The Grip Of Internet Censorship Is Tightening Worldwide http://powerbloggingtips.blogspot.com/2009/01/grip-of-internet-censorship-is... Governments around the world have gotten a taste for internet censorship and they like it. Through the use of mandatory filters and new "cybercrime laws", internet freedom is being crushed around the world like never before. *In February, New Zealand will implement Section 92 of their Copyright Amendment Act which allows the government [26]to immediately disconnect someone from the internet if they are even accused of illegal file sharing. *The new mandatory internet filter being imposed on the people of Australia is so restrictive that it is being called [27]"The Great Firewall of Australia". *In China, the new year [28]has brought a severe crackdown on websites and search engines that offer material that the Chinese government decides is "too vulgar" or "too subversive" for the Chinese people to see. *Internet activists in Thailand are getting increasingly upset by efforts of that government [29]to censor the internet in that country. *A new set of laws in India [30]is so brutal that it will allow a government official to break in to someone's home to check if they were surfing porn, and it will allow the government of India to block any website they want for any reason. The internet has truly been one of the greatest advances in communication in the history of the world. For the past few years, we all have experienced an era of unlimited, high speed internet with the freedom to say almost anything we have wanted to. It has been a golden age for the internet, but every golden age ends, and the golden age of the internet is now being crushed by repressive governments all over the globe. So will we see such restrictive measures in the United States soon? While such repressive measures as a mandatory filter have not been imposed yet, we have been seeing more limits and restrictions on internet usage. Many of these subtle restrictions are very quietly being put into place..... On November 1st, AT&T, the largest U.S. Internet provider, [31]began testing limits that would curb internet usage for customers whose video and music downloads are flooding their network. Are fundamental changes to our beloved internet on the horizon? Are we about to face increased restrictions regarding what we can say on the internet even in the U.S.? Unfortunately, the answer to all of these questions is very clearly yes, and the following are ten reasons why the golden age of the internet is ending: #1) Once one or two large internet providers get away with putting a cap on internet use all of the other providers will follow very quickly. [32]Now that Comcast has announced a hard cap on internet use, it is only a matter of time until more internet providers follow suit. #2) Bandwidth is very expensive. With the explosion of online gaming and the massive increase of internet users downloading video and music files, there has been a huge increase in the average bandwidth utilized by the average consumer. Bandwidth costs money, and those costs have to be passed on to the consumer somehow. #3) There has never been a greater information tool than the internet in the history of the world. The free flow of information that has resulted has given a lot of power to the people of the world. Many governments around the world, including the Western establishment, do not like this one bit. Increased censorship and other types of "internet reform" are being introduced in order to curtail our freedom of speech to a more acceptable level. #4) Greed. Every single day health insurance companies deny healthcare to sick people in the United States and they make billions of dollars doing it. Why? Because they can. Now that we have all become addicted to the internet do you think internet providers will not get greedy? The reality is that they already are getting greedy. #5) This is all part of the plan to transition us over to Internet 2, which will be much more heavily restricted and controlled: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet2 #6) Canada's new internet subscription model appeals to a lot of powerful interests. What some internet providers in Canada are getting ready to do is to provide internet service on a subscription model similar to how cable television service is provided. In other words, your "package" will include 400 or 500 of the top websites, and if you want more than that you will have to pay for it: http://realitycheck.typepad.com/commentary_news/2008/07/death-of-free-intern... #7) Up until now, the internet has largely avoided taxation. However, with governments increasingly looking at significant shortfalls, it is only a matter of time before some politicians look at the internet as a great source of tax revenue. #8) The world is heading for incredibly difficult economic times, and when the economy crashes you won't get anything "for free". If you doubt that the economy is headed for a crash then you really need to read this article: http://themoralcollapseofamerica.blogspot.com/2008/08/10-trillion-debt-means... #9) Giant media companies are sick and tired of giving away their media for free. Huge newspapers are going broke, movie companies are losing revenue, news organizations have lost control over the flow of information and the "small guy" is finding a way to carve out a bigger piece of the pie. Giant media organizations desperately want their power and control back. #10) Most people in modern society are sheep, and they will pay whatever someone tells them to pay, and they will passively accept whatever controls and restrictions are put on them without even a whimper. Hopefully this last point is wrong and more people will stand up and will have the backbone to fight for the future of the internet. References 26. http://torrentfreak.com/campaign-to-stop-file-sharers-being-guilty-upon-accu... 27. http://www.inquisitr.com/12909/great-firewall-of-australia-whats-not-mention... 28. http://www.moneymorning.com/2009/01/05/china-internet-censorship/ 29. http://www.upiasia.com/Human_Rights/2009/01/08/censorship_and_madness_in_tha... 30. http://www.countercurrents.org/karun020109.htm 31. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aoDISWH.TEak&refer=us 32. http://www.abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=5689480&page=1 _______________________________________________ tt mailing list tt@postbiota.org http://postbiota.org/mailman/listinfo/tt ----- End forwarded message ----- -- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org ______________________________________________________________ ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://www.ativel.com http://postbiota.org 8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A 7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE