[LINK] We the People .. and SOPA

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

We the People

<https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/how-why/introduction>

The right to petition your (US) government is guaranteed by the First 
Amendment of the United States Constitution. 

"We the People" provides a new way to petition the Obama Administration 
to take action on a range of important issues facing our country. 

We created We the People because we want to hear from you ..

(One example): 

"We petition the obama administration to: VETO the SOPA bill and any 
other future bills that threaten to diminish the free flow of information.
It would be ridiculous for an ISP to block the entire whitehouse.gov 
domain on court order because a single user posted a link. It is 
difficult for any web administrator to know which links to copyrighted 
material are done with permission. This will kill the free flow of 
information and conversation on the internet. SOPA is too blunt. Please 
veto." Total signatures on this petition: 47,681
<https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/petition/veto-sopa-bill-and-any-
other-future-bills-threaten-diminish-free-flow-information/g3W1BscR

We the People Frequently Asked Questions

What is the purpose of We the People? We the People is a new, easy way 
for Americans to make their voice heard in our government. It is a 
platform on the White House website where individuals can create and sign 
petitions that call for action by the federal government on a range of 
issues facing our nation. If a petition gathers enough signatures, it 
will be reviewed by White House staff and receive an official response. 
We the People helps the White House understand the views of the American 
people and have a focused and civil conversation with them.

How does We the People work? Anyone 13 or older can create or sign an 
online petition seeking a federal government action on a range of issues. 
Then it’s up to the petition creator and signers to build support for the 
petition by gathering more signatures.

There are two critical thresholds for We the People. First, a minimum 
number of signatures is necessary for the petition to be publicly listed 
on We the People and searchable. Second, a minimum number of signatures 
is necessary in a given amount of time in order for the petition to be 
reviewed by the White House, distributed to the appropriate policy 
officials within the Administration and receive an official response. 
This response will be posted and linked to the petition on 
WhiteHouse.gov, as well as emailed to all of the petition signers. 
Petitions that do not cross this threshold in the given timeframe will be 
removed from the site.

You can always view the current signature thresholds on the Terms of 
Participation page.

Who can participate in the We the People platform? Anyone 13 or older can 
create or sign a petition on WhiteHouse.gov. In order to participate in 
the We the People platform on WhiteHouse.gov, users must create a 
WhiteHouse.gov account and verify their email address. 

How will the White House decide which petitions to respond to? The White 
House plans to respond to each petition that crosses the signature 
threshold, which you can view on the Terms of Participation page. In a 
few rare cases (such as specific procurement, law enforcement, or 
adjudicatory matters), the White House response might not address the 
facts of a particular matter to avoid exercising improper influence. In 
addition, the White House will not respond to petitions that violate We 
the People’s Terms of Participation. In some cases, a single response may 
be used for similar petitions.

Will the White House ever change the threshold for petitions responses?
Yes, the threshold will change. This is the first time the White House 
has attempted a project like this. As more people use this tool to tell 
the White House about the issues that matter to them, we may find that we 
need to adjust the signature thresholds for petitions to appear publicly 
on the site or for petitions to receive a response from the White House. 
New signature thresholds will only be applied to petitions created after 
the changes are made.

You can always view the current signature thresholds on the Terms of 
Participation page.

What happens to a petition if it doesn’t reach the petition signature 
thresholds? Petitions that do not reach the threshold for official 
response will be removed from site. 

Will the site be moderated? Yes. For more information, please see our 
Moderation Policy.

Will petitions ever be removed from the We the People platform? 
Consistent with the Moderation Policy, petitions that are determined to 
violate the Terms of Participation will be removed from the site. Users 
who have a petition removed are welcome to create a new petition that 
complies with the Terms of Participation. Petitions will only be removed 
under the Moderation Policy — no petition will be removed because of the 
viewpoint it expresses.


Will the President respond to petitions posted on We the People? Petition 
responses will come from a variety of Administration officials, including 
staff at the White House. From time to time President Obama may respond 
directly to petitions, but we expect most of responses to come from other 
Administration officials.

How long will it take for the White House to respond? We will do our best 
to respond to petitions that cross the signature threshold in a timely 
fashion, however, depending on the topic and the overall volume of 
petitions from We the People, responses may be delayed. 


Is We the People the only way I can submit a petition to or contact the 
White House? No. We the People does not displace previous options for 
people to contact or petition the White House. If you prefer not to use 
this tool, there are plenty of other ways you can contact the White 
House. Learn more at www.whitehouse.gov/contact. 

If a petition isn’t searchable until it reaches the first threshold, how 
will people know about it?When a petition is first created, only the 
petition creator will have the URL of the petition. It’s up to the 
petition creator to share the petition (and URL) with others who care 
about the issue to build support and gather more signatures. Once a 
petition gathers the minimum number of signatures, it will be searchable 
on the We the People platform. 

You can always view the current signature thresholds on the Terms of 
Participation page.

Who will review petitions that cross the signature threshold? The White 
House will convene a regular meeting with representatives from all of the 
major policy offices (like the National Economic Council, Domestic Policy 
Council and others) that will review petitions that have crossed the 
signature threshold for a response. This group will help determine which 
policy office in the White House or federal agency should review and 
respond to petitions and ensure that petition responses are posted as 
quickly as possible. 

How will the White House handle duplicate petitions on the same topic? 
During the petition creation process, the system will identify 
potentially similar petitions for the petition creator and encourage the 
petition creator to sign an existing petition rather than create a new 
one. Creating duplicate petitions in the system decreases the likelihood 
that a petition will receive a response from the White House. While the 
White House will not combine similar petitions, one response may be 
applied to multiple petitions on the same topic. 

Can I search for petitions on issues I care about? Yes. In the “Open 
Petitions” section of the site, visitors can filter petitions by issue or 
by search for petitions using keywords. Users may also filter petitions 
to see the most popular or trending petitions in a given category. Only 
those petitions above the minimum number of signatures will show up under 
these filters.

You can always view the current signature thresholds on the Terms of 
Participation page.
...

Cheers,
Stephen