Saving kittens for internet freedom

A joint venture between digital studios Wellington/Amsterdam based Resn, rehabstudio and Stinkdigital ran a 24 hour internet telethon event at www.savethekitten.com to save the kitten called Webster. The goal of the campaign was to raise awareness for the freedom of the internet and possible threats like the new legislation called the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act. What’s the story from a high up in the sky Finchie perspective?

In a nutshell, governments and the entertainment industry try to gain some sort of control over the internet for whatever the reason is, protection, anti piracy, espionage etc. In the end of 2011 there was a lot of commotion around two American legislations, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) greatly aimed towards more governmental control and thus influence on the internet if the legislations would be accepted.

The public uproar caused by the previously named bills was enormous with Wordpress, Wikipedia, Google and other companies going on black for a day to create awareness amongst the internet population and how threatening these legislations can be for the freedom of the internet. The blackout resulted in the shift of votes and ultimately leaving the legislation to die. However it was a victory, it was just a small one in the ongoing fight for internet freedom. New legislations are rising up to take its place like CISPA and a recently leaked plan where countries like Russia, China and Egypt would gain control over the internet in their respective countries. Even though the plan didn’t get the support it hoped for at The International Telecommunications Nation it shows that these governmental movements are ever ongoing.

After the 24 hour event, Webster the kitten is saved and hundreds of people signed the petition. It’s an unorthodox way to create attention and awareness but Resn, rehabstudio and Stinkdigital really made it work. However there is never enough support for this issue. Head over to www.savethekitten.com right now and sign the petition and show your support.