n01getsout

I just joined the EFF today with a monthly donation. I have been thinking about it for a while now, especially since the EFF was the first one to file a lawsuit against AT&T over the illegal warrantless wiretapping. On July 9th, 2008, Congress passed a law giving retroactive immunity to the telecoms. The EFF is now in court challenging the legislation as unconstitutional.

Today, I read a blog posting from Coderific.com, a site where software developers can rate the companies they work for. They had been shut down by legal threats from companies who didn’t like what their (ex?)employees were saying. The EFF is also helping a mother who is being sued by Universal over a 29 second YouTube video of her toddler dancing to a Prince song. The EFF recently released a tool that lets you test your Internet Service Provider to see if is altering the information being sent to your computer from the Internet. In 2005, the state of North Carolina tried to make a law requiring e-voting machines to be audited for security and was sued by Diebold. The EFF got involved and the case was dismissed. Rather than allow their machines to inspected, they withdrew all of their machines from the state.

These issues are important to me. I have Comcast as my ISP and you are reading this article on my blog. I want all the votes, including my vote, to be counted in the next election. I want my children to be able to enjoy the same Constitution that our country was founded upon, without having it destroyed by those who find it “inconvenient” or “outdated”.

Feel free to join the EFF if you believe in what they are fighting for. The EFF is a 501(c)(3) charity organization, so your membership or donation is tax deductible. If you don’t feel like joining, please at least take a little time to educate yourself about the issues, make your own opinions, and fight for what you believe in.