Internet Defense League sets up emergency alert network
On July 19, the Internet Defense League began work . Its members include Mozilla, WordPress, Reddit, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and many other organizations. The League’s goal is to protect the Internet from attacks on its freedom by bureaucratic organizations and monopolies. League tactics are based on techniques worked out during the fight against SOPA and PIPA. League members are creating an emergency alert network that will be activated in the event of another threat to the freedom and independence of the Internet. This network will promptly and consistently disseminate information about the threat and how to prevent it. For example, it may be a call to write an appeal to the authorities, to join a petition, boycott or strike. Instead of the disparate actions of individual enthusiasts, the Internet should respond to any attacks instantly and in an organized manner. Anyone can join the league.
How it works? Each site that has joined the League places a script on its pages through which notifications will be distributed in the form of modal windows or a panel in the site header. You can configure the script so that it automatically broadcasts messages of all League campaigns, or manually join only those campaigns that the site owners support.
In addition, a league icon, available in a variety of options, can be placed on the site. A cute cat is selected as the symbol of the Internet Defense League. Theory of Internet activism and cute catswas invented by an American blogger and activist Ethan Zuckerman. She claims that most activists are not interested in any kind of internet activity, they are only interested in primitive entertainment like pornography or cute cat videos. But the tools, originally created so that users post cute cats (Facebook, Twitter, LiveJournal), are also great for activists. If the government is trying to limit such tools, it’s not only Internet activists who don’t give a damn about it, but also huge masses of cat lovers who can stop voting for this government or even rebel.
To cause sufficient public resonance, it is necessary to explain to lovers of cute cats what they may lose. The face of the cat (“cat signal”) should appear on many sites, like a bat silhouette over Gotham City (“bat signal”), as soon as a serious danger arises on the horizon. The immediate goal of the League is to prevent the adoption of the CISPA .
How it works? Each site that has joined the League places a script on its pages through which notifications will be distributed in the form of modal windows or a panel in the site header. You can configure the script so that it automatically broadcasts messages of all League campaigns, or manually join only those campaigns that the site owners support.
In addition, a league icon, available in a variety of options, can be placed on the site. A cute cat is selected as the symbol of the Internet Defense League. Theory of Internet activism and cute catswas invented by an American blogger and activist Ethan Zuckerman. She claims that most activists are not interested in any kind of internet activity, they are only interested in primitive entertainment like pornography or cute cat videos. But the tools, originally created so that users post cute cats (Facebook, Twitter, LiveJournal), are also great for activists. If the government is trying to limit such tools, it’s not only Internet activists who don’t give a damn about it, but also huge masses of cat lovers who can stop voting for this government or even rebel.
To cause sufficient public resonance, it is necessary to explain to lovers of cute cats what they may lose. The face of the cat (“cat signal”) should appear on many sites, like a bat silhouette over Gotham City (“bat signal”), as soon as a serious danger arises on the horizon. The immediate goal of the League is to prevent the adoption of the CISPA .
