Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Free Speech!

Give Me CyberLiberty!

"First they came for the fourth amendment,
and I did not speak out, because I didn't deal drugs.

They came for the fifth amendment,
and I was silent because I owned no property involved in crimes

They came for the sixth amendment,
and I did not protest because I was innocent.

They came for the second amendment,
and I said nothing because I didn't own a gun.

And then they came for the first amendment,
and I could say nothing at all."

It was called the CDA. It was unconstitutional. That was clear to anyone who truly understood both the internet and the bill of rights. It was a direct attack on the future of expression of all kinds on the internet (not just child pornography as some would have you believe). It will not stop with the Supreme Court decision. Count on more bills being passed. If you are not aware of this, check out one of the sites below and start reading now!

I personally participated in the lawsuit against the Federal Government! Get additional information and join the efforts of the ACLU. New cases are always going on in attempts to silence the internet.

The decision by the Federal Court in Philadelphia was handed down on June 12 and it was a 3-0 decision to stop enforcement of the Communications Decency Act.

"As the most participatory form of mass speech yet developed, the Internet deserves the highest protection from government intrusion."

"Just as the strength of the Internet is chaos, so the strength of our liberty depends upon the chaos and cacophony of the unfettered speech the First Amendment protects."

- Excerpts from the decision

Some good sources in Cyberliberty:

• American Civil Liberties Union Freedom Network
  
  
  
• EFF Action Alerts - The Electronic Freedom Foundation is working hard to preserve free access to information -- a very good organization
  
• Center for Democracy and Technology is an excellent source of news relating to legislation that may affect online freedom.
  
• First Amendment Cyber-Tribune
  
• The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center
  
• EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center) Free Speech Page
  
• Electronic Frontier Foundation - The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a non-profit civil liberties organization working in the public interest to protect privacy, free expression, and access to online resources and information.

Celebrate the Community of Freedom.

The brainchild of Dave Winer (HotWired), 24 Hours of Democracy was a protest of the Communications Decency Act through a positive act of the internet community. People from around the world wrote essays about freedom, democracy, and/or the internet, put them on web sites, and linked them all into one giant searchable cyber-book. This effort served to demonstrate to the media and the rest of the world the positive power of the internet.

Here are some writings from my participation in "24 Hours of Democracy" (please note that many of the links to other sites within these articles may no longer be active):

• Democracy - Freedom - The Arts - my main essay on the arts.

• Freedom Shorts - my second essay featuring short thoughts and quotes.

• "24 Hours" Fine Arts Tour - a tour of essays that are part of "24 Hours of Democracy" that deal with the arts. This page was featured on the main "24 Hours" pages.

• 7 Days of Democracy - an essay about the process of "24 Hours" that gives a journal-type view. This page was also featured on the main "24 Hours" pages.

Reference Materials

• A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace - an outstanding statement about freedom and technology.
  
• The U.S. Constitution
  
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights