June 5th, 2014: we will Reset the Net

Dear Fight for the Future member,

On Monday, Edward Snowden spoke to a crowd of thousands at SXSW, and it seriously felt like he was reading our minds.

“The NSA is setting fire to the future of the internet,” Snowden said, “and you guys are the firefighters.” He went on to issue a call to arms for the tech community, saying that “encryption works” as proven by the fact that the U.S. government still has no idea what documents he has provided to journalists (1).

We’ve been waiting for the right moment to tell you, and we can’t wait any longer. We have a plan to stamp out the NSA’s fire once and for all: on June 5th, 2014 – the anniversary of the first Snowden NSA story – we will Reset the Net, and take our privacy back.

It sounds impossible, but it’s not. Click here to watch the video and find out how we’re going to Reset the Net.

Just yesterday we learned in a shocking NY Times story that the FISA court had secretly approved widespread sharing of raw private data across the government (2). It’s a long article, and you should read it, but here’s the TL;DR: thanks to so-called “Fusion Centers” and secret laws, the local cops in your town have at their fingertips everything about you that the NSA has collected over the past 5 years. Without a warrant.

It gets worse. This morning we learned that the NSA is using automation to hack and gain control of  ‘millions’ of computers (3).

Governments have abused the Internet and twisted into something it was never intended to be. They’ve stolen our most private moments, and with them our most basic freedoms to communicate and be ourselves.

We can’t afford to wait while politicians debate. We have the power to fight mass surveillance right now. Are you in? Click here to help Reset the Net.

Everyone has been waiting for some resounding action that meets the problem of government spying head on. This is our moment to rally and realize our power. We don’t need anyone’s permission, but we need everyone’s participation. If you’re a developer, designer, or cryptographer and want to help, please reply to this email and get in touch.

More soon,
-Evan and Tiffiniy
Fight for the Future

SOURCES:
1) PC Magazine, “6 things Edward Snowden revealed at SXSW”
2) New York Times, How a Court Secretly Evolved, Extending U.S. Spies’ Reach
3) The Intercept, How the NSA plans to Infect ‘Millions’ of Computers with Malware