COICA Could Be Voted Out Of Committee As Soon As This Week
By Chris Pratt
15 November, 2010
Countercurrents.org
Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number -
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you –“
Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Call to Freedom (1819)
My film “ deceptions ” and the works of others document the many lies and the hypocrisy that our politicians and government have foisted upon us. However, the public has begun to wake up. They are beginning to realize that 9/11 revelations will be the first of many cascading dominos as conspiracy theory will morph into cover-up, over and over again.
When it comes to a fresh investigation of 9/11 Democrats have joined Republicans to “keep a lid on it.” They know they will also be flattened once this snowball begins to roll; their duplicity, their culpability cannot be blamed entirely on the Republicans. A great unraveling is just beginning. When the final spin, the final unraveling occurs, the Fed, the IMF, the World Bank and Media will all be left standing and the public will then know who has been in control all along.
Much of this unraveling and the public's awareness have come from the Internet which is the last bastion of free speech left on the planet. If Leahy's Law becomes law, freedom of expression on the Internet could well become an endangered species. It is called Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeit Act (COICA) S.3804 . He introduced it on Sept 20 and promptly referred it to the Judiciary Committee which he also chairs. This law is being fast tracked, flying under the radar and almost in total darkness. When money is involved it is amazing how fast bipartisan support can be found. This legislation could be out of committee and headed for a full vote in Congress, with almost no input from the public, in just a few weeks. Amazing…..
As proposed, COICA can blacklist, control or close down thousands of watchdog websites, sites like mine, bloggers, even You Tube for engaging in “infringing activities.” With no due process or legal oversight this law would empower the Attorney General ( not the aggrieved party ) to initiate blacklisting activities and prevent access to infringing sites. It is a dangerous and ill defined piece of legislation that at the very least should be publicized and thoroughly discussed in the open.
Counsel from Senator Leahy's office was recently in contact with me. He assured me at great length that this bill was targeting the bad guys, counterfeiters and criminals that were re-selling American products or services often from abroad, a fact I do not doubt. I said to him “great, I agree – go get em.” I then asked for an example of an infringing organization that was not also a counterfeit company. The example cited played movies and TV shows that were not authorized by the copyright holders. This example illustrated to me how You Tube and other sites could be inadvertently snared by this legislation.
Our quest to get the counterfeiters and criminals should not also give government the power to blacklist thousands of innocent sites for expressing the infringing words of others as determined - not by the original copyright holder - but by government. The rights of the public should not get trampled by big money's quest to stop the bootleggers from redistributing their music, film, drugs and designer jeans.
In spite of these facts and a letter sent to Mr. Leahy expressing serious concerns about this legislation from the American Civil Liberties Organization, The Center for Democracy and Technology, The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch and others, Leahy was honored as Vermont's civil libertarian of the year by the Vermont's ACLU, that's right, the ACLU. It is kind of like giving OBAMA the Noble Peace Prize while he commits 30,000 more soldiers to Afghanistan.
“Doublespeak, doublethink, thought control and the Ministry of Truth” are no longer Orwellian book terms, as “Nineteen Eighty-Four” is becoming a living reality in 2010.
Wake up Mr. John Q Public .
Wake Up !!
Money not public opinion drives party politics and the legislative process. Did I mention that the multibillion dollar media conglomerates of Time Warner, Disney Co and the Vivendi (a French corporation) have been three of Leahy's largest financial contributors for the last five years?
“Terrorists Watch – No Fly Lists” does it sound familiar? And we all know how well that one has gone.
Chris Pratt is president of the Awareness Initiative, a former systems analyst, a filmmaker and producer of the 2010 film deceptions , at www.deceptionsusa.com , and author/producer of the Brain Sense Program at www.brain-sense.org .
