Black and Blue All Over

Ever since Congress assaulted the First Amendment with the passage of the Telecommunications Act, the World Wide Web has began developing the "bruises" left from the attack. It's black and blue all over the place.

While the Electronic Frontier Foundation has launched it's Blue Ribbon Campaign for Online Freedom of Speech, Press and Association, the Voters Telecommunication Watch and the Center for Democracy and Technology among others spread the idea of turning web pages to black during the 48 hours following the president's signing of the bill.

An estimated hundreds of thousands of web pages are either flying the Blue Ribbon, fading to black or both. But that does not mean those are the only ways in which people are protesting the Act. While some folks are protesting by trying to increase the level of discussion, others seem to believe that desparate times call for desparate measures. While the chilling effect of this Act is already being felt, many content providers are not only refusing to comply with the "indecency" restrictions but are posting sites of civil disobedience. Students at the University of Miami are even holding a funeral for the First Amendment

EFF does not condone one method of protest over another. The fact is, both online and terrestrial communities need to join together in showing our representatives the error of their ways. So whether that means e-mailing your representatives, sticking a Blue Ribbon on your web pages and your self, or turning your pages to black, please get involved.