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Today is The Day We Fight Back

• spazmaster 13y ago
  I'm not getting any feedback in Chrome or Firefox (Mac OS X) that my signature has been registered... what a shame!
  • sspiff 13y ago
    Same for me (Firefox on Linux).
  • thomasfromcdnjs 13y ago
    Trying to fix now!
• davidw 13y ago
  I support this effort 100%, but... there's something a bit off about the messaging that I can't quite put my finger on. Perhaps "the day"? This is going to be a long haul, not like killing SOPA or some other bad bill. This system is entrenched, and has a lot of support. It's going to be a long fight, and it's going to be a slog. For those in the US, though, please do call your representatives.
  • KiwiCoder 13y ago
    If I had to point to one thing it would be "the day". * It's clearly going to take more than a day to achieve a positive outcome in a system that was established over many decades * What happens when "the day" ends? * Since the action is framed as "the day", this is how the media will report on it - including outcomes of the day. These outcomes, whatever they are, will be packaged with the day and thus more easily dismissed than, say, "the movement" (which continues to grow) or "the tide" (that is turning) or "the big cleanup" (which must be repeated regularly)
    • dkrich 13y ago
      I think drives like these (whether intended to or not) result in heightened awareness of a problem, not necessarily a fixed outcome. If something like this took place once a year (where sites protest mass surveillance) it would assure that people continue to discuss the issue instead of slowly forgetting about it. Labeling the effort "The Day We Fight Back" has a certain "shock" value that intrigues people. If instead it were marketed as "let's talk about long-term strategies for dismantling mass-surveillance" support would probably trickle in. After all, signing a petition or putting a url on your site isn't really "fighting back," it's a protesting.
    • BrandonMarc 13y ago
      Agreed. Even if the media gives "the day" plenty of coverage, their 24-hour news cycle will simply bury it, and CBSABCNBCCNNFNC viewers will have forgotten it by Friday, and likely not see it again.
  • dredmorbius 13y ago
    This is the marketing effort. Getting out a message means bringing as many voices together at the same time. Getting press coverage. Making noise. Diluting that influence over a longer period of time dilutes the call. That said: yes, a longer-term call to action would be a damned good thing.
• doctorshady 13y ago
  I suppose it's common knowledge now, but a lot of people seem to think a phone call will get more attention then an email in political scenarios.
  • davidw 13y ago
    It's a matter of effort, I suppose... "proof of work" as the bitcoin people talk about. Clicking a button is less effort than making a phone call and talking to a person.
  • dllthomas 13y ago
    Or... do both! and more!
• einhverfr 13y ago
  As far as I am concerned, fighting back for a day is useless. The NSA is probably going to find they have already lost this battle because we now trust their co-conspirators a lot less. It's the slow, relatively minor pressure over time by billions of people that will change things. But the real danger is with the next battle. I think we are going to see a major showdown over legality of encryption generally within the next few years with a push for legally required back-doors (since it will be harder to guarantee cooperation unofficially and there is almost certain to be a lot of effort into guaranteeing better security). That's the one we should be steeling ourselves for. So I won't be participating in this "The Day We Fight Back" not because I think it is unimportant but because I think it is too important than to relegate to a day of action.
  • lucastx 13y ago
    I think this is more about making noise to remember people -- people which does not follow tech and NSA news -- that surveillance is still a problem, that Snowden is still stuck in Hong Kong, that the NSA still collects a huge amount of personal information from non-targets. But you're right the battle is much bigger than that.
    • brokenparser 13y ago
      He's actually on a temporary asylum in Russia, his stay in Hong Kong was short lived. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Temporary_asylum_in_Russia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Temporary_asylu...
  • sinak 13y ago
    I really, really don't think anyone is trying to say that this is the /only/ thing you should do. Many of the people organizing this campaign worked on any number of different campaigns over the last 6 months (Stop Watching Us, Restore the Fourth rallies, a rally in DC, Defund The NSA), so we'd be the last to say that this is the only day you should take action. Rather, this is a single day for all of us who care about the isuee to rally round and do something to reach a critical mass of action that gets noticed on capitol hill. And also to help educate people who've tuned out of NSA stories by reiterating all the things the NSA is doing to erode privacy.
• lpolovets 13y ago
  I think it's interesting that there are ~200k Twitter/Facebook shares at the time of this comment, but less than 10k calls/emails. The message seems to be, "I think contacting legislators is a great idea! I hope some of my friends do that.."
  • thomasfromcdnjs 13y ago
    Chiming in as one of the developers, these share totals are the total from when the campaign first started. The tools for calling/emailing/petitioning have only been active for two or so hours.
    • lpolovets 13y ago
      Ah, got it. Thanks for the explanation and good luck with the campaign.
  • davidw 13y ago
    It is currently 4:27 AM on the east coast of the US. Most Americans are sleeping at the moment, and I doubt congressional offices are open.
    • renang 13y ago
      Afaik NSA is/was gathering information worldwide.
      • CalRobert 13y ago
        True, but as congresspeople are elected by the people of the US they would only be keen on hearing from them (well, that's the idea at least - in reality they don't seem to worry a lot about what a small but informed contingent cares about)
        • davidw 13y ago
          Indeed: they only take calls from their own constituents. I, as an Oregonian, will be ignored if I call a representative, from, say, Iowa.
• chalst 13y ago
  Oh, a flash protest, one that seems to have been announced with a press release only yesterday and pushed by the EFF just one hour ago. Well, it is too short notice for me to invest the time to black out my website, so I will not be supporting this. Maybe there will be a similar action next year that I will support, if it is better advertised beforehand.
  • brokenparser 13y ago
    It was announced here a month ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7037548 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7037548
    • chalst 13y ago
      What did that page say back then? I missed that story. I subscribe to several EFF feeds and I recall nothing about a Swartz anniversary protest.
      • SyneRyder 13y ago
        Maybe you're not on the EFF email list or Facebook group? They've been promoting this for several weeks (actually too much for my liking, so it's interesting for me to hear that others weren't aware of it).
  • sekasi 13y ago
    Can you be any less likable if you tried? It's been advertised, you just haven't seen it. That's not entirely their fault, advertising is not free. You don't have to be all snobby about it. Sheesh.
• kumarski 13y ago
  Can we be a little more digitally violent in our protest? For example, crowdsourced black hat hacking bad links to any companies funding NSA loving politicians?
  • lelandbatey 13y ago
    To your call for violence, I make a similar call: let's make sure we don't and instead adopt a more visible but equally peaceful approach.
    • kumarski 13y ago
      so passive. :/
  • logicallee 13y ago
    This is the only comment in any of the NSA articles that actually justifies the existence and mission of the NSA. You should delete it.
• suprgeek 13y ago
  Why don't we (as the hacker/programmer community) also "fight back" in the meaningful & legal way that is our core strength? Resolve to push for encryption if there is any PII data in an app that you work with especially if it is a e-mail/mobile/social app. at scale Refuse to work with/at NSA until their policies change Refuse to participate in any committee/standards body, conferences, with NSA employees (or their cohort companies who have willingly forsaken the public's interests) Encourage non-tech folks to adopt stronger privacy practices etc etc...
