Save The Link

[Giovanni Bianchini]

The Internet is our final frontier. We can travel through outer space, explore the depths of our oceans, visit museums, connect to social media and
educate ourselves via on-line dictionaries and encyclopedias for history, medicine and an infinite number of other topics. If you have a question, the Internet has the answer.

Universal Resource Locators (URL)s or Links are the foundation of the Internet. But the link is under attack.

– In Spain and Germany, old media conglomerates have successfully lobbied for laws that will limit how others can link to their news web sites. This restricts the ability of independent news media and bloggers to do their jobs, and restricts users' access to knowledge.

- In India, the Supreme Court recently rejected challenges to the government's right to block websites, despite experts criticism of the process as “lacking in independent oversight and transparency.” Blocked websites means broken links.

- Meanwhile, in the United States, Big Media has been waging a long, secret war against the Internet to protect their outdated business model. Lobbyists and lawyers have been fighting wars with search engines, pressuring intermediaries to block access to websites, and attempting to block links and data at the border.

- In Australia, the government is considering blocking links to popular sites hosting thousands of links to legal shared content, all in an ineffective effort to favour large US media conglomerates.

- Now, old media firms have been pressuring lawmakers to upload Germany's link censorship laws to the EU level, which would have a profound effect on everyone’s right to link all over the world – including the 500 million users in the EU alone. Internet users everywhere need to say no to this plan before it goes any further.

Is that where it will stop. In my opinion NO. This is but the first step towards censorship of evil proportions. Mainstream news media are already under the control of governments and only report the slant the government wants to portray. The truth and nothing but the truth has long since been replaced by a trail of shit that would fertilize the Sinai (taken from Good Morning Vietnam)

Imagine we won't be able to view information about revolutionary new medicines because the manufacturer deems the information proprietary.

Imagine no more Wikileaks, Dictionary or Encyclopedia.

Imagine we won't be able to view history on the holocaust because it is anti-something.

Imagine we won't be able to view information on police brutality or government corruption because it is deemed a threat to national security.

Imagine we won't be able to view information about black, white, yellow, red and brown because it is deemed racist.

You have a voice and if ever there was a time when it is needed, it is now!

Please use your voice, it will take 2 minutes of your valuable time. Visit http://savethelink.org and then forward this message to everyone in your address book. Make this message viral, make your voice heard.

Thanks
Giovanni

[Ruud Janssen]

signed!