Sen. Wyden discusses bills threatening the Internet
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) appeared Tuesday night on Countdown with Keith Olbermann to discuss controversial legislation that could fundamentally change the structure of the Internet.
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) would make it easier for U.S. authorities to crack down on websites accused of pirating movies, television shows and music. It would allow the government and copyright owners to disable the credit card processors of sites they claim “engages in, enables or facilitates” copyright infringement.
The legislation is a companion bill to the controversial PROTECT IP Act, which is currently stuck in the Senate after Wyden placed a hold on the bill in May.
“This bill essentially uses a bunker-buster bomb when you ought to go in there with a laser beam,” Wyden said.
“The fact of the matter is, if you’re talking about bad actors you ought to handcuff them. If they’re selling tainted viagra or fake Rolexs or movies they don’t own, go after them.
“But these bills you’ve just described go much, much further. They would do a lot of damage to what we believe makes the Internet so special,” he said.
The legislation is so broad it could be used to target online anonymity tools used by human rights activists, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The software Tor, for instance, which has been used to protect activists in Tunisia and Egypt, could be targeted because it can be used to hide one’s IP address when illegally downloading copyrighted content.
Because of the legal trouble it would cause for a huge number of websites, Wyden described the bill as a “lawyer employment program.”
He plans to filibuster the legislation — with the help of the Internet.
Watch video, courtesy of Current TV, below:
Legendary civil rights icon John Lewis unloads on Trump from the House floor: ‘I know racism when I see it’
Civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) took to the floor of the House of Representatives to condemn racist statements by President Donald Trump.
As chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Lewis was one of the "Big Six" civil rights leaders who organized the 1963 March on Washington during with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous "I have a dream" speech.
"I rise with a sense of righteous indignation to support this resolution," Lewis began.
"I know racism when I see it. I know racism when I feel it," he explained. "And at the highest level of government, there’s no room for racism."
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Kim Jong-un threatens to restart nuke tests as Trump’s efforts to talk to the regime fall apart again: report
On Tuesday, CNN's Brian Todd reported that the North Korean regime is on the brink of rescinding what little they promised President Donald Trump, as the future of his efforts to continue talks appear uncertain.
"Kim Jong-un's regime is once again in negotiation by intimidation," said Todd. "Just two weeks after their historic meeting at the DMZ, and President Trump's short stroll into North Korea, North Korea's dictator Kim Jong-un appears to be threatening to start testing his nuclear weapons again. In a new statement, Kim's foreign ministry calls the joint U.S./South Korean military exercises planned for next month a breach of the main spirit of what President Trump and Kim agreed to in Singapore, and says, 'We are gradually losing our justifications to follow through on the commitments we made with the U.S."
Republican freaks out after Democrat quotes Trump’s racist statement on the floor of Congress
Chaos continued on the floor of the House of Representatives during the debate on a resolution condemning President Donald Trump's racist attacks on four young women of color.
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) rose to support the resolution, listing multiple instances of racism from the commander-in-chief.
As part of the list, Swalwell noted Trump's attacks on "sh*thole countries."
After he swore on the floor by quoting the president, Republicans freaked out.
Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) complained and got in a back-and-forth with Swalwell.
Collins sought to have Swalwell's words stricken from the Congressional Record, which would have banned him from speaking for the rest of the day.
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