  • cLeEOGPw 13y ago
    > Refuse to work with/at NSA until their policies change Don't agree with this. Boycotts relying on cooperation and trust between unorganized members are doomed to fail and only hurts those that take part in such boycott.
    • ElDiablo666 13y ago
      There's also such a thing as having a conscience. I agree that organizing and solidarity are necessary for effective political action but let's not discount the power of resistance against the moral turpitude of the day.
      • mjolk 13y ago
        I'm not going to jail due to fighting the government about disclosure of the users of my dumb smartphone game. It's fun to play the moral high ground, but let's not pretend we're the bastions of society because we encrypt user data.
    • higherpurpose 13y ago
      So you think that after you join NSA, you'd participate in such a boycott against NSA? Or will you be even more terrified about losing the job you've already gotten, and try to be on the "safe side" as much as possible to keep your job?
      • 13y ago
• sinak 13y ago
  All of the people who built the site and the banner are volunteers who met on HN across various threads, and not members of any of the advocacy orgs or companies listed on the site. We're really interested in getting feedback on how future campaigns can be better, and happy to discuss some of the decisions we made. The non-profits involved did all the legal and organization lifting, and this is a great opportunity to donate to the EFF and Demand Progress if you haven't recently. Likely the most impactful thing you can do right now is to add the banner to your own site and ask the companies you work for to do the same. We've tried to make it as easy as possible to add the banner; you can find all the options (including a Cloudflare app and Wordpress plugins) here: https://github.com/tfrce/thedaywefightback.js https://github.com/tfrce/thedaywefightback.js Pushing for technical solutions to the surveillance is also really important. Friends at Fight for the Future are launching a campaign along those lines as soon as this one wraps up, and there are a lot of open source projects (e.g. the great work done by [Whisper Systems](https://whispersystems.org) https://whispersystems.org)) that deserve attention. But legislation and technology need to work hand in hand for things to change in the long run. Even if we have decent technical solutions, legal measures can easily limit the scope of their success (see Lavabit).
  • mkl 13y ago
    (My comment here is about the international version of the site - the USA one is much clearer in its purpose.) One crucial piece of information I haven't been able to find is what happens to the names and email addresses people enter. How does filling in those boxes amount to taking action? I am strongly opposed to mass surveillance, but thedaywefightback.org doesn't seem to be communicating successfully how exactly it is going to help. If it is doing something that will truly help (which seems likely, but I can't really tell), that needs to be clear in its message, and it isn't.
    • sinak 13y ago
      That's a really valid criticism, we're just pushing some changes that we hope address those concerns (will be up in about 10 minutes). Edit: Changes are up. It's not perfect, but hopefully it addresses some of your concerns.
• Singletoned 13y ago
  Surely this site has been set up by the NSA to harvest the details of everyone who opposes them...?
  • brokenparser 13y ago
    Or perhaps the NSA was set up by the campaign organisers so they would have something to run an anti-campaign against.
    • chris_wot 13y ago
      How do I know you aren't someone from the NSA posting this to throw us off the scent?
  • beaugunderson 13y ago
    https://github.com/tfrce/thedaywefightback https://github.com/tfrce/thedaywefightback https://github.com/tfrce/thedaywefightback.js https://github.com/tfrce/thedaywefightback.js
  • krapp 13y ago
    Assuming you're not trolling, why would you not assume this about Hacker News as well? This place has practically become a hangout for armchair dissidents, and employees from many large tech companies are known to post here. It would make the perfect honeypot.
• motters 13y ago
  My little fight back are some instructions on how to provide your own internet services, including encryption. http://freedombone.uk.to/ http://freedombone.uk.to/ It's not ideal, of course, but in the short term since there seems to be no political appetite for relinquishment or meaningful reform then technical mitigation strategies - if they can be sufficiently popularised - may help to reduce the harm resulting from mass surveillance. Ultimately the solution is both political and technical. When politicians or other public figures make claims that what's going on is "not mass surveillance" or try to imply that collecting metadata is unimportant then they should be challenged.
  • mikegriff 13y ago
    That's a good little installation document. I'm going to give that a go with a raspberry pi when I get home. How up to date are the instructions?
    • eliasmacpherson 13y ago
      It's not little - it's quite comprehensive. Excellent job done. It's explained quite well in a very enjoyable writing style. I think anyone who knows enough to add a banner to a webpage can work their way through the document. It's a good idea to promote it as an alternative because from the outside at least, it seems freedombox has lost momentum since the privoxy release, even though the idea is sound.
      • mikegriff 13y ago
        I didn't mean to belittle it all, I'm well impressed with it. Nicely explained for the most part and I saw afterwards that it's up on github too so it's easy to send in corrections for it. I had to look up Friendica and Movim to see what they were (I'd never heard of them before), it'd be nice to have links to the respective homepages, so off I'll go and add them in.
        • motters 13y ago
          Pull requests for corrections or installation sequences are welcome.
• weego 13y ago
  Hash tags to show support? History is fucking laughing at us today.
  • aaronem 13y ago
    History's not the only one. This is just adorable. I'm sure everyone involved feels like a really, really good person, though.
    • illumen 13y ago
      People are trying to get the law changed in the USA. It needs a show of support to help get this done. It's much harder work than writing snarky one liners on some internet forum for nerds whilst you sip your expensive coffee. This is the day to ask them to stop spying, and to ask our leaders to make them stop spying.
