Occupy Brooklyn General Assembly

This proposal was submitted to the Occupy Brooklyn General Assembly on November 20, 2011, and received consent.  The New York City General Assembly followed suit on a similar proposal on December 4, 2011.

The Occupy Brooklyn General Assembly hereby expresses its firm opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act in the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R.3261) and the Protect IP Act in the U.S. Senate (S.968) as they are currently written and calls on all Occupy movements nationwide to mobilize supporters against their adoption.

Our opposition is based on our belief that these bills place too much vaguely-defined and unchecked power into the hands of copyright holders and the Department of Justice.  This creates the potential for internet censorship and poses an immediate threat to digital platforms that:

a) play a central role in the organizing of community meetings and direct actions;
b) are essential channels through which millions of Brooklynites, especially those in marginalized communities, share information vital to holding their government accountable; and,
c) are integral to interoccupation communication and cooperation.

We commit to taking individual action to ensure our respective legislators oppose or make significant improvements to this bill, commit to signing as individuals the Change.org petition (“Stop the Internet control bill now!”) or similar petitions, and empower the Internet Working Group to arrange a delegation to encourage the New York City General Assembly to take greater action against this legislation.