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USA Pushing Legislation To Censor The Internet

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If one were to be asked who would want to regulate the Internet, China, Iran or USA, China would be on the tip of the tongue for sure. Recently President Obama in the wake of the China/Google incident called for countries to stop* censoring the Internet. Read the latest:

A new bill being debated this week would have the Attorney General create an Internet blacklist of sites that US Internet providers would be required to block –

Read more about the bill: COICA Fact Sheet

 

Last month Google was convicted of defaming a French computer user after the Internet technology giant linked his name to the word “rapist” in automatic web searches. Usually a cool feature only this time Google got it wrong. Even if Google wins on appeal what is evident is that big foot moves are taking place to regulate the Internet.

BU has always shown a keen interest in matters to do with how the Internet is being regulated. Bear in mind freedom of speech which is facilitated by BU is riding a changing tide.

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17 responses to “USA Pushing Legislation To Censor The Internet”

  1. kiki Avatar
    kiki

    ɯǝɥʇ ןoɹʇuoɔ uoןʎqɐq
    ɯǝɥʇ uʍo ɯǝʇsʎs ǝɥʇ

  2. Green Monkey Avatar
    Green Monkey

    Microsoft Proposes Government Licensing Internet Access

    During this year’s Economic Summit in Davos, Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer for Microsoft, said that the Internet needed to be policed by means of introducing licenses similar to drivers licenses – in other words government permission to use the web.

    “We need a kind of World Health Organization for the Internet,” he said, mirroring Charney’s rhetoric about controlling cyberspace in a public health context.

    “If you want to drive a car you have to have a license to say that you are capable of driving a car, the car has to pass a test to say it is fit to drive and you have to have insurance.”

    “Don’t be surprised if it becomes reality in the near future,” wrote ZD Net’s Doug Hanchard on the introduction of Internet licensing . “Every device connected to the Internet will have a permanent license plate and without it, the network won’t allow you to log in.”

    Just days after Mundie’s call for Internet licensing, Time Magazine jumped on the bandwagon, publishing an article by Barbara Kiviat, one of Mundie’s fellow attendees at the elitist confab, in which she wrote that the Internet was too lawless and needed “the people in charge” to start policing it with licensing measures.

    Shortly after Time Magazine started peddling the proposal, the New York Times soon followed suit with a blog entitled Driver’s Licenses for the Internet?, which merely parroted Kiviat’s talking points.

    Of course there’s a very good reason for Time Magazine and the New York Times to be pushing for measures that would undoubtedly lead to a chilling effect on free speech which would in turn eviscerate the blogosphere.

    Like the rest of the mainstream print dinosaurs, physical sales of Time Magazine have been plummeting, partly as a result of more people getting their news for free on the web from independent sources. Ad sales for the New York Times sunk by no less than 28 per cent last year with subscriptions and street sales also falling.

    As we have documented, the entire cybersecurity agenda is couched in fearsome rhetoric about virus attacks, but its ultimate goal is to hand the Obama administration similar powers over the Internet to those enjoyed by Communist China, which are routinely exercised not for genuine security concerns, but to oppress political adversaries, locate dissidents, and crush free speech.

    Indeed, Internet licensing was considered by the Chinese last year and rejected for being too authoritarian, concerns apparently not shared by Microsoft.

    http://www.infowars.com/microsoft-proposes-government-licensing-internet-access/

  3. kiki Avatar
    kiki

    America is pissed that 9/11 Conspiracy theories are out in the public domain when they kept trying to bury them and remove links more cropped up. Nearly all conspiracy theories have one thing in common, it was the CIA.

  4. A.D. Avatar
    A.D.

    Knowledge is power. Those who can control the internet with its vast amounts of information and knowledge will have vast power. Hence the push against net neutrality.

  5. David Avatar
    David

    It will be interesting to see how this matter develops. The techies must be licking their chops as they plan back door moves.

  6. Terence M. Blackett Avatar
    Terence M. Blackett

    Good Mornin’ ALL* –

    OFF TOPIC MOMENT…

    Withal the “hoopla” going on in the US… This is a nice sting in the tail…

    “Campbell Halal-Certified Products “…

    http://www.campbellsoup.ca/en/products/health.asp?label=halal

    There’s a FACEBOOK* Campaign of at least 2000 persons so far asking for a boycott of Campbell’s…

    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-Campbell-Soup/131754940208808?v=wall

    WE ARE LIVING IN INTERESTING TIMES!!!

  7. Terence M. Blackett Avatar
    Terence M. Blackett

    David @ BU

    If these “freedom-deniers” succeed in stifling FOS – I guess BU will be amongst the 1st in court challenging any statute which will infringe on our rites to express a personal opinion!!!

  8. Amused Avatar
    Amused

    I have had a very cursory look at the proposed legislation. I do not see any threat to the blogs per se or, indeed, any threats to the blogs or to freedom of speech, except when intellectual property and the dissemination and distribution of same, is involved. Really, all this legislation does is protects intellectual property rights.

    The danger that some are suggesting is that it may be expanded in terms of defamation and to limit freedom of speech. Given the very public comments by Secretary of State Clinton (previously publicized by BU) I cannot see how this is on the agenda at this time and I see no indication of that intent in the legislation. Also, it would hardly serve the agenda of the USA on a worldwide basis to limit freedom of speech.

    Since in matters of copyright, most countries are signatories to the Berne Conventions, the proposed legislation is relatively simple to formulate and have accepted worldwide, or even to have the Conventions themselves amended.

    However, defamation and freedom of speech is very different, with each country having differing laws. I don’t see that addressed here.

    BU has previously suggested guidelines to guard against defamation and giving rise to any actions for defamation. I believe that these are sound. I am sure that David will be updating them from time to time as changes occur.

  9. David Avatar
    David

    @Amused

    Thanks for taking the time to peruse the legislation. The Internet is a moving target as far as the rules of the game is concerned. With your help and the other BU eagles we will try to keep pace and pass on information to the BU family.

  10. A-Fish Avatar
    A-Fish

    Well the Proposed Internet Censorship didn’t do well at all for Australia and it’s people at the time during 2006-07.

  11. Green Monkey Avatar
    Green Monkey

    America is pissed that 9/11 Conspiracy theories are out in the public domain when they kept trying to bury them and remove links more cropped up. Nearly all conspiracy theories have one thing in common, it was the CIA.

    Or the CIA in cooperation with the Mossad. It is a fact that the only people arrested in NY on 9/11 for suspicious activity were employees of a Mossad front company, Urban Moving Systems, whose purported owner took off back to Israel post haste after 9/11. The five Israel employees arrested on 9/11 were reported by suspicious New Yorker’s who had seen them filming and apparently celebrating the attacks on the twin towers by dancing around, high fiving each other and one was reported to have been holding up a lighter and “flicking his bic” in front of the burning towers like people do at a rock concert. In other words, they seemed to be having a little “Mission Accomplished” celebration of their own. The US based Jewish Magazine, The Forward said that at least two of the five arrested were later confirmed by the FBI to be Mossad agents. After a few initial news reports in the mainstream media of the arrests, the story was dropped and no more was heard about it. You might say the mainstream media thought it best to “observe the passover” on this one.

    Two of the five arrestees, after they were, quietly released by the US authorities to return to Israel, appeared on an Israeli talk show and said their purpose in filming the attacks on the WTC towers had been to “document the event.” The question of course then becomes, how did they know in advance their would be an event to document. A NY Times report indicated they were in place to film the first attack. So it is not like they heard on the news of the attack, or saw the first plane hit and then rushed over with their video equipment to start filming, and then overcome, with joy that the USA now knew what it was like to be a victim of terrorism too, started high fiving and celebrating.

    If Israel is the most valuable US ally in the Middle East, if not the world, as US politicians seeking to appeal to AIPAC and the Jewish lobby frequently proclaim, it is strange they the US was not alerted beforehand to the precise details of the plot if the Mossad knew enough to have agents in place at the correct time and location to film the event. It is on the record that Israel and many other countries had warned the USA for months prior to 9/11 that their intelligence services were aware that major league terrorist attacks on the US were in the planning stages, but that the Israelis were in place to film the attacks as they occurred seems to indicate they had more advanced knowledge of the details of the plot than has ever been let on. Maybe they did pass on these details to the US authorities who chose, for whatever reason, to ignore the warnings, and the Israelis said in effect, “well if they ain’t going to do anything about it, lets send our guys over to capture it on video for the record.”

    More details and links at:
    http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/fiveisraelis.html

  12. Terence M. Blackett Avatar
    Terence M. Blackett

    David @ BU

    OFF TOPIC Again…

    You may be interested in seeing Sanchez’s retort to his embattled position on ABC with George S…

    Again, when you have to genuflect to the MEDIA* because of social status, jobs and livelihoods – must be a damnable position to be in…

    http://blogs.abcnews.com/george/2010/10/rick-sanchez-on-gma-jon-stewart-classiest-guy-in-the-world-i-screwed-up.html#tp

  13. Zoe Avatar
    Zoe

    This subtle attempt to control the Internet by Licensing, censorship, ‘Free Speech’ no matter how couched the legal side of it appears to be framed re ‘Intellectual Property’ is another plan of the ‘New World’ Order elite, to control everything, especially the Judeo/Christian Worldview, which IS the primary exponent in exposing this EVIL ploy, of which Obama et al are just puppets!

  14. David Avatar
    David

    Off topic

    Latest CNN Poll gives George W a narrow lead over Obama when asked – Was Bush better president than Obama?

    What are we missing here folks?

