This is a very bad decision.

It is a very bad decision because it will not solve the legal problem of uncertainty which the government say they want to address with this law. They have introduced a law which is likely to be successfully challenged and in the meantime will create nothing but further uncertainty.

It is a bad decision because the law is being enacted without a vote of the Oireachtas. This law will potentially impact on the freedoms to do business and to free expression of every company and citizen in the country. The need for primary legislation has never been clearer.

The legislature has been treated with double contempt – firstly by being denied a chance to scrutinise and vote on the law and secondly by the Government’s staging of a debate where the opposition made honest efforts to constructively engage with the law, only to be told in the final seconds that nothing they had said was going to make any difference anyway.

It is a bad decision because there was an alternative wording of a Statutory Instrument  proposed by Catherine Murphy TD and Stephen Donnelly TD which the Minister accepted met all his own policy requirements arising from the AG’s advice, made explicit the rights affirmed by the ECJ caselaw and allowed two years for primary legislation to be drafted. But despite all this, he wilfully stuck to his own flawed legislation. This is not intelligent or modern governance.

It is a bad decision because it ignores the unanimous concerns of Irish internet experts. From the Irish Internet Service Providers’ Association (whose members include Google), to Blacknight Hosting, to ALTO, all have said that the Statutory Instrument is not appropriate. Only yesterday Google spoke out against Internet censorship.

Most importantly, it is a disgraceful decision, not because an unprecedented 80,419 people mobilised in the space of a few days and told Ministers Bruton and Sherlock that they were wrong to take this action.

It is a shameful decision because the Government knows that those 80,419 people were right, and have done the wrong thing anyway.

For many people who have never ventured out to visit their TDs before, it has been surprising to learn that yes, this is how democracy actually works, woolly jumper-clad TDs, hoovers and all. But not all TDs have Saturday clinics. And not everyone was able to make it on Saturday to visit their TDs.

Here’s why it is important to keep going to your TDs this week:

On Monday the Fine Gael and Labour Party TDs will carry on meeting their constituents, gathering a sense of how important free access to the Internet is to the voters they meet at their clinics. They’ll let their party whips (the TDs appointed by each Government party to manage their backbenchers) know that this is an issue which is coming up on the ground as well as on the radio, on the streets, in the papers and, obviously, on the Internet. Those Monday meetings with TDs will be vital because…

On Tuesday morning the Cabinet will meet. They’ll receive a briefing paper from the party whips, telling them if anything has been coming up in the clinics since the previous week. Every pledged visit that actually takes place will be in that report. The Cabinet, we can imagine, will want to discuss all the representations, legal argument, political cost and potential benefits, if any, of Sean Sherlock’s plan. They may then make a decision to abandon the current plan or carry on. Whichever way they go, keep meeting Labour TDs on Tuesday because…

On Wednesday, Minister Sherlock is scheduled to give a briefing on his SOPA Ireland law to the Labour Parliamentary Party, which is made up of all TDs and Senators. (He was scheduled to give it last Wednesday, but following Tuesday night’s Dáil debate, he was suddenly unable to attend…)

This is the opportunity for the TDs to tell Sean Sherlock that his plan is costing each and every one of them votes and support. The more TDs pledgers have visited, the more voices he’ll hear. This is known as a ‘backbench rebellion’ and it is what can force change on the most stubborn minister.

Every single person who has pledged turning out to visit their TDs will be what causes that rebellion. So far, the 80,000 people involved in this campaign have succeeded in having this law questioned, published, delayed and debated in an unprecedented Dáil debate. None of those things would have happened without the unprecedented number of dedicated and vocal people who have driven this campaign forward. This is the final hurdle, and each of the 1,300 pledged visits counts enormously.

Visit your Fine Gael and Labour TDs and tell them the cost in votes if they let this law go through.

Together we can break this bad law, and make history as we do it.

A leading lawyer has said the controversial proposed statutory instrument on copyright is not required to bring Ireland into compliance with EU laws.

– Read full article here

Last week, the ISPAI (Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland) released a second statement warning that this legislation threatens Ireland’s internet businesses, and Silicon Republic has a write-up on it:

The ISPs group also warns that the statutory instrument will have enormous implications for the internet industry… They also point out that most ISPs in Ireland don’t have the deep pockets to defend an injunction action taken Ireland.

The ISAI is the industry body to which Google has referred journalists for comment. The ISPAI has made this and many more comments in the past 10 days, all of them opposed to Sherlock’s drafts of the SI.

