Critics say that the collective interwebz can never again generate as much political pressure as it did in the days leading up to the SOPA/PIPA votes.

Posted 07/19/2012 | by Brad Chacos



A new organization scoffs at the idea and promises to sound a warning alarm whenever the open Internet is threatened. The idea behind The Internet Defense League sounds lofty, but the group already has many of the major forces behind the blackout on board and ready to spring to action.

The idea is simple: websites that sign up to join the Internet Defense League will be sent a snippet of code to publish whenever a new threat endangers the Internet. If the website owner decides to publish the code, the warning message is broadcast on his or her website. Done!

"Think of it like the internet's Emergency Broadcast System, or its bat signal!" the IDL's website proudly proclaims. In fact, the group plans on shining bright bat signal-esque spotlights in the sky in five cities across the globe Thursday night to celebrate the organization's launch -- a move timed to coincide with the release of the new Batman movie. Of course, since this is the Internet we're talking about, the IDL will be lighting up the sky with CAT signals, not bat signals.

The EFF, Wordpress, Mozilla, Reddit, the Cheezburger Network, AccessNow, TechDirt, Grooveshark, Fark, Tor, Free Press, TorrentFreak, Public Knowledge, Open Congress, BoingBoing and plenty more are already on board, so the IDL ideal already has a wide reach. You can read the full list of participants here.

The only thing left to see is the effectiveness of the Internet Defense League. Will they save the warning call for truly important legislation or deaden Netizens' caring with daily "Boy who cried wolf"-type alerts? Do you think the IDF will be effective -- or even needed?