itfeelsfeynman: And there you go. The circle closes in on us and a free Internet seems to be more and more a fleeting concept.  When the day comes, and it will come, it’s best to be prepared. Here are the links for some tools that can prove themselves instruments of privacy. Use them as you see fit. Tor - Thank god for the Tor project. They are your safest bet on traffic analysis and privacy from second and third party surveillance. It’s not flawless so read the Overview Section carefully. It includes its own safe browser, private IM service and secure email account. Tails - It’s essentially a portable Tor. Install it in a USB drive or burn it to a cd for mobile access to a securer internet connection. Privoxy - Pair this non-caching web proxy along with Tor to enhance your privacy and anonymity. Hushmail: Hushmail provides encrypted, secure email for free. BrowserSpy: BrowserSpy is a website that will help you find out how many footprints your Internet browser is leaving. IPredator - Anonymous web-surfing through VPN and proxy connections. You’ll exchange the IP-number you get from your ISP to an anonymous IP-number . You get a safe/encrypted connection between your computer and the Internet. It has a 5€/month charge but it’s worth it. LOIC - The Low Orbit Ion Cannon may be the only serious protest tool we Internet commoners have. It’s used mainly for DDoS attacks. Don’t let fear and apathy rule your life.

itfeelsfeynman:

And there you go. The circle closes in on us and a free Internet seems to be more and more a fleeting concept. 

When the day comes, and it will come, it’s best to be prepared. Here are the links for some tools that can prove themselves instruments of privacy. Use them as you see fit.

  • Tor - Thank god for the Tor project. They are your safest bet on traffic analysis and privacy from second and third party surveillance. It’s not flawless so read the Overview Section carefully. It includes its own safe browser, private IM service and secure email account.
  • Tails - It’s essentially a portable Tor. Install it in a USB drive or burn it to a cd for mobile access to a securer internet connection.
  • Privoxy - Pair this non-caching web proxy along with Tor to enhance your privacy and anonymity.
  • Hushmail: Hushmail provides encrypted, secure email for free.
  • BrowserSpy: BrowserSpy is a website that will help you find out how many footprints your Internet browser is leaving.
  • IPredator - Anonymous web-surfing through VPN and proxy connections. You’ll exchange the IP-number you get from your ISP to an anonymous IP-number . You get a safe/encrypted connection between your computer and the Internet. It has a 5€/month charge but it’s worth it.
  • LOIC - The Low Orbit Ion Cannon may be the only serious protest tool we Internet commoners have. It’s used mainly for DDoS attacks.

Don’t let fear and apathy rule your life.

3liza: ACTA passed one of the several voting gates it needs to get through before becoming law. It was ratified in Poland last night.  This was the scene at Polish parliament afterwards, as (presumably) a bloc of anti-ACTA politicians expressed their displeasure and, perhaps without knowing it, foretell of the Anonymous repercussions to this bill. Some things you should know: Online petitions are meaningless.  While they are well-intentioned and organized, the signing of a digital petition takes about twenty seconds, and does not require that you leave your beanbag chair in the coal cellar.  Politicians know this, and pay just as much attention to online petitions as is warranted by a “political action” that is literally less strenuous than leaving a YouTube comment. Nothing except direct action is going to do a goddamn thing.  This means getting out in the street, it means DDoSing, it means vicious and widespread boycotts, site blackouts, and other strongarm tactics that actually impact the flow of money from corporations to lobbyists to politicians.  How do you, as a tiny flailing consumer, do this?  You can’t, really.  You can join up with groups that are intent on doing actions that actually mean something, adding your voice to a chorus of hundreds or thousands, instead of screaming alone.  You can contact celebrities, the spokespeople of our time, as ask them to leverage their followers on the issue.  You can write to Tumblr and ask for more blackouts.  None of these things will be very effective, so don’t be too disappointed when they don’t work, but they sure as fuck are more effective than online petitions, and the intense response to SOPA by corporations and consumers was responsible for getting it “tabled” (not dead, but dreaming lies). ACTA was already signed by Obama in September of 2011.  He had been praising the bill for over a year prior, and signed it without reservation.  Most of us didn’t hear about it, and he likely used the 9/11 coverage to make sure of that. Eventually, one of these bills will pass, and the pro-corporate laws will go into effect.  Expect it.  Be prepared.  Learn to circumvent this garbage and you’ll have a leg up when the feds shut down the internet as we know it. The best thing you can do now is install Tor and learn how to use it.  Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security known as traffic analysis.  In order to circumvent the coming corporate takeover of the web, we’re going to have to go underground, creating a sub-internet of encrypted nodes known as a “darknet”.  It’s probably going to be like the internet was in the beginning, with most people only seeing what AOL wanted them to see, and only a small group of super-nerds existing outside of that bubble in the “real” internet.  It’ll take another twenty years for them to catch up to us again. Welcome to the grim cyberpunk future.

