spy on any website you access, and for the first time in the history of America you will be completely watched by your ISP. They might even be able to read private emails you send / receive. Those are unspeakable practices which could only be imagined in countries like Libia or North Korea.
I don’t believe I need to point out that users will not be punished for real copyright infringements only, but false negatives will exist and be heavily abused. Technically, if your ISP believes you are stupid for accessing a website they don’t like (which they can now spy on) they may easily invent a claim and cut you off the internet without being questioned by anyone. This will obviously be used for censorship on political subjects and worse too.
Every internet user needs to act urgently, more than they have for SOPA / PIPA last winter. If this decision is not undone, I’m even expecting riots to take place. I’m also hoping that major websites like Google or Wikipedia will do another blackout in awareness to this. At this point I strongly support a criminal investigation to see who’s behind those unprecedented attacks on internet users, and believe someone needs to be sentenced to prison for both this and what happened with SOPA.
The only thing I ask of everyone is to please re-post this and spread awareness immediately! We need everyone to know about this fast, so we can have time to protest and / or sign petitions against it. Lets hope this can be stopped before the unthinkable happens, otherwise there will no longer be internet for most of us.
As usual, please spread the word and re-post wherever you can so everyone knows. We need to show the senators those who oppose it are large in number, since as with SOPA they will not be able to vote on a law that everyone is visibly against. The house already passed it, so this is even more urgent for that reason.