      • tunap 13y ago
        I mean no snark here, just clarifying my interpretation of the OP's point: The only vote any of the mass majority has is where we spend our dollars & labors. These kinds of movements make everyone involved feel good and I do not deny this campaign is for a cause the participants feel is just...I agree in principal. However, joining another mineable database feels like doing the same thing that we are talking about curtailing, with the added potential of making participants part of a larger target if anyone threatened decides to go on the offensive. Legislators only listen to the hoi polloi when reading scripts in front of cameras or they are drumming up votes for the next election. Even more pertinent, the corporate environment that exists in the Western world has morphed to influence our every waking moment and would never allow an organized collective get too big or gain too much traction before well-publicized character attacks and disinformation fill the airwaves(or the startup is 'incorporated'). The status quo owns the media(even Reddit), the 'tubez(backbone) & most western governments(lobbying is corruption, whatever the laws have been tailored to say), thus they have the loudest message and currently control all infrastructure in this global society(think 'good ol boy' network rather than conspiracy theory). The antagonists and would-be 'movements' of late are diminishing from the public consciousness faster than other entities can make noticeable ripples: Wikileaks, Occupy Wall Street, Manning, Snowden... This is how group dynamics has worked since the dawn of tribalism. Adding sentience to the equation has potential to improve the human race above limbic compulsions but so far has only worked to increase the polarization to meet the desires of the controlling interests(most powerful? influential? smartest?). I am sentient and have principals I believe in. These principals require me to make sacrifices sometimes, and that includes how I earn & spend my monies. I walked off a job in October that would have multiplied my income by a factor of 10, problem is they asked me to endanger myself, compromise my principals and break some really well-founded national safety codes, never mind the organizations' 'professed' safety policies. Instead, I'm living hand-to-mouth in a shack making a small fraction of my potential earnings and reading/commenting on HN. C'est la vie, I have made my choices and still sleep really well at night. Of the few dollars I make, I spend them just as judiciously as I earn them. There are unavoidable expenses in a modern society; housing, utilities, food. Other spending may seem crucial, but ultimately distill down to wants or conveniences and I've minimizing or eschewed those, too; ISP, TV signal, formal education. Then, of course, there's the disposable income and all that encompasses. How I earn & spend my money(times a factor of a few billion others), this is what drives the world economy and this is what I determined I can influence to create or realize meaningful change within 'my circle of influence'[1]. I must change myself first in order to change the world. I encourage anyone who reads this to contemplate doing the same. It's the only way to scale up a paradigm change, IMO. PS: I also exercise my own tools that sometimes sacrifice useability in order to maintain my privacy and spread disinformation to those who believe they value my privacy more than I do; NoScript/AdBlock/Blender/UserAgent Switcher/HTTPS Everywhere/bleachbit/firewall monitoring/On+Offline switch/disposable accounts/disposable emails/old & tired maemo phone, etc... Even after two decades I still smile when a clerk says "Thank you for shopping with us today, Mr. Revell"[2]. [1]https://www.stephencovey.com/7habits/7habits-habit1.php https://www.stephencovey.com/7habits/7habits-habit1.php [2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_O%27Clock_High https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_O%27Clock_High
• xradionut 13y ago
  If the organizers really want to make a difference, the site should replace the words "call and email" with "buy and pay".
  • mrweasel 13y ago
    Acutally that would make a lot more sense, having a: "Click here to fund our own lobbying group".
• super_mario 13y ago
  So the suggestion here is to "fight back" by asking politely the people who are abusing you to please stop.
  • wjk 13y ago
    Thats what it seems like to me too. Can someone explain how this is not just another slacktivism thing? Hashtags and banners on a website...
    • Trufa 13y ago
      In one day, nothing. The objective of this is to generate awareness, and it is achieving it's goal. My mother knows what the NSA is and sees the problem. The only thing that might get us to a better place is to slowly change awareness and with it, will start the political pressure. Why one day? a focused campaign will generate much more visibility. Think of how fast the zeitgeist has changed for civil right to minorities, you'd be surprised, maybe in 10, 15 years privacy might be on it's way to being respected again.
    • ForHackernews 13y ago
      Hashtags and banners are only helpful for raising awareness. Phone calls to congresspeople actually can have an impact. Congresspeople keep track of issues that generate a lot of phone calls, and it influences how they vote and what they spend their time on.
  • datashaman 13y ago
    Picturing the scene at the NSA offices: Oh shit guys! They hit 100000 signatures, shut the machine down!
  • drdaeman 13y ago
    Well... We should tell TLAs to stop spying (we already did, long time ago, with obvious results). We should make such activity illegal (it is what's happening), because a big part of problem is secrecy and legal consequences leading to inability to tell anyone they're being spied upon. But, indeed, sole laws are not proper security measure. And for some reason I don't see calls for any technical measures to make mass surveillance costly (and strongly believe it's necessary). We have locks and safes for a reason.
• midhir 13y ago
  Great initiative, I've shared & supported it. But is compiling a database of (full) names and email addresses of internet dissidents really wise given that that's the very medium these organisations are abusing? And would it be enough to deter a significant number of people from putting their details in and showing support?
• baldfat 13y ago
  It is treat as a "Tin Hat" issue, or a Occupy Wall Street movement. The people in my circle (several hundred) see this as a non-issue. We have an issue of education and clear message. Especially how this counters the Constitution. Maybe a push for everyone to read "1984" :)
  • dllthomas 13y ago
    I think that 1984 references, while apropos, are counterproductive. 1984 isn't documentary, and it's not prophecy; it's fiction used to make some political points. It is entirely reasonable for someone to not weight it very highly, in their assessment of likelihoods in the real world. Those not already sympathetic see comparisons to 1984 as hyperbole, those making them as out of touch with reality, and it doesn't help us seem less "tinfoil hat". Actual and potential abuses, with historical analogue, should be substantially more important - though precise reaction is hard to judge (can we get some polling done?)
• Yuioup 13y ago
  Why do I have a feeling that this is like changing your Facebook picture because you think it might make a difference?
  • mrweasel 13y ago
    I get the same feeling. From the website: Governments worldwide need to know that mass surveillance, like that conducted by the NSA, is always a violation of our inalienable human rights. Sorry, but the governments of the world already know this. Obama, Merkel, Hollande, Cameron or Putin isn't going to stand up proclaim: "I'm sorry, we didn't know". It's not that we shouldn't do anything, nor do I have the answer as to what we're suppose to do, but this, "The Day We Fight Back", is pointless. Changing your Twitter icon to green didn't stop the war in Libya, the Internet "Blackout" is already forgotten and just pissed people of, it didn't encouraged anyone to resolve or change anything.
    • dllthomas 13y ago
      'Internet "Blackout" is already forgotten and just pissed people of, it didn't encouraged anyone to resolve or change anything.' SOPA and PIPA were defeated after several legislators changed their stance, purportedly in response to phone calls surrounding the blackout.
      • BrandonMarc 13y ago
        Yes, SOPA and PIPA were defeated with much fanfare and attention, while some different laws doing the same damn thing were passed just a month or two afterward. Victory?!
        • dllthomas 13y ago
          Victory in the battle, not the war. But the ability to win a battle is huge.
          • BrandonMarc 13y ago
• exclipy 13y ago
  The privacy policy link (international version) points to a page written in Serbian. For a campaign all about privacy, really surprised about this. Sorry, I can't give you my name and email if I can't read your privacy policy.
• nicholassmith 13y ago
  Nice to see this is now a link at the very top of HN. Well done to everyone involved.
• dutchbrit 13y ago
  I really like the banner, although, in all honesty, I don't think this will have any effect on spying. I truly believe that the NSA cannot be stopped by words alone. People lie all the time. The only thing I think words can do in situations like this is drive it more underground, and make the NSA lie that everything is back to normal... Presidents lie. Politicians lie. Now, if every American refuses to work 1 day, and all head to the NSA's office, datacenter (and actually destroy the thing), that'd really mean taking matters into our own hands (extreme scenario, I know). The NSA knew people wouldn't like this, but they did it anyway, because nobody knew. We will never truly have 100% transparency what the NSA is doing. People can no longer trust them. Period.
