CFAA: fix don't expand

From Demand Progress:

1. Tell Congress:
Don't Expand the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act: Fix It!

And scroll down to join the Internet-wide week of action by embedding our contact-Congress widget on your site.

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is the law under which Aaron Swartz and other innovators and activists have been threatened with decades in prison. The CFAA is so broad that law enforcement says it criminalizes all sorts of mundane Internet use: Potentially even breaking a website's fine print terms of service agreement. Don't set up a Myspace page for your cat. Don't fudge your height on a dating site. Don't share your Facebook password with anybody: You could be committing a federal crime. (Read more here.)

It's the vagueness and over breadth of this law that allows prosecutors to go after people like Aaron Swartz, who tragically committed suicide earlier this year. The government threatened to jail him for decades for downloading academic articles from the website JSTOR.

Since Aaron's death, activists have cried out for reform of the CFAA. But members of the House Judiciary Committee are actually floating a proposal to expand and strengthen it -- that could come up for a vote as soon as April 10th! (Read more here.)

Add your name at right to join us in telling Congress to defeat the bill to expand the CFAA, and to pass a law to reform it to protect innovators and ordinary Internet users. If you have a website, please consider embedding our banner or widget on your site to encourage your visitors to join the cause.

2. Use Our Widgets To Encourage Your Site's Visitors To Join The Cause
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Starting on Monday, April 8th, we're asking sites across the web to join in a week of action, led by the Internet Defense League (the same groups that helped lead the fight against SOPA).

Please consider using our widgets to spread the word. They're easy to embed on your site and will help us drive thousands of constituent contacts to Congress.

We're asking sites to put them up on Monday, April 8th, and keep them up for as long as possible.

3. Help Spread The Word: Put Yourself "In Jail" On Facebook
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We've built a playful way for you to spread word about the CFAA and ask your friends to get involved.

In solidarity with those who've been threatened with prison under the CFAA, we're asking you to "jail" yourself on Facebook. We'll grab your profile photo, overlay prison bars on top of it, and repost it to your wall so your friends can see it. We'll include information about how the CFAA threatens ordinary Internet users -- and how your friends can join our fight.

The CFAA makes it a potential federal crime to violate a website's terms of service. Help make sure your friends know how ridiculous this law is, and how it jeopardizes us all.

To sign petition click here

It seems like everytime I turn around the government is playing little fucking statists games. It is a bipartisan effort so no one is innocent. That is why watchdog groups are needed to keep the government honest. The best way we can keep the government honest is by signing that petition.