Also late last week, George Hook hosted Eamon Ryan, Leader of The Green Party and Former Minister for Communications, on The Right Hook, to explain his opposition to the proposed Irish SOPA’ legislation:

He argued that if this law is passed, sites like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and other popular sites may be blocked in Ireland, and that free access to the internet is under threat as a result of this law.

With the exception of Miriam Lord, who offered no opinion on the legality or wisdom of the SI but merely addressed what a polite boy Sean Sherlock is and how rude the internet is being to him, there appears to be little recent impetus moving the pro-SOPA camp’s agenda ahead in our national press.

It’s okay to feel a bit awkward about this. Meeting someone to tell them you are not giving them your vote is not an easy thing to do, which is why every single person who turns out is doing something spectacular. To make it a little easier, you can download the two page guide to What to Expect When Meeting Your TD. It’s just been updated with six ideas on things you might say to your Fine Gael and Labour TDs to explain why they and their parties have lost your support.

Remember that you are not there to debate your TD. No matter what he or she says, they can’t make you return your support to their party. Just walking in and letting them know they have lost your vote, you have already won.

Here are six things you may want to say to your TD:

• I want you to know that voters who email you are real people. Our voice and our votes count, and I am a real voter you have lost over SOPA Ireland.
• I watched Sean Sherlock on Tuesday night and I have never been so angry by the end of that charade. I can’t support any government that endorses that lack of regard for voters.
• Both jobs and rights are being put at risk by this SI. That’s why I signed the petition. When I seem to care more than my TDs, you lose my vote.
• I know you probably didn’t have any personal involvement with this law. But when I watch voters being treated like this, my vote is the only thing I have left to make myself heard.
• If the party is not prepared to listen to the legitimate concerns of more than 50,000 Irish voters, I don’t know who you think you represent.
• This is a bad law, when there is a better one available that meets the Government’s needs and sorts out my concerns. When Sean Sherlock turned his back on it at the end of the debate on Tuesday, this government permanently lost my support.

You don’t need to say all of them – any single point that communicates that your TD and his or her party has lost your support will do. And of course, you can say anything you like; these are just suggestions if you’re not quite sure how to go about it.

Additional resources

Some of us like to be over-prepared! If you want to go in feeling like you’ve crammed for your meeting, there are two more resources on hand for you:

1. The alternative SI put forth. You can leave a copy with your TD. That is the SI they should be lobbying for. (UPDATE: Several TDs constituents have met with have asked for a copy of this alternative. If you can print one to leave with your TD, it may be handy!)
2. The briefing document provided to TDs makes 10 straight-forward points about the perils of this legislation.

There are no words sufficient to describe how astonishing and inspiring 80,000 petition signers and 1,000 amazing pledge signers have been, and no thanks great enough.

Thank you so much for doing this.

And we have been ignored. The Minister ended his sham debate on Tuesday by petulantly saying that he wouldn’t make any changes to the SI and it was going to be signed anyway.

As voters, we only have one more card to play. It is to say to our Government TDs that if they treat us with contempt, we will not vote for them.

Our representatives have made clear that they do not accept that we are serious when we email them. So, it’s time to do something unprecedented, something even more amazing. It’s time for more than a thousand of us to go to our FG and Labour TDs, politely but firmly, and tell them in person that they have lost our votes over this.

It’s time to step offline. Because if our 80,000 signatures aren’t going to be listened to, we’d better start using our feet and our votes.

We need 1,100 people to pledge to visit their TDs on Saturday, 04 February. That’s 10 people visiting every Labour and every Fine Gael TD in Ireland. That’s 1,100 people telling these TDs that because of SOPA and Sean Sherlock, they have lost our votes. That’s 114 Labour and FG TDs applying the pressure of party politics to cover their seats, and it’s our last and best chance.

Here’s what you need to do:

• Go to the home page and pledge to visit your Fine Gale and Labour TDs
• Call  your local Fine Gael and Labour TDs constituency or Oireachtas offices to request a meeting with them for 5 minutes in person on Saturday, Feb 4th.
• Visit your TD for your scheduled meeting and tell them they have lost your vote because of SOPA Ireland. Here’s how to prepare!
• Use the hashtag #SOPApledge to Tweet or FB that you’ve taken part

Signing the pledge will sign you up for an informational email (you can unsubscribe instantly), and we’ll make sure every single person who pledges knows exactly who they need to see, has all the information they need for their appointment, and is ready for their TD visit.

Pledge Now To Save Your Friend the Internet

80,000 people “sat around a table” with Sean Sherlock and he:

• Ignored the voices of  51,363 Irish citizens and tens of thousand of concerned international observers
• Treated the Dáil, the parliamentary process and democratic representation with utter contempt
• Broke faith with Ireland’s voters, technology businesses, and damaged our international reputation.

