

The "bat signal" for the Internet - mayop100
http://internetdefenseleague.org/

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gnufs
I wish it stated whether it's a US-centric initiative or not. And, if it's
not, I wish it registered the country of the subscriber.

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Smerity
They state that there will be "code that activates automatically according to
criteria you specify (e.g. SOPA returns)". I'd hope that includes the ability
to activate only depending on the country of origin as well.

Sadly for me, American law has a large impact in Australia even though we're
half a world away. The Australian government tend to justify a number of
stupid laws and decisions with "but America's doing it and we're their
friends". As such I'd personally elect to still trigger on American issues as
they're still felt (although delayed) in Australia.

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hcho
Terrible choice of domain name. Defence league is generally used by right wing
extremist organisations.

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mkr-hn
Thread from an article on this initiative:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4024144>

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itsokintheory
This really is an awful domain name that could seriously damage the cause. It
evokes the likes of EDL, JDL, and VCDL. Try searching for defense league.

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0x0
Is there an example somewhere of how the signal would appear on a
participating website?

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riffraff
linked from github page
<https://github.com/fightforthefuture/internet_defense_league>

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lumberjack
I wonder how much it will take until these blackouts become an everyday thing.

Shouldn't we the people be actively pressing for legislation against these
kinds of bills instead of simply making an outcry when they get proposed?

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JackC
(1) This kind of "bat signal" is how a small group of dedicated people
organize a large group of less dedicated people to press for or against
legislation. It's a clever way to create a cheap, effective organization to do
what you're proposing. It's not an either/or, it's step one.

(2) Cheap doesn't mean free, which is why we're in a pretty reactive mode.
Check out this chart of lobbying money spent by the entertainment industry vs.
the tech industry:*

<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/68448_Page4.html>

Getting a bill passed on the national level means having someone with access
to 500-odd legislators meet and explain it to them, plus explaining
convincingly why it won't seriously hurt them in the next election, which in
turn means having a convincing case on the campaign contributions vs. public
support equation. All of that translates to money (although the larger and
more sophisticated your organization, the less money you need. See step one.)

* Of course "entertainment industry" vs. "tech industry" is a little weird, since tech is a tool often used for transmitting entertainment. Sony or Apple or Amazon probably pick one side of the line or the other as much as a matter of temperament as a matter of business.

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neilwillgettoit
I expected a bit more than just the Stop Censorship Cloudflare Application...

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HistoryInAction
s/bat/cat ;)

Seems like a solid way to activate the online community in a more regular,
flat fashion. If it plugs into the rest of Fight For The Future's Network, I
can easily see a dynamic network formed, connecting online activists and their
social graphs to the phone networks of DC or other such politically
efficacious actions.

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laserDinosaur
Really cool idea. It would be nice if you could see who has signed up so far.

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flabbergasted
How can they not accept bitcoin donations?

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jedberg
Because bitcoins are almost worthless since they are hard to convert into
anything useful like web hosting or USD to pay lobbiests and other such folk?

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Devilboy
Bitcoin is easy to convert to cash! I don't think anyone will actually donate
bitcoin though.

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fn4of4u334
Gosh the website is sexy

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mayanksinghal
And yet they forgot to add a favicon :)

I fail to understand why registration is required. The action (putting script
in website code) is to be done by users.

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gbelote
My impression from the page is that they send you a code specific to a threat
(or whatever they end up calling them) when it happens, then you make a
decision to add it to your site or not. Rather than dropping in a code and
letting them add banners and blackouts whenever they please.