  15. Christopher Halsall Avatar
    Christopher Halsall

    @David: “What are we missing here folks?

    The fact that this was an unscientific poll.

    CNN is “right of center”. Thus their results will show this bias, based on their samples.

    This result is actually really good news for the “left”, when taking into account the bias.

  16. kiki Avatar
    kiki

    Felt we felt the strain
    Rasta took the blame
    That was handed to 1,000 generation
    4,300 years before Christ
    …
    Never change me
    Never change me

  17. Green Monkey Avatar
    Green Monkey

    Obama confidant’s spine-chilling proposal
    By Glenn Greenwald (Salon.com)

    Cass Sunstein has long been one of Barack Obama’s closest confidants. Often mentioned as a likely Obama nominee to the Supreme Court, Sunstein is currently Obama’s head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs where, among other things, he is responsible for “overseeing policies relating to privacy, information quality, and statistical programs.” In 2008, while at Harvard Law School, Sunstein co-wrote a truly pernicious paper proposing that the U.S. Government employ teams of covert agents and pseudo-“independent” advocates to “cognitively infiltrate” online groups and websites — as well as other activist groups — which advocate views that Sunstein deems “false conspiracy theories” about the Government. This would be designed to increase citizens’ faith in government officials and undermine the credibility of conspiracists. The paper’s abstract can be read, and the full paper downloaded, here.

    Sunstein advocates that the Government’s stealth infiltration should be accomplished by sending covert agents into “chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups.” He also proposes that the Government make secret payments to so-called “independent” credible voices to bolster the Government’s messaging (on the ground that those who don’t believe government sources will be more inclined to listen to those who appear independent while secretly acting on behalf of the Government). This program would target those advocating false “conspiracy theories,” which they define to mean: “an attempt to explain an event or practice by reference to the machinations of powerful people, who have also managed to conceal their role.” Sunstein’s 2008 paper was flagged by this blogger, and then amplified in an excellent report by Raw Story’s Daniel Tencer.

    There’s no evidence that the Obama administration has actually implemented a program exactly of the type advocated by Sunstein, though in light of this paper and the fact that Sunstein’s position would include exactly such policies, that question certainly ought to be asked. Regardless, Sunstein’s closeness to the President, as well as the highly influential position he occupies, merits an examination of the mentality behind what he wrote. This isn’t an instance where some government official wrote a bizarre paper in college 30 years ago about matters unrelated to his official powers; this was written 18 months ago, at a time when the ascendancy of Sunstein’s close friend to the Presidency looked likely, in exactly the area he now oversees. Additionally, the government-controlled messaging that Sunstein desires has been a prominent feature of U.S. Government actions over the last decade, including in some recently revealed practices of the current administration, and the mindset in which it is grounded explains a great deal about our political class. All of that makes Sunstein’s paper worth examining in greater detail.

    SNIP

    What is most odious and revealing about Sunstein’s worldview is his condescending, self-loving belief that “false conspiracy theories” are largely the province of fringe, ignorant Internet masses and the Muslim world. That, he claims, is where these conspiracy theories thrive most vibrantly, and he focuses on various 9/11 theories — both domestically and in Muslim countries — as his prime example.

    It’s certainly true that one can easily find irrational conspiracy theories in those venues, but some of the most destructive “false conspiracy theories” have emanated from the very entity Sunstein wants to endow with covert propaganda power: namely, the U.S. Government itself, along with its elite media defenders. Moreover, “crazy conspiracy theorist” has long been the favorite epithet of those same parties to discredit people trying to expose elite wrongdoing and corruption.

    Who is it who relentlessly spread “false conspiracy theories” of Saddam-engineered anthrax attacks and Iraq-created mushroom clouds and a Ba’athist/Al-Qaeda alliance — the most destructive conspiracy theories of the last generation? And who is it who demonized as “conspiracy-mongers” people who warned that the U.S. Government was illegally spying on its citizens, systematically torturing people, attempting to establish permanent bases in the Middle East, or engineering massive bailout plans to transfer extreme wealth to the industries which own the Government? The most chronic and dangerous purveyors of “conspiracy theory” games are the very people Sunstein thinks should be empowered to control our political debates through deceit and government resources: namely, the Government itself and the Enlightened Elite like him.

    It is this history of government deceit and wrongdoing that renders Sunstein’s desire to use covert propaganda to “undermine” anti-government speech so repugnant. The reason conspiracy theories resonate so much is precisely that people have learned — rationally — to distrust government actions and statements. Sunstein’s proposed covert propaganda scheme is a perfect illustration of why that is. In other words, people don’t trust the Government and “conspiracy theories” are so pervasive precisely because government is typically filled with people like Cass Sunstein, who think that systematic deceit and government-sponsored manipulation are justified by their own Goodness and Superior Wisdom.

    http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/01/15/sunstein/

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