*Internet activist Daniel Duende Carvalho was kind enough to send me the following material, which describes the political efforts of the Brazilian Internet civil liberties group, "MegaNão," or "Big No." These activities will look remarkably familiar to people with similar interests in distant nations.
*Daniel Duende remarks:
"This first article from 2006 by José Murilo explains some of the earlier background on the Azeredo Law and the fight against it before the MegaNão movement:"
"This article from July 17th 2008 by Paula Goes tells the story of the "Azeredo Cybercrimes Bill" voted in the middle of the night and explains the "13 crimes" described by the proposed bill (in its 2008 incarnation):"
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/07/17/brazil-bloggers-question-the-13-new-cyber-crimes/
"This article from February 4th shares the story of a public debate on the Azeredo Law that took place at Campus Party Brazil 2009, when Azeredo's aide faced a hard time trying (and failing) to justify the Bill in front of more than 2000 "potential cyber criminals".
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/02/04/brazil-the-cybercrimes-bill-meets-the-cybercriminal-camp/
"This article is a showcase of the MegaNão movement at its most active moment, in June 2009."
"This other article speaks about President Lula's statement (at FISL) that the CyberCrimes Bill was "a type of censorship”, and that “the Internet must remain free”, “in our government, it is forbidden to forbid”, “freedom is the source of creativity”. At that moment, Lula's statement was received as a big victory by the MegaNão movement, as it ruined the political road build by the Azeredo Law defenders."
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/07/04/brazil-the-president-lula-is-a-nerd/
"Last but not least, this article at Global Voices is a profile of João Carlos Caribé (who is, besides Sérgio Amadeu (sorry, no profiles of him in English), one of the main faces of the MegaNão movement)"
"About the ACTA, The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). There is a nice article by Global Voices Online (it seems to be one of the best sources on Brazilian internet freedom issues by now). This article give some context on how the Latin-American internet freedom activists are thinking about this (not so) pluri-lateral agreement. The agreement, involving more than 11 countries, targets illegal file-sharing on the Internet by strengthening the protection to copyright in each of the signing Latin-American countries."
"The Brazilian Copyright Law is among the five strictest copyright laws in the world in the context of the public access to cultural products and information contained on protected works. There's a proposal to reform this law (Lei 9.610/98) by means of a public consultation that aims to widen the oportunity of direct popular participation on the law-making in Brazil (a trend that is rather new, but is gathering strength quickly in the country)."
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/07/30/brazil-copyright-reform-proposal-under-consultation/
"When it comes to Internet freedom, Brazil is considered a free country. At least according to the special report published by the Freedom House. The main threat to internet freedom in Brazil today according to the report are the judicial decisions (and remember most of our judges are complete internet illiterates) that are censoring blogs and blog contents."
"Lan Houses are a staple to the internet access of millions of lower class Brazilian citizens. Azeredo Law would be a fierce blow against the Lan Houses, as it forced them to create and maintain access logs about its users in a way that was almost impossible for them. But these aren't the only threats to these important cultural spaces. This article presents a report on the Lan Houses in Brazil."
"I hope these links are helpful. Let us know if we can provide any other background on Brazilian internet freedom and activism, or any other aspect of our picturesque country."
Daniel Duende.
