-- Everton Zanella Alvarenga Open Knowledge Brasil Watch out! The Brazilian Congress is trying to butcher the Brazilian Civil Rights Framework for the Internet! (Original version here https://gist.github.com/everton137/95bac99f2015ab9585b5) Civil society organizations part of the coalition pro Marco Civil ('Articulação Marco Civil Já!') repudiate parliamentary initiatives that threaten Internet users privacy and freedom of expression. Currently there are three different Bills under way in the House of Representatives that threaten one of the most important democratic gains of the last period - the approval of the Brazilian Civil Rights Framework for the Internet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Civil_Rights_Framework_for_the_Internet ('Marco Civil da Internet'), Law 12.965/2014. Marco Civil ensures fundamental rights to Internet users, such as privacy and freedom of expression and is in line with internationally accepted orientations and principles for Internet governance. Motivated by parliamentarians self-interest to restrain criticism from citizens and social movements backed by the right to freedom of expression in Internet, and supported by private and economic interests, these Bills were introduced in the House aimed to change Marco Civil. PL 215/2015 - a bill presented by Brazilian representative Hildo Rocha (PMDB), and its attachments - PL 1547/2015 authored by Expedito Netto, and PL 1589/2015 by Soraya Santos - seeks to include harsher punishments into articles 48 and 141 of Brazil's Criminal Code to inhibit social network users crimes. Furthermore, the bill changes provisions of MCI, modifying articles 10, 13, 15, 19 and adding article 21-A. These changes grant public authorities access to data from Internet users with no need of a court order, and mandatory removal of published online content after a simple allegation of crime against honor, which also impose individual and economic restriction penalties to internet providers deeply compromising the principles of non-accountability on the internet. User's data that authorities will be able to obtain without a warrant include all online communication - content from e-mails, online chat and conversations through messenger apps such as Skype and Whatsapp. In the seventh and last version of the substutive, the proposal also provides the extension of registrations data to be collected by Internet Providers, imposing the obligation to retain data such as full address, phone and social security number, wich can be passed on, without judicial order, to authorities that have the legal authority to make such a request. The Bill 215/2015 puts at risk the necessary balance between protecting the right to privacy and the criminal prosecution as well as democracy itself by allowing such abuses. Such proposals have already been rejected in the course of MCI. Incidentally, it is worth noting that the devices now present in the MCI were the result of a broad social debate and an intense political negotiation, which makes this one of the most democratic laws already voted in the recent history of Brazil’s National Congress. We believe that any change in MCI should be preceded by a qualified discussion, supported by technical considerations, political and social. It is needed, mostly, intense democratic participation equivalent to the process from which it originated, with a public consultation process, so that society interests can be represented regarding personal data protection and freedom of expression on the internet. We know that a very significant wing of the PMDB frontally opposed to the approval of MCI, representing conservatory and powerful economic interests agents. However, such interest can not override the safeguards established by the democratic legislative process and the public interest as so overly advocated in MCI's debate. The initiative of the mentioned representatives undermines the Rule of Law principles, in that it reveals itself as retaliation for established rights, even before the MCI being regulated, with the clear objective to reverse the victory that Brazilian society had in Congress. Therefore, entities gathered in coalition pro Internet Rights Law repudiate the artful maneuver and anti-democratic action carried forward by the PMDB, which stimulates the arbitrary vigilantism and unreasonable censorship, impairing the Rule of Law. We require that the representatives wait for the democratic process already established by the Executive and the bill of Personal Data Protection which will address the same issue, however, with broad participation. - Sign the petition at: avaaz.org/plespiao - See more: plespiao.org.br Organizations that support this letter - Actantes - Advogados Ativistas - Artigo 19 - ASL Associação Softwarelivre.org - Associação dos Blogueiros e Ativistas do Paraná - ParanáBlogs - Baixa Cultura (baixacultura.org) - Centro de Estudos de Mídia Alternativa Barão de Itararé - Centro de Estudos de Mídia Alternativa Baronesa de Itararé (Núcleo do Barão de Itararé no Paraná) - Cibercult UFRJ - Ciranda Internacional da Comunicação Compartilhada - Coletivo Digital - Coletivo Locomotiva Cultural - Coletivo Pedra no Sapato - Coletivo Soylocoporti - Coding Rights - FLISOL Brasil - Festival Latino-americano de Instalação de Software Livre - Fora do Eixo - Fórum Nacional pela Democratização da Comunicação (FNDC) - FotoLivre.org - Fundação Blogoosfero - Instituto Bem Estar Brasil - Instituto Beta Para Internet e Democracia (IBIDEM) - Instituto Brasileiro de Defesa do Consumidor (IDEC) - Instituto Brasileiro de Políticas Digitais - Mutirão - Intervozes – Coletivo Brasil de Comunicação Social - Labhacker - Laboratório de estudos sobre Internet e Cultura (LABIC/UFES) - Mídia Ninja - Movimento Mega - Open Knowledge Brasil - PROTESTE - Associação de Consumidores - Redelivre - Tie-Brasil - Transparência Hacker