should we have a category for internet rights?

Well, it seems there is a Coming storm on the interwebs with SOPA/PIPA and their ilk getting attention, and one of the site Owners coming out against it, should we , as a community of netzens not have some central focus for this?


this is where the new revolution will be fought, in Cyber space , for the "hearts and minds" of the future. We should be able to find all the resources in one place, rather then looking on the political, or breaking new or alternative news categories.

Divided we fall, united, we Stand.

This is truly the last bastion of freedom of expression.

reply to post by thedigirati


internet rights are vital - but what about internet lefts ??? they seem to be ignored - why ?????

man, if everybody around here got the catagory they requested,
i'd be far more lost on this site than i already am.

reply to post by thedigirati


I agree - an Internet Rights Forum is a GREAT idea.

.....There's already some great/important info on ATS - centralizing it would be helpful. And the issue is coming to the fore in a lot of different countries.

Atop The SOPA Box

Well, we know at least some of us consider this an important subject, but I suspect for most people it's just another facet of politics, and it may not be something they seek out specifically or are particularly interested in.

While many of us basically live on the Internet, for most people it's just another handy tool for socializing or looking things up and not a central feature in their lives. They may not see encroachments on free communication as a threat to them, even though anything which restricts expression on the Internet necessarily affects everyone who uses it.

I used to be a big fan of specialized forums and sub-forums because I liked the idea of tucking everything neatly away in its own special place to (ideally) make it easy to find. But that's a two-edged sword because, statistically speaking, the more steps it takes for people to reach information from the home page, the less visibility it will get.

So a big caveat for any new forum is making sure it improves visibility and awareness for a subject rather than hiding it away in a forum few people see.

For various reasons, the track record for new forums is somewhat mixed. If we browse through the forums page, we can see some specialty forums going strong alongside others that, despite being quite popular at one time, haven't seen new posts for days.

Personally, I think freedom of communication -- not just on the Internet, but in general -- is important enough to merit its own forum, and for that forum to have a prominent place on the home page and forum index. It's an issue as old as language itself, is very relevant to world events today, and that's unlikely to ever change.

My main concern is that such a forum be broad enough to ensure it will have plenty of traffic, while focused enough to keep problems of free speech and efforts to restrict it in the spotlight.

Ultimately, whether we have a dedicated place for it is up to the owners to decide, but as an ATSer I do like the idea of a forum focused on the subject.

reply to post by Majic



My sentiments exactly. I was about to post my worry about such a dedicated forum.In my view it would only hide it from the broader audience who do not venture much beyond there regular forums and a lot of exposure to the matter will be lost in my opinion.I really think the subject will do best for now in the main political forums.