  • tripzilch 13y ago
    > Now, if every American refuses to work 1 day, and all head to the NSA's office, datacenter (and actually destroy the thing), that'd really mean taking matters into our own hands You forget the part where the USA is a militarized police state that, unlike (say) the Ukrainian government/police will not hesitate to use lethal force at these people. Not that it will happen, but if it were to happen, that's what's going to happen. Remember the police violence excesses with the peaceful Occupy protest? They didn't get friendlier in the mean time. The police did, however, get equipped with more shiny military war toys.
• davidw 13y ago
  Since you guys are reading this, a huge thanks for putting the time and effort in to organize this. Here's hoping you are able to keep that up for the long haul.
• netcan 13y ago
  Snowden, the NSA scandals and the subsequent political and media responses are very clear example of our right eroding. But, they are mostly concerned with the US Government and US citizens. This is a global fight. The perpetrators and the victims are everywhere.
• worldsayshi 13y ago
  I find it a weirdly ironic that a protest opposing government collection of personal information, such as political affiliation, from opt in data stores on the internet consist of declaring your political affiliation in an opt in data store on the internet.
• pirateking 13y ago
  It is a positive day for the freedom of information and I am happy to support it, make the calls and emails, and tell friends about it. I also think framing it as a one day campaign where the “fighting” involves passive action at the individual level is not a game winning strategy. It is still a great rallying signal though, and its effects have already gone beyond the single day, and for every person too lazy to change their avatar back, they will carry on for a good while longer in some way. However, the motivation for the average person to even think about engaging such an overwhelming and invisible force as mass surveillance is very close to zero. For those who are willing, involvement seems to be passive (donating to a more capable organization, hitting a like button, resharing links), bursty (waiting for organized events to rally around), or demoralizing (low visibility of opponent, lack of support from uninterested peers or locals, extremely slow and indirect feedback loop for any action). For these reasons, I hope that a campaign modeled as a constantly running open source game engine emerges, because that is actually just the bare minimum required for victory - to at least continue playing the game as long as your opponent is playing, no matter whether you are winning or losing at the moment. A game model will at least make undeniably clear that there exists a thing worth playing for (your personal information perhaps), that there are actual opponents who can and will take this thing from you, and the visibility and mechanics needed for you to take action to protect that thing.
  • squozzer 13y ago
    I would say for most of us a more accurate phase is, "The Day We Decide To Fight Back."
• mikhael 13y ago
  In my opinion, the front page should really, really highlight the call-back-and-show-script feature. Sending this out to family and friends, this is the piece I really want them to see.
• josefresco 13y ago
  I'm going to play devil's advocate here and suggest that if political involvement is what we're shooting for, robo-calling your representatives isn't the best way to achieve true reform. Pissed that the NSA (or insert gov agency here) is running amok? Get involved in your government, vote out the lawmakers who let/made [it] happen, and advocate for and vote in representatives who will invoke the change you want. Appealing to the public in this manor encourages laziness and while it may be "practical" (as we can't expect everyone to throw themselves into the process) I don't think it's the best long term solution. Not trying to torpedo this movement but I cringe whenever I see the words "script" when talking about invoking political or societal change.
  • declan 13y ago
    Can you give us a list of "representatives who will invoke the change you want?" Are there any? You are correct, though, that following the DC pattern of "follow this script while calling your congresscritters" is insufficient. This turns privacy advocates/Internet users into just another special interest group -- which is dwarfed by AARP (40+ million members) or the NRA (which managed to defeat congressional efforts at more firearm restrictions last year despite the most favorable climate for gun banning in two decades). The HN community can do better than mere phone calls. Here are some of my suggestions from 12 years ago: http://news.cnet.com/2010-1023-971115.html http://news.cnet.com/2010-1023-971115.html
    • josefresco 13y ago
      Great article, I enjoy the input from someone who was or is "inside DC" and isn't looking at this issue purely from a tech/IT angle. I'm not suggesting I have a list of lawmakers to vote out, just that in an effort to enact political change we should become part of the process, not just the members (as you stated so well) of another special interest group.
• fidotron 13y ago
  I honestly think this is naive at best, and at worst useful idiocy on behalf of the companies dependent on the illusion the aim is even achievable. Mass surveillance, if technically possible, is going to happen. Therefore make services where it isn't possible. If that screws with your business model you're part of the problem.
  • Shivetya 13y ago
    I do not put much faith in it simply because I bet the majority of people who are behind this voted for the guy in charge and will vote for the next person that same party put up all because they cannot think rationally. As in, you vote for a candidate who is protected by identity politics you will never have a voice. You vote for a politician who adheres to the D or R and your just doing nothing.
    • BrandonMarc 13y ago
      I wish I could upvote this 10x.
  • danielweber 13y ago
    I'm put off because "The Day We Fight Back" sounds like something a 17 year old would say. Are they forming a political action committee and hiring professionals? That is boring stodgy stuff but it's the boring stuff that makes up politics and has a good track record of being successful.
  • Loughla 13y ago
    "Mass surveillance, if technically possible, is going to happen. Therefore make services where it isn't possible. If that screws with your business model you're part of the problem." Let's just extrapolate this. Mass surveillance is possible because of the connected style of world we live in. Anything that is created can be corrupted in some fashion by world governments or corporations looking for an advantage. Therefore, we shouldn't do anything, because it's hopeless, or we should make something that is so needlessly complicated that no one will use it. For Christ's sake, does your sense of superiority feel better now that you've poo-pooed this entire thing? Do you know what makes mass surveillance and government abuse in general quite successful and allows it to keep happening? Apathy and arrogance. Either you're so smart that you see this will always happen, so you can beat it for yourself, but not anyone else; or there is no way to fix it for everyone, so why even try. You're right, this isn't achievable. UNLESS YOU GET INVOLVED IN THE SYSTEM. Like it or not, dirty or not, the current political system is what we have, and you have to work within it. That means talking to people, calling, writing letters to the editor, donating money, forming local groups, doing all of the old-school things that our representatives respond to. It doesn't mean resigning yourself to defeat before even fighting. You don't like the way this initiative is running? Then pull your head out of your own ass and get involved in the real world. Take your almighty skills and put them to use for everyone, not just yourself. You're just as much a part of the problem as those other people seek to disrupt. Sorry. Much rant.
• lazyjones 13y ago
  This is a good initiative, but I still find it depressing that we have to fight entities operating outside the law or in violation of it, using methods strictly within the boundaries of the law. It's not a fair fight and it's not likely to be successful.
• wcummings 13y ago
  I think some people are missing the point, this is clearly intended to raise awareness, nothing more.
  • sinak 13y ago
    On the US side it's primarily about creating an opportunity for pro-privacy legislators. Specifically, the legislative goal is to push through the passage of the USA Freedom Act with amendments to prevent the NSA from undermining encryption standards and to protect the rights of non-Americans. Raising awareness is definitely part of it too, but it's not the main objective.
• theklub 13y ago
  Just one day?
• adam12 13y ago
  I get the following message when going to the page to email my legislators: Heroku | No such app There is no app configured at that hostname. Perhaps the app owner has renamed it, or you mistyped the URL.
