Mediaboss Marketing

Several Internet groups are gearing up to battle SOPA-like legislation via the Internet Defense League, a new organization intended to protect the open Web.

The League, spearheaded by Fight for the Future and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, is putting together an Internet bat signal of sorts. When the group detects a threat to the Internet - most likely via objectionable legislation - it will send supporters a snippet of code they can add to their website in order to organize the masses in protest.

"Think of it like the Internet's Emergency Broadcast System, or its bat signal," the group said on its website.

According to All Things D, the Internet Defense League has already won the support of WordPress, Imgur, Cheezburger Network, Public Knowledge, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Craigslist founder Craig Newmark.

The Internet Defense League will formally launch next week when Congress returns to session. At that point, the Senate could take up the much-maligned CISPA legislation. CISPA is intended to allow private companies to share information with the government in the event of a cyber attack, but detractors worry it will give the feds an all-access pass to your private information. It passed the House in late April, and now moves to the Senate, where it could be addressed on its own or folded into other legislation. The White House has already said it would veto CISPA if it reaches the president's desk.

The Senate is considering at least two cyber-security bills. In February, Sens. Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins introduced the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, and a month later, Sen. John McCain unveiled the Secure IT Act. They could combine their efforts into one bill, but according to Nextgov.com, there are "fundamental" differences the senators are thus far unlikely to overcome.

Internet groups like Fight for the Future, meanwhile, have already had some success in going after cyber-security bills. The Internet blackout, for example, resulted in the demise of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). An anti-CISPA campaign, however, did not stop its passage in the House.

Fight for the Future is also backing "Privacy is Awesome," a campaign that encourages people to call their members of Congress and urge them to vote against legislation like SOPA and CISPA.

For more, see the Top 5 Biggest Concerns About CISPA and the Top 5 Objections to SOPA, PIPA.

For more from Chloe, follow her on Twitter @ChloeAlbanesius.

View original post here:
Internet Defense League Crafts 'Bat Signal' for the Web