GITweekly

Truth be told, the majority of new-folks/newbies/GITs surfing the interweb these days think that what they do online will go by unnoticed. Just a small fish in a large ocean. Not so. And the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) knows it only too well.

The EFF are a donor funded non-profit organisation aiming to protect all of our “digital rights”. According to themselves they fight on behalf of consumers and the general public against the US government and large corporations. They also try to advise and educate the press, public and policymakers.

Yeah I know they’re US centric – but when it comes down to it, if the USA sneezes the rest of the world gets a green shirt.

On their site they’ve plugged court wins on behalf of bloggers who have had their privacy threatened via the courts as well as picking up companies who’ve been spying on their listeners. Naughty, naughty.

One of the latest battles that they’re fighting, on our behalf, are the “Three Strikes” treaties. In a nutshell, this is where an internet user could be accused (not necessarily proven) of downloading copyrighted content, like films and music over peer-to-peer networks (e.g. bittorrent) and the like. If they get accused three times (3 strikes) the person gets their internet connection terminated and they may be placed on a blacklist preventing the user from ever regaining their connection with any provider. Eeesh.

So what should you do?

Definitely have a peruse of their site. Know your rights and which rights you’ll lose if one of these treaties affects your country (yes – apparently Australia is involved in talks).

Alternatively you could hide in your cave and go back to cave drawings because blanket laws like this one are too dangerous.

Stay safe peoples.

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