• kbar13 13y ago
  I wish the "send email" button is more responsive, or at least shows some kind of progress. Clicked once and nothing happened so I thought I misclicked or missed and clicked a few times more, resulting in 6 emails. womp womp!
• cik 13y ago
  First off, way to go with all of this. While I don't believe in "raising awareness" in general, I think this is the best way to keep this in the spotlight. There's one thing to keep in mind though. I don't think any of us actually hate the NSA (in particular), or your local version. The piece I hate are the policies and their implementation. I'm sure that like all organizations there is some work being done by the NSA/CIA/FBI/KGB.... well maybe KGB was going too far. I'd love to see links in this thread to the other ways people are supporting the struggle, whether it's blog postings, tumblrs, or something else. In that vein, here's my blog posting: https://www.lyricalsoftware.com/blog/day-fight-back-panopticon/ https://www.lyricalsoftware.com/blog/day-fight-back-panoptic...
• ninjac0der 13y ago
  A digital protest, if only our founders had such gumption. No wonder they act like they don't care what we say or do.
• dllthomas 13y ago
  Just heard a report on Democracy Now, where the EFF spokeswoman interviewed raised some important points that shouldn't be overlooked regarding privacy rights and when searches take place, &c, but seemed to accept Obama's assertion that they are only looking at collected data when there is cause. From my understanding, that is false. It is probably true that they are only supposed to look at data when there is cause, but the reports of instances of "LOVEINT" - spying on (current, former, or potential) romantic partners - seem to indicate more access, especially the fact that the instances of such abuses as have been found were self-reported (so other misdeeds may very well be going undiscovered).
• austerity 13y ago
  Wow, so much negativity here. The whole thing does seem a little disappointing, but we have to start somewhere, don't we? Added to our (moderately large) site.
• sneak 13y ago
  Nothing on this page effectively answers the single most common response to mass surveillance: "Why should I care if they read my emails? I'm not important and I don't do anything wrong. If it helps them catch terrorists, who cares?" Until this question is answered clearly and effectively, nobody except all those splinter groups represented by so many logos will care about this.
  • uvTwitch 13y ago
    I'm going to make the assumption here that you would not be happy with your government installing and monitoring surveillance cameras in your home bathroom. This isn't really all that different; it's just your private communications being observed, instead of your private parts.
  • surana90 13y ago
    http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/1fwj66/u161719_tells_us_all_why_surveillance_is_not_ok/ http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/1fwj66/u161719_t... This somewhat answers that!
    • mintplant 13y ago
      It's a post on /r/conspiracy, though. A good deal of people are going to be turned away by that fact.
  • dllthomas 13y ago
    The fact that an insider-heavy oversight panel said this stuff is ineffective and intrusive and should be stopped seems like a strong point, even if you value nothing more than the billions of taxpayer dollars.
  • BrandonMarc 13y ago
    Follow it with this question: "As long as [the IRS] is [accused of] targeting [tea partiers], who cares? Besides from what I know they probably aren't." ... then tell them to fill in those blanks with something else. You might also follow it with this line of reasoning: "And I trust this party who's running things. And I trust the other guys will never be in power again. Because that would be a healthy democracy, and my guys would never overstep their boundaries." Hopefully the ironies, contradictions, vulnerabilities, and fallacies are so plain little more need be said, and you can then focus on how to address the issue, since it's agreed there's an issue.
• Chirael 13y ago
  I like the idea of the "enter your phone #, we'll call you and show you a script, then connect you". But I wish there was also a link for a more traditional "here are the phone #s of your representatives and a sample script". With the latter, I could just print out that page and find a private place at work - away from my desk - to make the brief phone call.
• sneak 13y ago
  All the logos in the world aren't going to make foreign organizations trust American companies with their data again. The blow to trust has been struck. Operating a data processing or data storage business inside US jurisdiction is now a liability. It's time to leave.
• yincrash 13y ago
  I sent an email, but I'm not a fan of the auto-opt-in of the random mailing list.
• codex 13y ago
  Ultimately, uses of technology reflect a society's values. Unfortunately, mass surveillance will be a mainstream value until the fear of terrorism fades. As frustrating as it may be, all the protests in the world won't make these values mainstream.
  • dllthomas 13y ago
    Consistently, through history, fear of terrorism is what destroys democracies. We need to make these values mainstream.
• easy_rider 13y ago
  It seems to be the focus is a lot on the NSA .. The NSA just happens to be the best at what they do. The Brits and Germans are pretty good too. As a Dutchman I know a lot of the HUMANINT stuff here relies on hijacking SQL databases and metasploit, and what is provided from other sources. But everyone is trying to catch up and make friends with .. We basically need a publicly audited restructuring of our entire communication infrastructure. The problem has grown to such proportions that we now know that we can not trust governing institutions like NIST, or chip manufacturers like Intel for example. What makes matters much worse is that the U.S. government will just keep playing the same card of supposed reforms, while operations will not cease, but instead will do a illusive dance to more black on black policies. At the same time, public interest in the matter has already massively dwindled due to over saturation in media coverage. While the cointelpro is working hard to dismiss everything as essentials to provide us with a (sense of) security for the global fight of terrorism and crime, apathy will prevail. Also I'm referring to U.S. policies a lot, since they are the ring leaders and are influencing international policy and operations at the highest level. But obviously this is a problem across many if not all governments. The nature of intelligence agencies is to gather intelligence by any means. This will never change, never disappear unless we get full transparency on government. Which will never happen due to concerns for national security. And we know where that road will lead to.. ask how Bradly Manning is doing. So no, I'm a bit too informed, and have become way too cynical to be counting on a revolution any time soon :(
• IgorPartola 13y ago
  Odd. The call count seems to go up and down with every refresh. Also, when you call the 202 number instead of having it call you, you the message talks about something related to the trans-Atlantic partnership, not the NSA issue. Thanks for putting this together. I called and was pleased with the experience. Really hope some good comes of this.
• plg 13y ago
  I'm all for this (fighting back) ... but (and I sincerely don't mean to be cheeky) but how exactly is putting a banner on your website 'fighting back' ?
  • DenisM 13y ago
    The goal here is to get people to call their senators and congress reps to influence passing the right laws. You can contribute by calling yourself, or encouraging others, or doing both.
• rufugee 13y ago
  So...the number it tells me to dial (202) 999-3996 tells me I'm calling to fight the Fast Track for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. This isn't related...could someone fix this?
  • ncsupporter 13y ago
    The best laid plans. I received that message. I tried to use it anyway. It successfully connected me to Howard Coble's office (I'm in NC), and I communicated the message to an assistant. The recording then said it was connecting me to Richard Burr, but immediately seemed to think the call was over and said "You're doing great". Finally, it successfully connected me to Kay Hagan's office, but 5 seconds into her recorded message everything went silent. That was it.
• j_k_s 13y ago
  "THE DAY WE FIGHT BACK AGAINST MASS SURVEILLANCE" ... by entering your phone number and email address. LOL!
