The internet freedom has been increasingly threatened by the bills such as SOPA and PIPA which were meant to somehow ‘control’ the web and selectively censor it upon the whim of authorities and different organizations. It was about time that a proper set of regulations be devised to keep such evils at bay in the future. A new venture aims to do precisely this.
A website, called keeptheweb#open, has been launched by two US lawmakers, Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Darrell Issa. The two are trying to draft a ‘digital bill of rights’ which will protect and secure the freedom of the web. Everyone is encouraged to contribute to the website and put forth his suggestions regarding this bill of rights.
The premise upon which this bill is being based on is very promising and shows that this is a right start at least. The bill mandates that ‘digital citizens have a right to a free, uncensored internet’, something which is pertinent to keep the web the way it is and save it from the curbs of governments.
Another important item on the bill’s list says that ‘digital citizens have a right to an open, unobstructed internet.’ This again, points out the flawed philosophy of the authorities that they can perhaps selectively censor the web, which in essence is more or less tantamount to censoring the whole web.
However, the bill is still vague as to how it may attempt to solve the problem of the contentions of the content producers regarding online privacy. It does state that, “digital citizens have a right to benefit from what they create, and be secure in their intellectual property on the internet”, but apart from this, it does not give a concrete suggestion as to how to accomplish this.
I recently wrote a piece detailing a proposal as to how can content producers ‘claim back’ the traffic they lose due to piracy by innovating their content advertising models. For now, the bill is in its initial stages but we can hope that it may indeed represent the prominent opinions of the netizens.
Source: Keep The Web Open
Courtesy: The Verge
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