<nettime> Digital rights: call to all citizens to fight back

["simona.conservas.eXgae" <info@conservas.tk>]

"The battle for access to information and the Internet is the mother of 
all battles, the one that will allow us to keep going autonomously and 
creatively in crisis times, regardless of what the powers that be 
"organise" for their own interest..."
/Zaphod Beeblebrox, Digital Thoughts/


*Because in times of crisis, the European Parliament is discussing how 
to take away one of the few remaining ways that allow citizens to get 
ahead -- open access to the Internet -- and to hand it over to the 
multinationals (this is not science fiction; it is happening now - 
follow the links below [1]);

Because we must be able to benefit from spreading our works without 
middlemen;

Because we are fed up with plundering by royalties management organisations;

Because artists are being used as an excuse to restrict legal rights to 
expression and development;

Because copying and sharing information is our right to culture, to 
knowledge and to communication, and they want to give it away to the 
entertainment industry  (this isn't science fiction either -- the 
American Chamber of Commerce is pressuring worldwide for changes to the 
Intellectual Property Laws to prevent the right to copy and share 
information [2]);

Because their business is not our culture;

Because it is important for artists to be able to make a living from 
their work if they wish to;

Because "greed breaks the sack" as we saw in this crisis that has shown 
us that we live in a system that expects us to protect the interests of 
banks and multinationals, in the hope that they might one day give us a 
job in exchange for the crumbs of their profits.
The philosophy of free culture, inherited from the free software 
movement, is the best empirical proof that a new kind of ethics and a 
new kind of business are possible. It has already created an alternative 
production space that works, based on an artisan or trade model in which 
the author-producer doesn't lose control of his or her output and 
doesn't need the mediation of big monopolies. A kind of production that 
is committed to autonomous initiatives in solidarity with others, to 
sharing based on each person's abilities and opportunities, to the 
democratisation of knowledge, education and the means of production and 
to fair distribution of earnings based on work carried out. *

And because actions speak louder than words, thousands of individuals 
and organisations, hundreds of artists, have joined forces...

 we welcome back in Barcelona, Spain...

*
*
* The oXcars
*29th of octobre 2009*
*the biggest free culture event of all time
http://oxcars09.exgae.net


And, for the first time, we introduce
*The International Free Culture Forum: **
Organisation and Action*
30th of octobre to 1st of novembre 2009* *
which will put down in black and white the politics of the digital age 
as conceived by citizens, by you and by me (this is not science fiction!).
http://fcforum.net/


This is an invitation extended to everybody, and an invitation extended 
to over 1000 institutions that legislate on our rights worldwide, an 
invitation to listen and to understand, because the way of life and 
development of citizens is at stake.
On October 25 we will reveal how each and every one of them has responded.

The oXcars and The Free Culture Forum are open to everybody. Come along, 
find out about absolutely everything and participate.
This is unstoppable, we can only win. The civil society have its word to 
say on access to knowledge and culture in the digital age.

Please, spread the info.

*http://oxcars09.exgae.net/
http://fcforum.net/*


"It was the same with the inquisition: digital progress is also 
unstoppable, the only issue is how many years of suffering, stagnation 
and obscurantism we will have to but up with before they admit that 
their interests are not the centre of the universe".
/Cayce Pollard, Vogons Proverbs/

[By the way, this message is illegal en Europe. It is illegal to use 
quotations except for research and educational purposes. Quotes for 
information purposes are not permitted... And this is not science fiction].

*____________

Related material of interest:*

*[1] *-- During the Free Culture Forum you will be able to collaborate, 
in the flesh, with the organisations that are lobbying the European 
Parliament exactly during these days in which the fearsome Telecoms 
Package is being debated.
You can see what it's all about here:
http://www.laquadrature.net/en/we-must-protect-net-neutrality-in-europe-open-letter-to-the-european-parliament
http://www.euopeninternet.eu

Here is information about who is on the committee, how they have voted 
(from red to green, from more favourable to citizens to more favourable 
to multinationals), and who we have to lobby in each country (if you 
know some of them, talk to them; if you don't know them, ring them up. 
These links show you how):
http://werebuild.eu/wiki/index.php/Operation_revelation
http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/Telecoms_Package-Conciliation_Committe-Parliament_Delegation#Political_Memory:_MEPs_ranking_by_score

What do we tell them?: to defend the original article 138, not the 
"soft" version. That is: no private entity can monitor your digital 
communication"prior ruling by the judicial authorities".

Send to the Europarlementiers the following sentence (this action is 
carried out all over Europe):
""*Prior ruling by the judicial authorities*" is a condition of 
democracy. Don't restrict basic freedoms. Using internet access is now 
instrumental to basic
freedoms. Defend the real Amendment 138". (Don't insult them if not they 
will spam you. Here their telephone and emails: 
http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/Telecoms_Package-Conciliation_Committe-Parliament_Delegation#Political_Memory:_MEPs_ranking_by_score)

*[2]* - EEUU Industry "anti-piracy" plans (Spain and Canadá are in the 
3rd and 2nd position):
http://www.ustr.gov/about-us/press-office/reports-and-publications/archives/2008/2008-special-301-report




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