• mrcharles 13y ago
  So this is an NSA honeypot to collect email addresses... right?
• acd 13y ago
  Please reply to this message with more applications that you find useful. Self-host your email and keep it secure and encrypted https://www.mailpile.is/ https://www.mailpile.is/ Project Tox, also known as Tox, is a FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) instant messaging application aimed to replace Skype. https://github.com/irungentoo/ProjectTox-Core https://github.com/irungentoo/ProjectTox-Core Host your own file sync solution http://owncloud.org/ http://owncloud.org/ Torproject anonymous surfing https://www.torproject.org/ https://www.torproject.org/ The invisible internet project http://geti2p.net/en/ http://geti2p.net/en/ GNUnet is a framework for secure peer-to-peer networking https://gnunet.org/ https://gnunet.org/ Kali Linux - Linux distribution with security focus http://www.kali.org/ http://www.kali.org/
  • deleted 13y ago
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• arca_vorago 13y ago
  The irony to me is that they have two of the worst offenders when it comes to mass surveillance advertised on the side of the page. Facebook and Google, despite their attempts to say they weren't aware of the NSA gaining access to their info, are probably just as much of a threat to privacy as the NSA total information awareness. It goes like this: let the private companies run wild when it comes to privacy violations, and then gobble up all their data via national security letters, subpoenas, secret taps via NSA tech, and warrants for higher profile stuff and then only if desperate, and that is assuming an adversarial nature between the private sector and the government. In fact the C-levels are often directly approached and goaded into silently and secretly cooperating. (and if they refuse, ala Quest, they get targeted by the system) Of course there is the matter that it is governments who will take the surveillance information and then act upon it, making them the slightly more evil evil in the room, but that does not negate the issue of private sector mass surveillance that is for sale to the highest bidder. I've been one of those who has ranted about the dangers of the NSA since the late 90's, and now that it's a mainstream issue, it seems to have taken on a "oh yeah, the NSA is bad! stop that surveillance" kind of hipster social wave that lacks any kind of detailed nuance or explores the origins and destinations of this admittedly huge issue. Yes, the surveillance is unconstitutional. So have been many of the other activities our American oligarchic powers have been engaged in over the past decade, including the assassination of American citizens without due process. All of these things point to a much more deeply rooted issue than simply "surveillance", namely, that our fundamental governmental structure is in ruins as a result of a combination of corruption and apathy that has gutted the already precariously positioned checks and balances system. Russ Tice has said he held in his hand the wiretap papers for a then hopeful senator from IL, who happens to now be in the Whitehouse. Are we really so naive as to think that Obama is clean coming from such a notoriously corrupt political arena? The intelligence agencies have been using the same techniques for ages, namely, bribery and threats. Russ Tice has also said he held in his hands the papers for judges who now sit on the SCOTUS, and FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds has a source who was responsible for vetting potential judges (up to SCOTUS level), and according to her, he said that anytime a judge came up clean, he was immediately removed from the roster of potentials. The implication being that only controllable people are allowed. The point is that all three branches of government are corrupt and no longer (if ever, don't mistake that phrase for golden day idealism) functioning as servants of the people and defenders of the constitution (I wonder what the legal importance of oaths really is these days, because I seem to be surrounded by oath-breakers(USMC combat vet)). And of the three branches, it is the executive which lords it's power over the other two. The really sad part is that it seems to be the private sector which lords power of the executive. This is the trail of breadcrumbs that truly concerned people need to start discussing, researching, and following. It's very difficult to do. It's hard to track down the global supranational corporate structure. I am still often referencing this paper: http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/1107/1107.5728v2.pdf http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/1107/1107.5728v2.pdf Oh, and as far as technological surveillance goes, there are two main starting points. 1) open source EVERYTHING (especially our trackers ahem cellphones) 2) decentralize everything possible. That is how we gain control of our data back... but that's becoming more and more difficult. Honestly, I think RMS was simply a man far ahead of his time, and the history books (if he isn't wiped from their pages) will refer to him as a visionary in a sea of overly pragmatic corporatists who failed to see the big picture. I could go on quite a bit about this, but that's where I'll leave it for now.
• BobMarin 13y ago
  Here is great post from reddit by SomeKindOfMutant: "Right idea; wrong methods. Let me explain. An email to your legislators may result in a form letter response and a phone call to the office may amount to a tally mark on an administrative assistant's notepad. But, if you want to get their attention, a letter to the editor published in one of your state's 5-10 biggest newspapers that mentions them specifically BY NAME is the way to go. That is the crucial thing to know--the rest of this comment is an explanation of why I know this is true. I know this because, when I interned in the D.C. office of a senator one summer, one of the duties I shared was preparing a document that was distributed internally both online and in paper format. This document was made every day and comprised world news articles, national news, state news, and any letters to the editor in the 5-10 largest newspapers within the senator's home state that mentioned him by name. I was often the person who put that document on his desk, and it was the first thing he read every morning after arriving to the office. I began to suspect that this was standard operating procedure because several other senators' offices share the same printer in the basement of the Russell Senate Office building, and I saw other interns doing the exact same procedures that I was involved in. Since the internship, I've conferred with other Senate and House employees past and present and determined that most--if not all--offices use essentially the same procedure. Edit: I don't mean to suggest that calling or emailing your legislators is worthless. It isn't--it's just not the most effective route to getting their attention. However, if you don't have the time to writer a letter to the editor, please consider at least calling or emailing them. In fact, there's no reason why you couldn't use multiple tactics by calling them, emailing them, and writing a letter to the editor. If you would like to go the call or email route, tools to help with that can be found at https://thedaywefightback.org/" https://thedaywefightback.org/"
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  • GigabyteCoin 13y ago
    I would bet that the sheer fact most every competant reporter has come across a website promoting thedaywefightback.org today that most every newspaper in the nation will be talking about it tomorrow in some regard.
• fargolime 13y ago
  I felt compelled to give a fake address for fear of automated reprisal. If the NSA builds up enough of an anti-surveillance (in their minds anti-American) dossier on me, I could be added to the no-fly list or worse.
  • winslow 13y ago
    If you fear that now just imagine if no changes are made and the NSA & US Gov't are allowed to continue stomping on your rights. At some point you must stand up for yourself and others for you may not have the chance in the future. If it gets to the point of the NSA adding people to no-fly and/or worse actions being taken, the situation would become hostile and more dangerous than the current peaceful political debate.
• jacquesm 13y ago
  How much traffic can your infrastructure handle? Would it be too much to ask for an easy to clone repo (github?) that would allow one to serve the content directly rather than by including some 3rd party javascript widget?
• johnjay 13y ago
  Just called my representative of district 7 and told her to support the USA Freedom Act. Hope more people call.
• sethbannon 13y ago
  FYI as of 11:30am ET there are approximately 5,000 calls per hour going into Congress right now through this effort. Keep it up everyone!
• throwaway125 13y ago
  Including a third party javascript to protest and spread awareness about mass surveillance... That seems a little ironic.