Sean Sherlock’s vow to sign the current SI amounts to enacting legislation by Ministerial fiat, and the people who have voiced their views with over 80,000 signatures are right to be hopping mad. The fight must not stop here, because this battle is now about far more than copyright law in Ireland – it is about the fundamentals of representation in Ireland itself.

Pledge your name and your time to continue the fight.

stopSOPAireland.com is asking more than 1,000 Irish voters to visit their TDs this Saturday, 04 February, in a national NO SOPA Pledge Day. We will have more details on this citizens’ action campaign this afternoon, but in the mean time, you can visit the home page to pledge your intent to fight Sean Sherlock and Irish SOPA.

This is not over.

Get ready for tonight’s debate at 5:30 PM with SOPA Bingo: The Dáil Debate Game! You can watch this unprecedented event live on the Oireachtas website, and play along by downloading one of these bingo cards:

• SOPA Bingo Card #1
• SOPA Bingo Card #2
• SOPA Bingo Card #3
• SOPA Bingo Card #4

You can also create cards for as many players as you need with this handy SOPA Bingo generator from Abban Dunne.

Rules of Order:

1. The goal is to mark of a row of 5 either horizontally, vertically or on the diagonal. The middle square is a ‘free space’ already counted as marked.
2. Partial matches count, so ‘restate’ scores for ‘restatement’ and ‘intent’ scores for ‘intention’ etc.
3.  If the precise word ‘Pirates’ is heard, you are required to shout ‘Yarr!’
4. The official hashtag for this game is #SOPAbingo

This debate is an event that simply would not have happened without the 77,000 signatures, voices, support and actions of every single one of you. Thank you, and enjoy the debate the you made happen.

PS: Special thanks to Abban Dunne, Rachael Tierney and Damian Murphy for the bingo cards.

Today’s Supplementary doc lays out 11 new points not previously articulated and responsive to the current viewpoints being aired. The Primary document is a simple update of the original 10 points to account for the draft SI published Thursday. Each is a straight-forward 2 pages.

Fantastic things you can do with this document:

• If you are meeting with a TD, senator or staff member today, please put a printed copy in his or her hands.
• If your favourite senator or either of your TDs are active on Twitter or Facebook, please politely let them know, once, that this document is available for download with a link to this post.
• If you are able to print a copy and drop it into the constituency offices of your TDs, please take the time to do so. If they are in Dublin, their local office can fax a copy to them.

Less fantastic things to NOT do with this document:

• Please do not mass email it to TDs. We have already circulated this document via email to every TD and Senator! Deluging them with copies isn’t a good way to get them on-side.

Thank you for any efforts you can volunteer to get these points into the hands of the people who can make a difference today.

We do not need the Government in effect to be ordering ISPs to police the internet, which would be an infringement on net neutrality. We believe that they must produce a comprehensive framework on internet management which balances the rights of copyholders, the privacy of end users, and the need to maintain and protect a dynamic internet.

–30 January 2012 email from Micheál Martin

This support is down to the efforts of the thousands of people from all parties and no party who have signed the petition and contacted their TDs to voice their opposition to Ireland’s proposed SOPA legislation. This cross-party support is a resounding demonstration that the SOPA Ireland issues transcend politics, resting instead on basic and fundamental rights and liberties that impact all Irish citizens.

Click image for larger version

More data wrangling for your enjoyment, this time a look at what countries the more than 75,000 people to have signed the petition came from. This data is gathered from anonymised aggregate IP data, and shows  the country of origin of  72,331 people who signed up to 3:20 PM on Monday, January 30th.

An amazing 51,376 (71.02%) of signatures come from Ireland

Interestingly, the next four countries ranked by signature on this chart (US, UK, Australia and Canada) also represent the four highest concentrations of Irish citizens abroad. While we have no mechanism to determine what percentage of those signing from outside Ireland are Irish people working, living or travelling overseas, it’s a notable statistical corollary.

While by far the largest percentage came from Ireland, you’ve come to make your voices heard from a total of 127 countries so far – the list includes places as far flung as Argentina and Aruba, Kazakhstan and Kenya, Pakistan and Peru. This worldwide support has been critical in driving visibility and international coverage. Thank you, to everyone who has signed, wherever you are.

Notes: This statistical representation is based on 75,484  petition signatures as of 3:20 PM on Monday, 30 January. Of these, 95.82% (72,331) were country-specific IPs included in this data set. [View data on Google Docs]

PS: Thanks again to Katherine Nolan, official data wrangler.