They’re NOT in the home stretch

We now know that big industry and government bureaucracies want to censor and spy on our Internet 1. These initiatives would never pass with the world watching and that’s why they’ll stop at nothing to keep their activities secret. Your team at OpenMedia.org asked the Internet what we should do in response – we heard loud and clear that it’s time to start crafting our own community-driven Internet governance rules.2

We now know that big industry and government bureaucracies want to censor and spy on our Internet¹. These initiatives would never pass with the world watching and that’s why they’ll stop at nothing to keep their activities secret.

Your team at OpenMedia.org asked the Internet what we should do in response – we heard loud and clear that it’s time to start crafting our own community-driven Internet governance rules.²

We need your help for this to work – let’s work together to create a plan for a fair digital future free of censorship and online spying.

Here’s the down-low:

Government officials and big industry lobbyists just met behind closed doors in Malaysia to finalize a secretive agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

They’re planning out new rules that could cause all Internet service providers to monitor their users and even disconnect entire families from the Internet for something as innocent as sharing a copyrighted recipe online. ³⁴

Stay with us -- this is pretty inspiring:

Here’s what our community has done to respond so far...

1. Over the past year, over 130,000 signatures were delivered to TPP decision-makers through our StopTheTrap.net petition.⁵
2. Then, we created a tool to force voices from the Internet straight into the negotiators’ secret meetings.⁶ We even confronted TPP bureaucrats with an iPad streaming your comments.⁷
3. Next, our community sent the new U.S. TPP chief negotiator a clear message that the Internet is watching with a hard-hitting newspaper ad. ⁸
4. And, together we launched OurFairDeal.org, the largest multi-nation coalition in the world promoting a positive vision for free expression and creativity online.

The public pressure you helped create has convinced U.S. Senators⁹ to demand transparency, and now reports are suggesting that the TPP’s closed-door process is stalling.¹⁰

Our plan:

We know lobbyists now plan to take their demands right to the top echelon of the government -- they think country leaders who normally stay out of these matters will passively enact their unpopular online censorship plan.¹¹

But, together we’re building a Trans-Pacific partnership of our own - a partnership of citizens, creators, and innovators. We’ll model what an open 21st century participatory process should look like, in contrast to the near-total secrecy of the TPP talks.

We’ll use your input to build a Fair Deal plan that will be impossible for decision-makers to ignore.

We’re starting now by collecting your input through our Internet voice tool, but this is just the start. In the coming weeks and months we’ll reveal actions for you to take to help us create an open and fair digital future. So stay tuned!

It will be a long haul to take on government and big industry players that are threatened by the Internet. Thankfully, we’ve seen time and time again that when we come together and stay together, we win.

We can do this,

Steve and Reilly on behalf of your OpenMedia team

P.S. Big industry lobbyists are cooking up their secret deal while hosting exclusive cocktail receptions for their influential friends in expensive hotels. They want you to ignore this email and keep quiet while they end the Internet as we know it. Will you let them get away with it? Please support our work today so we can continue moving forward together.

P.P.S. We know the Internet is a crucial tool for people around the globe to share ideas and work collectively to build the world we all want. You should be proud of your role in the Internet freedom community so far, and join the Internet community in taking the next step in shaping what our digital future looks like.

Footnotes

[1] Find OpenMedia's backgrounder on the TPP here.

[2] Report back: The Internet is smart – The wisdom of the crowd and the threat to Internet freedom by secretive trade agreements. Source.

[3] TPP Creates Legal Incentives For ISPs To Police The Internet. What Is At Risk? Your Rights. Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation.

[4] See this backgrounder from Public Knowledge on the TPP’s potential “three strikes” rule. Source.

[5] Large petition against TPP’s Internet trap hand-delivered to negotiations in San Diego. See OpenMedia’s photo here.

[6] OpenTheTPP campaign turns heads at negotiations. More details here.

[7] What I told those behind the biggest threat to Internet freedom: The Trans-Pacific Partnership. Source.

[8] Back in May we sent an appeal for an ad targeting the lead U.S. decision-maker behind the TPP, Michael Froman. See the ad here.

[9] Senator Warren Presses White House to Release Pacific Trade Text. Source: Bloomberg News.

[10] Many trade experts (see here and here) are suggesting the talks may drag on into the first half of 2014.

[11] Many members of Congress are not happy with their level of access. Source.