  • Trufa 13y ago
    It's opensource, check it out: https://github.com/tfrce/thedaywefightback.js https://github.com/tfrce/thedaywefightback.js
    • throwaway125 13y ago
      It being closed source or not isn't what makes it ironic. Enticing people to include a <script> tag on their website that then makes their visitors download a .js that will leave an entry in cloudfront's log file documenting that your users visited your website (via the referrer url) is what makes it ironic.
• Killah911 13y ago
  Posted this up on our Meetup Group & sent out an e-mail to ask members to participate. One person left the group due to this. Funny thing is, she works for Cloudera! http://www.meetup.com/Coders-Hackers-Founders/ http://www.meetup.com/Coders-Hackers-Founders/
• shrnky 13y ago
  What disturbs me is not once was Obama's image shown in this video. More than anyone he is the person pressure should be put on to start change(no pun intended). Before we knew the extent of surveillance we saw images like this of Bush: http://www.funny-games.biz/pictures/648-vampire-bush.html http://www.funny-games.biz/pictures/648-vampire-bush.html I never had to go looking for the imagery above during Bush's tenure it was everywhere. Where is it now for the current administration?
  • tripzilch 13y ago
    Obama is the Smiler.
• BrandonMarc 13y ago
  I'm amazed that nobody's mentioned the biggest weapon we have against the political class: Primary elections. Not the final elections - by then the incumbents are in place and it's too late ... for national office, incumbents resign / die more often than they're beat by an opponent. Primaries are where the action is, for two reasons: * it's the one time an incumbent is most vulnerable * very few people vote in primaries compared to election time, so each person's vote makes a bigger difference Want change in D.C.? If you primary just 10% of the critters there, you'll get their full, undivided attention. Yes, emails, letters, and phone calls have an effect. So does K Street. Politicians care about their re-election and money / resources to make it happen, so in the game of influence, I (a normal taxpayer with neither the desire nor the ability to bribe them) will always have the disadvantage. That's why I'd rather fight outside their game - in the primary race. ---------------------------------------- More info: Yes, these links are from a tea partier perspective, but guess what? The tools they describe work for everybody just the same. http://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2011/09/13/storming-the-castle/ http://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2011/09/13/storming-the-... http://www.campaign4primaryaccountability.org/ http://www.campaign4primaryaccountability.org/ One of the organizations in this space; there are others out there. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSib8MfaQLQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSib8MfaQLQ Leo Linbeck describes the general strategy and how it can work.
  • crassus 13y ago
    The way to measure your political effectiveness is how many people have lost their jobs. We're not making real progress until Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer are unemployed, just like we aren't making real progress on IP law until most patent attorneys are working traffic tickets. The Tea Party began by running primary challengers to GOP incumbents, and they remain a powerful force today. It turns out that politicians listen when their friends lose their jobs.
    • declan 13y ago
      Yep. The thing is, though, that a lot of Republican primary voters support the Tea Party's message of lower taxes, limited government, and a return to constitutional norms -- to the extent that they're willing to toss out an incumbent, which loses DC seniority and risks having an even-worse Democrat elected instead. That's trading short-term costs for long-term benefits. It's not yet clear whether R and D primary voters care enough about NSA surveillance to vote out incumbents on those grounds alone. (What about abortion? Environment? The need for higher or lower taxes? Gay rights? Firearms? Etc.) I suspect that NSA revulsion among R and D primary voters is insufficiently strong to make displacement a real threat. Look at SOPA author Lamar Smith's easy cruise to primary reelection victory in Texas hill country -- after being feted by those SOPA-loving liberals in Hollywood and opposed by Reddit's TestPAC. Smith won nearly 80% of the primary vote. BTW, Feinstein, one of the most prominent NSA loyalists, isn't up until 2018. If anti-NSA activists really want to have a tremendous political impact, they should unseat Rep. Mike Rogers, who beats out even Feinstein in his defense of warrantless surveillance. But National Journal last year said Rogers is in a "safe congressional district that’s poised to keep reelecting him until he decides to retire": http://www.nationaljournal.com/congress/the-reason-mike-rogers-won-t-run-for-the-senate-20130603 http://www.nationaljournal.com/congress/the-reason-mike-roge... So good luck with that.
• pearjuice 13y ago
  Meanwhile in the NSA canteen: "and then they said 'today we fight back' and this time they REALLY meant it, they even had banners you could copy on your website!" massive laughter Gotta love slacktivism.
  • saganus 13y ago
    And what would be your proposal for an alternative? That is also capable of involving, if even a tiny bit, the amount of people this idea probably will? There are potentially a lot of other ways to achieve the same goal, but if we don't hear them, we can't analyse/debate and decide to act upon them. Not being sarcastic or anything, but if you do have an opinion on how to change/make this better, by all means please do so!
• gkop 13y ago
  I called the three New Mexico lawmakers through the tool, and was able to reach human beings at all of the offices (Senators Heinrich and Udall and Representative Luján). Thanks for making it so easy!
• broabprobe 13y ago
  Man I wish campaigns like this would happen for issues I care more about. For example, guantanamo bay or climate change or corrupt elections, etc
• d23 13y ago
  Oh sod off. The point about things like this is that by raising awareness and getting people on board to do concrete action, we move the "collective consciousness" in the direction we'd like to see it go. Imagine if 20 years ago everyone had that attitude about gay and lesbian rights. Imagine if 80 years ago everyone had the same attitude about equal rights for minorities. You people are jackasses. Just because someone can't dedicate their full time job to fighting this doesn't mean they don't care or are lazy. And even if they did dedicate their full time job to it, what exactly do you suggest they do? The first thing that comes to mind to me is that they should start trying to rally others. Which is, as it turns out, exactly what is being done here.
• robotcookies 13y ago
  Asking politicians who have broken laws in secrecy to stop being secretive and stop breaking laws isn't going to work. The only useful course of action is to vote them all out of office.
