Join New Media Rights in signing the Declaration of Internet Freedom to uphold basic rights in the digital world

New Media RIghts has joined a broad, international coalition of civil society groups calling on elected officials to sign the new Declaration of Internet Freedom and uphold basic rights in the digital world.

We encourage you to read and sign the Declaration, and encourage your elected officials to sign it as well.

 

Internet rights battles don't end with SOPA - February 2012 newsletter

What an amazing time for Internet rights!  Millions of internet users and creators like you put a stop to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) in Congress.  These laws threatened free speech and innovation by allowing blocking of entire web services due to infringing content posted on a single webpage. 

You have the power to shape the future of a free and open internet, but Internet rights battles don't end with SOPA & PIPA. Wireless carriers, large media companies, and other gatekeepers continue to find ways to artificially limit your ability to access services and share content online. Our February newsletter explains how NMR has been working tirelessly on behalf of internet users, creators and consumers in the new year.

Read the entire newsletter!

New Media Rights signs open letter sent to Congress regarding SOPA, PIPA, and internet freedom with 70 other groups

February 6, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Art Neill, Executive Director, New Media Rights, (619) 591-8870

On February 6, 2012, New Media Rights joined approximately 70 grass-roots groups, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, human rights groups, communities of color, and Internet companies in sending a letter asking Congress to stop its work on intellectual property issues in the wake of massive public protests against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA).

Read the letter in its entirety

Stop the Stop Online Piracy Act

Congress is once again considering passing new laws regulating piracy on the Internet. The House of Representatives is currently considering passing the Stop Online Piracy Act. But many oppose the Act—and you should too. If it becomes law, as one Congresswoman exclaimed, it “would mean the end of the internet as we know it.” Similarly, Internet companies like Google and Facebook also openly oppose it. The Act even prompted online protests by Tumblr, Reddit and Firefox. Why do so many oppose the Stop Online Piracy Act, and why should you be concerned? Read our coverage to find out.

Net Neutrality Rules: Illogical logic governs what ISPs can block

Net Neutrality Illogical logic thumbnail

As we recently discussed, the FCC’s new Net Neutrality rules forbid Internet service providers (ISPs) from blocking access to certain materials. These rules make clear that “fixed broadband” ISPs (AKA cable and DSL Internet providers) cannot block access to lawful materials. But, illogically, whether they can block access to unlawful materials is not at all clear.

Is the gatekeeper model of information access the new normal?

On the surface, gatekeepers can look like new services enabling communication with the world around us. However, gatekeepers like Apple or Youtube, whether acting deliberately, recklessly, arbitrarily, or incompetently, can pose significant hurdles to independent creators. 

The FCC's Net Neutrality Rules: A tale of two internets

Support Net Neutrality - shared under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.0 license

The FCC's rules regulating Network Neutrality split the Internet. No more is it the Internet, singular; it’s the Internets, plural. Or more precisely, it’s the two Internets: The wired and the wireless. And the new rules leave the latter virtually unprotected. With the rules soon to come into affect this fall, and public interest and industry groups aligning for lawsuits, here's what the fight is all about.

September Newsletter: Success stories, challenging AT&T, and Blogworld 2011

Our September newsletter brings news of success stories fighting DMCA abuse, a grant awarded by the California Consumer Protection Foundation, and our continuing efforts to stop the AT&T-Tmobile merger. 

You can also catch us in person at Media Law in the Digital Age in October, a conference coproduced by Harvard Berkman Center's Digital Media Law Project and the Center for Sustainable Journalism at Kennesaw State University, as well as Blogworld 2011 in LA in November.

New Media Rights files Reply Comments in the AT&T - T-mobile merger review at the California Public Utiltities Commission

AT&T T-mobile merger

New Media Rights and its affiliates Utility Consumers' Action Network and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse filed Reply Comments to the California Public Utilities Commission investigation into the AT&T - T-mobile merger.  After attending the innovation and consumer workshops, and reading a mountain of additional paperwork, we're more convinced than ever that the CPUC should recommend denial of the merger.

We talk about specific reasons why in our comments, and also suggest that in the event the Commission does choose to recommend to the FCC to approve with the merger, some significant conditions should be placed in California.

New Media Rights files Petition to Deny the AT&T - T-mobile Merger at the FCC

New Media Rights, its parent organization Utility Consumers' Action Network, and its affiliated project Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, have filed a petition to deny with the Federal Communications Commission. 

Our petition makes clear the FCC must investigate AT&T's assumptions and claims carefully, and that on balance, the merger is not in the public interest of America's wireless consumers.  The merger's negative affect on innovation, access to the internet, customer service quality, prices, service availability, and consumer privacy are all discussed.

Read the full filing by clicking here.

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