Florida's bill to ban online anonymity is bogus.

If passed, the “True Origin of Digital Goods Act” will make anonymous free speech illegal. And the Florida state legislature is voting right now.

Sign the petition to stop Florida's anti-anonymity bill.

To the Florida state legislature: "I believe the "True Origins of Digital Goods Act" directly threatens anonymous free speech. TODGA also sets a dangerous precedent by allowing officials to take down websites arbitrarily or without due process. It's time to kill the bill."

Every time the government tries to curb freedom of speech on the Internet, we fight back. If everyone who signs this petition also shared it with their networks, we can stop this latest online censorship threat. So share with your friends before you close this! Thanks.

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What's so bad about “True Origin of Digital Goods Act”

Let's break it down.

Supporters of the “True Origin of Digital Goods Act” say its about stopping online piracy. In actuality its about thwarting online privacy by making Internet anonymity illegal.

It allows officials to take down alleged violators without any due process. This means anyone "aggrieved" by certain content could take an anonymous website owner to court, without having to show any actual legal harm. (read more)
Florida wants any website that has commercial streaming content to post the owner's true name and contact information on the site. That means anybody operating a website that is even “likely to” host music or videos “directly or indirectly,”—even their own music or videos —could be ordered to reveal their name and address.: (read more)
Anonymous online speech a protected part of the American free speech tradition. TODGA violates both our First and Fourth Amendment rights.

And it gets worse.

What’s even worse, this bill is ineffective because the Digital Millennium Copyright Act already covers these concerns. This new law isn't only unnecessary in order for Florida to enforce federal copyright or trademark laws—it actually creates a new avenue for legal abuse. Anyone “aggrieved” by an anonymous website owner could take that owner to court, without having to show legal harm. How does that promote Internet free speech? (Read more)

Lawyer breaks TODGA down into plain speak. And it's scary.

On April 22nd, Florida lawyer, Drew Hinkes, made the complex comprehensible in a presentation to members of Code for Fort Lauderdale. In his presentation Hinkes laid out the law's provisions and walked the group through what could happen to someone if they were allegedly accused of infringing on TODGA.

Hinkes pointed out that this law could be used to 'out' anonymous users and showed how other states have used similar laws as pretext to justify police raids on music studios or justify otherwise illegal restraints on communication.

Check out the entirety of Hinkes's slide presentation here.

Media Information:

This is a campaign of Fight for the Future and the Center for Rights.

For press inquiries, email: press@fightforthefuture.org

Phone: 508-474-5248

Media Coverage:
The New Tropic, "Proposed state law would harm free speech online"