• kumph 13y ago
  This gave me a chance to collect my thoughts. I sent the following email to my representatives. Thanks, Sina, for your role in organizing this. --- I think I understand what is going on. The folks at the top look at all the huge centralized information stores like Facebook, Google, Verizon, etc., and I guess they think, "well, it's gonna get collected anyway, so we may as well have access to it." President Obama actually hinted at this line of thinking when initially caught off-guard by the Snowden revelations. Instead of responding directly, he deflected, suggesting that what we really needed was a larger conversation about mass collection of data, i.e. not just the collection by governments. The trouble with mass data collection, either by governments or private entities, is that it gives the possessors of such information extreme amounts of power. Left unchecked, it will almost certainly lead to severe economic and political corruption. The free market is compromised when a small group of people can spy on the private communications of executives and other business people, for example by stealing trade secrets or conducting insider trading. Meanwhile, democracy is compromised when politically active people, including politicians and activists, are made subject to intense scrutiny. Since virtually no one is totally free from legal or moral wrongdoing, the possibilities for politically motivated blackmail and retaliation are massive. And of course the data collection has serious chilling effects on free speech and freedom of the press. If no course correction is made, the U.S. will become more and more oligarchic, more and more like China and Russia. This is unfortunate not just for its implications vis-a-vis individual freedom, but also from a larger perspective. This century we are faced with a diverse array of extremely difficult problems: economic, political, social, and environmental. Non-democratic governments have a historical tendency to fight with one another rather than cooperate, so it is hard to imagine how we will effectively confront these problems in the absence of strong democratic institutions. What worries me is that some of the people in positions of power may actually believe that this massive data collection is somehow necessary to protect Americans from terrorism. But it is patently obvious that terrorism is not, and never has been, a serious threat to the personal safety of most Americans. Over the past two decades, something on the order of 800,000 men, women and children have died in car crashes, while around 3,000 have died as a result of terrorism. If this were a matter of saving lives, we'd be much better off fighting a "War on Car Crashes" than a "War on Terrorism." If this is purportedly an economic issue, i.e. the fear that a dirty bomb will go off in Manhattan and upset commerce, well, the fact is much worse things have happened (i.e. Hiroshima) and economies have recovered. This perspective may sound cynical, but in truth it is idealistic. I am not dismissing the tragedy of the death of perhaps thousands of people, but rather saying that, for the sake of a free and democratic society, such sacrifice is worthwhile. The idea that "collection is going to happen anyway, so we may as well have access" is not unreasonable, but it is ultimately self-defeating. What we need is real leadership on this problem. Not only is there no strong voice against mass data collection, but the overwhelming thrust of the government is to reach its tentacles as deeply into the data gathering machine as possible. Instead of working to lessen the danger, the government is acting to accentuate it, amassing and centralizing even more data, and meanwhile using its media access to legitimize such activities to the public. Again, what is needed is strong leadership. We need a group of people at the highest levels of federal power to put up a fight in congress and explain clearly to the American people why, in fact, we are on a very dangerous road. If not corrected for, this road will lead to the end of the democratic experiment, and a very uncertain future for our children. I hope that you, as my elected representative, will seriously consider taking a stand on this issue.
• stefek99 13y ago
  Question: What is going to happen with the script after the campaign? https://github.com/tfrce/thedaywefightback.js/issues/98 https://github.com/tfrce/thedaywefightback.js/issues/98 My personal view: I still don't get why it is bad, #pleasesurveilme --> https://twitter.com/stefek99/status/433307672838819840 https://twitter.com/stefek99/status/433307672838819840
• aryastark 13y ago
  The Catch-22 is that if I had faith in my fellow Americans, then we would not be sitting in this deep well of depravity. If you look at where we are, today, as a nation, how can anyone have hope? We're a nation that finds it more politically convenient to kill people by drones than to close Gitmo. We're a nation that, quite probably, kills people by drones simply because our leader promised to close a prison camp that would have normally taken said people, but can't now because it would be too visible and too much of a political issue to have people arriving to a place that is supposed to be closing. So America invents remote-control murder from the sky. You can't deny that we're a crafty, ingenious people. Today we know that George Carlin was not cynical enough.
• LambdaAlmighty 13y ago
  I got HN upvote nr. 1337! That means my petition signature will hold a special weight.
• goldbeck 13y ago
  The suggested script is kind of awkward if your representative is already supporting the USA Freedom Act. However, even if they are already in support, it seems important to let them know you have their back on this, and that your future support will continue to be contingent on their stance on surveillance-related issues (if indeed it is). I know not of these things from a political angle, but the following seems reasonable to me 1. Start the call by asking if they're cosponsoring of the USA Freedom Act. 2a. If they are not, use the script, it makes sense. 2b. If they are, thank them for their support of this bill. You can also let them know how important these surveillance issues are to you and the extent to which your representative's actions on these matters will affect your behavior at the polls and in donations. Just a heads up to those planning to call (please do!). I felt kind of silly finding out that the first senator on my list was already a cosponsor after reading through the script, and wanted to save others the minor embarrassment. It should feel good to call your representatives and express your support for such important issues! That aside, this is a really great campaign. Thank you so much to everyone who put it together and made it happen!!
• gesman 13y ago
  Distributed Denial of Misservice Attack
• zdrummond 13y ago
  Great idea for the Call Congress feature.... however when I tried it would not accept my zip code. I hit 9-8- "Sorry we don't recognize your zip code"
• GrahamsNumber 13y ago
  You want to fight back? Turn off Google services, MSFT services, Facebook, Youtube, Yahoo, DDG, Reddit, Tumblr, etc. for a day, that'll raise awareness like never before. But all these companies don't really care, do they? A day's worth of profit is more important.
  • moultano 13y ago
    Of course they care. http://www.reformgovernmentsurveillance.com/ http://www.reformgovernmentsurveillance.com/
    • GrahamsNumber 13y ago
      This does not mean they care more than someone posting angry anti-nsa comments on reddit. It ain't gonna change a thing
• whitej125 13y ago
  So what I find interesting is that as of 4:38pm EST this page has: * 72,000 tweets * 312,000 FB likes * 21,000 G+ shares At the same time... there 54,700 calls made and 114,122 emails sent. The number of social media shares is almost double the number of people that followed through with the "call to action" here. Why? If you are publicly passionate about the cause, I think you would do both (social media share + contact legislator). If you were privately passionate about the cause, you would just do the later; contact legislator. But what is your mindset if you share this via social media, yet don't actually follow through with the call-to-action yourself?
• durrrrrrr 13y ago
  Let's all add an external javascript file to our site, that will sure stop the tracking.
• wavesounds 13y ago
  "Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” Senator Robert F. Kennedy, June 6 1966 (South Africa address)
• shawn-butler 13y ago
  I would make the source code for the android and iPhone apps available.
• duncan_bayne 13y ago
  Calling it fighting is a bit of stretch, if you're still paying taxes.
• hnriot 13y ago
  I don't see the point, so what if legislation is changed, the NSA and all the other clandestine agencies will operate outside of the law because they are untouchable. Might just as well play flappy bird instead, it will do about as much good.
• hnriot 13y ago
  I don't see the point, so what if legislation is changed, the NSA and all the other clandestine agencies will operate outside of the law because they are untouchable. Might just as well play flappy bird instead, it will do about as much good.
• gaussdiditfirst 13y ago
  Great to see this being done. I wonder what number of emails a typical member of Congress must receive before they take note of an issue. Furthermore, how many emails does it take to sway their opinion on said issue, or are dollars the only medium that can induce the wild thought of reevaluating one's perspective.
• backtojoke 13y ago
  Hilarous, homus lupi est. Homus spy est.
• noel82 13y ago
  Looking at results, it could be: "...the day we step back."
• veeberz 13y ago
  I used my zipcode in AZ and it worked great.
• theklub 13y ago
  Should be a year of fighting back and it should be 2015 and we should plan the hell out of it to the point of people fearing it.
• seanccox 13y ago
  Why not just demand that the NSA to be disbanded? I mean... does anyone have any evidence to indicate that we need it?