When it comes to Internet activism and Internet discussion of law in general, you're bound to find a lot of people arguing for "freedom." Freedom to do what they want, freedom to say what they want, and freedom to be anonymous about it. Now, you might say (and many do): "That's because they're all a bunch of thieves and bullies who want to keep stealing and bullying." And to an extent, you might be right. The other reason though -- the main reason -- is that basic rights are almost constantly under attack whenever the Internet is involved. Legislators in Arizona, for instance, want to (and think they can) outlaw obscene, lewd or profane language on the Internet, punishable by a $250,000 fine and up to six months in jail. May I suggest you all engage in a bout of self-fornication?

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Remember how the Internet finally "killed" SOPA and PIPA? Remember how people said they might come back? Well, they haven't but they have a cousin called ACTA that's stirring up similar trouble of a global kind. I know we all want to rest on our laurels for a while, but until digital media is well understood and accepted by rights holders (read: A long time from now) there are no victories. That's why it's time to buckle down and take on the next guy: The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement or ACTA. ACTA just got Signed by 22 member nations of the EU. The United States signed it months ago. It's a very different beast than SOPA or PIPA. Hold on to your hats, this is a rough one.

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There's a lot of talk that SOPA will essentially destroy U.S. Internet and cause digital plague that will creep out to the web at large. If you needed a case study, keep on eye Belarus, which has just illegalized the use of foreign websites. The law is aimed chiefly at companies conducting business on the web, but extends to your average citizen as well. If you live in Belarus and initiate a transaction with a non-domestic domain, you are breaking the law, guilty of a misdemeanor, and can face fines of up to $125.

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The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act passed unanimously through the Senate Judiciary Committee this Thursday, but fortunately didn't get much further. Oregonian Senator Ron Wyden exercised his power to place a hold on pending legislation to stop the bill from traveling to the senate floor, saying that

Deploying this statute to combat online copyright infringement seems almost like using a bunker-busting cluster bomb, when what you need is a precision-guided missile.

His hold will prevent the bill passing out of committee this year; proponents of the bill will have to wait until the next time Congress convenes, and then try to reintroduce the measure.

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In anticipation of Australia's internet filter, the voluntary euthanasia organization Exit International has begun to take action.  After realizing that they were on a leaked list of sites that would be blacklisted when the great Australian firewall (not pictured above) goes into operation, Exit International needed to find a way to teach its Australian members how to access their site.

Fortunately, under Australian law it is still legal to circumvent the filter and to show others how to do so.  But how to introduce 70 year olds to proxy servers and VPN tunnels?  Talk to your local Pirate Party, of course.

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Google gave everyone fair warning, and earlier today the search giant did it.  Google.cn, the Chinese portal of Google.com, now redirects to the entirely uncensored search engine Google.com.hk, the Google of Hong Kong. Google said in January that it was no longer comfortable censoring its search results on Google.cn at the request of the Chinese government, and would be allowing access to an uncensored search engine in China.  The Chinese government responded that such an act would be considered "unfriendly" and "irresponsible" and that there would be consequences.

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Attorney General of the state of South Australia Michael Atkinson, shown here being metaphorically attacked by the animated alter-ego of a prominent Australian gamer, has resigned his post as AG as of today. Or, maybe yesterday. Today in Australia. We're not really sure how the International Date Line works.

Atkinson has drawn much criticism in Australia and from gamers around the world for his stance on mature games. Specifically, his refusal to allow a R18+ rating for games. The Aussie rating system's most mature level is currently MA15+, and anything that is deemed too violent or sexualized for that is considered beyond the system. Since unrated games cannot legally be sold, this effectively bans the game nationwide.

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