You suggested them now it’s time to place your votes. Here are just a few of the nominees:

• Dunja Mijatovic – campaigner for free speech online as a representative of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
• Marietje Schaake – Dutch MEP and leading campaigner for internet freedom, in particular in relation to ACTA in Europe
• Pamela Jones – founder of the Groklaw website, which started as a legal blog covering news for the free and open source software community
• Phil Zimmerman – creator of email encryption software Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), which he made publicly available
• Rebecca Mackinnon – co-founder of GlobalVoicesOnline, internet freedom advocate and author of Consent of the Networked

Head over to the Guardian to vote.

(Source: )

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Over seven days The Guardian is taking stock of the new battlegrounds for the internet. From states stifling dissent to the new cyberwar front line, we look at the challenges facing the dream of an open internet

Day two: the militarisation of cyberspace
Internet attacks on sovereign targets are no longer a fear for the future, but a daily threat. We ask: will the next big war be fought online?

Day three: the new walled gardens
For many, the internet is now essentially Facebook. Others find much of their online experience is mediated by Apple or Amazon. Why are the walls going up around the web garden, and does it matter?

Day four: IP wars
Intellectual property, from copyrights to patents, have been an internet battlefield from the start. We look at what Sopa, Pipa and Acta really mean, and explain how this battle is not over. Plus, Clay Shirky will be discussing the issues in a live Q&A

Day five: ‘civilising’ the web
In the UK, the ancient law of defamation is increasingly looking obsolete in the Twitter era. Meanwhile, in France, President Sarkozy believes the state can tame the web

Day six: the open resistance
Meet the activists and entrepreneurs who are working to keep the internet open

Day seven: the end of privacy
Hundreds of websites know vast amounts about their users’ behaviour, personal lives and connections with each other. Find out who knows what about you, and what they use the information for

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One reason for the heightened attention being paid to Acta is the recent derailing of the Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa) and the Protect IP Act (Pipa) in the US. These bills were, in many ways, more dangerous than Acta – Sopa wanted to alter the DNS, the core of the internet – but the spirit is the same. After winning a round against the US bills, citizens and activists are raring to take on a new challenge. David Meyer writes for Comment is Free on Acta (the anti-counterfeiting trade agreement)

(Source: )

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