3liza:

ACTA passed one of the several voting gates it needs to get through before becoming law.

It was ratified in Poland last night.  This was the scene at Polish parliament afterwards, as (presumably) a bloc of anti-ACTA politicians expressed their displeasure and, perhaps without knowing it, foretell of the Anonymous repercussions to this bill.

Some things you should know:

  • Online petitions are meaningless.  While they are well-intentioned and organized, the signing of a digital petition takes about twenty seconds, and does not require that you leave your beanbag chair in the coal cellar.  Politicians know this, and pay just as much attention to online petitions as is warranted by a “political action” that is literally less strenuous than leaving a YouTube comment.
  • Nothing except direct action is going to do a goddamn thing.  This means getting out in the street, it means DDoSing, it means vicious and widespread boycotts, site blackouts, and other strongarm tactics that actually impact the flow of money from corporations to lobbyists to politicians.  How do you, as a tiny flailing consumer, do this?  You can’t, really.  You can join up with groups that are intent on doing actions that actually mean something, adding your voice to a chorus of hundreds or thousands, instead of screaming alone.  You can contact celebrities, the spokespeople of our time, as ask them to leverage their followers on the issue.  You can write to Tumblr and ask for more blackouts.  None of these things will be very effective, so don’t be too disappointed when they don’t work, but they sure as fuck are more effective than online petitions, and the intense response to SOPA by corporations and consumers was responsible for getting it “tabled” (not dead, but dreaming lies).
  • ACTA was already signed by Obama in September of 2011.  He had been praising the bill for over a year prior, and signed it without reservation.  Most of us didn’t hear about it, and he likely used the 9/11 coverage to make sure of that.

  • Eventually, one of these bills will pass, and the pro-corporate laws will go into effect.  Expect it.  Be prepared.  Learn to circumvent this garbage and you’ll have a leg up when the feds shut down the internet as we know it.

  • The best thing you can do now is install Tor and learn how to use it.  Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security known as traffic analysis.  In order to circumvent the coming corporate takeover of the web, we’re going to have to go underground, creating a sub-internet of encrypted nodes known as a “darknet”.  It’s probably going to be like the internet was in the beginning, with most people only seeing what AOL wanted them to see, and only a small group of super-nerds existing outside of that bubble in the “real” internet.  It’ll take another twenty years for them to catch up to us again.

  • Welcome to the grim cyberpunk future.

Alright people, we need to concern ourselves with ACTA

chocotaur:

Five facts:

1. ACTA isn’t the “European” SOPA. It’s nearly GLOBAL, and will apply to every country that signs the treaty.

2. ACTA is far more aggressive. ACTA will not simply affect websites and have them blocked out of the internet - its measures go as far as surveillance of anything you share through private channels.

3. ACTA doesn’t have a campaign against it that is as wide-spread and organized as the SOPA one. This is DANGEROUS, as there’s less time between now and the final signing of ACTA.

4. ACTA has effects on healthcare, trade, and even tourism.

5. ACTA has to be stopped.

Let’s start spreading the word and organizing a good, solid response to it.

More information:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ56UNL5zeo