ExpressVPN and OpenMedia unite against internet oppression

Privacy news
3 mins
save-the-link

Note: This blog references campaigns that are no longer active.

ExpressVPN is proud to stand with OpenMedia in their many projects aimed at protecting the Internet.

OpenMedia works to keep the Internet open, affordable, and surveillance-free.

Founded in 2008, OpenMedia has successfully campaigned for net neutrality, has helped overturn metered Internet usage in Canada, and is a constant crusader in the fight against NSA surveillance. They are a tireless campaigner for all online freedoms, everywhere.

Recent OpenMedia campaigns include Save the Link, Stop the Secrecy, and No Fake Internet.

Save the Link Says No Hyperlink Tax

Save the Link is a campaign to push back against proposals in the EU for a broad new hyperlinking fee that will affect everyone who uses the Internet, in other words — everyone.

The EU proposal plans to extend copyright rules to hyperlinks, giving big publishers the right to charge business fees for linking to content.

You may live outside the EU and think the policy won’t affect you. But you’d be wrong. The EU represents roughly one-fifth of global Internet traffic. So even if you don’t live in the EU, some of your favorite websites most certainly do.

Links are essential to freedom of expression online, and censoring them will break the Web as we know it.

The Web without links is like a world without roads.

Links are what empower us to access the greatest collection of human knowledge and experiences the world has ever seen. This EU proposal, in essence, wants to lock away many of the wonders of the Internet.

It’s not too late to put a stop to this affront to Internet freedom, but we need to act now before it gets out of control. Sign the Save the Link statement to say NO to link tax.

Stop the Secrecy Fights the TPP

Stop the Secrecy campaigns against The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the “biggest and most secretive agreement in the history of the world”.

After five years of secrecy, TPP bureaucrats finally released this brutal global agreement, and if implemented the TPP will censor the Web, criminalize online activities, and cost Internet users money. The TPP will harbor harsher intellectual property laws, most notably among copyright terms.

More than three million people have already signed the OpenMedia Stop the Secrecy petition against TPP secrecy, but it’s time to deliver the final blow.

Get your voice heard NOW and demand that Trade Ministers reject the TPP’s Internet censorship plan once and for all.

No Fake Internet Takes on Facebook’s Internet.org

We all now know Zuckerberg’s Internet.org platform is not the real Internet. And Internet users around the world would rather he use his influence for good and promote a real open Internet, not a fake imitation.

Internet.org provides access to a quasi-Internet where selected services are prioritized over others. The scheme threatens innovation, free expression, and privacy online; and it blocks many of the websites, apps, and services the world loves from being made available to everyone on equal terms.

Stand with millions around the world and demand Zuckerberg stops restricting access to a free and open Internet by signing the No Fake Internet petition.

One Person Can Make a Difference

OpenMedia was founded in 2008 by Vancouver-based Internet rights advocate Steve Anderson. The whole thing began with just one ordinary guy’s decision to take action.

Everyone has asked themselves at one point “But what can one person do?” It seems rhetorical, but Steve Anderson actually forged an answer:

“We all have something we can bring to these movements, and we’re all stronger when we can bring it all together.”

Perhaps it’s time we all decided to make a difference.

Johnny 5 is the founding editor of the blog and writes about pressing technology issues. From important cat privacy stories to governments and corporations that overstep their boundaries, Johnny covers it all.