[tt] Power Blogging Tips: The Grip Of Internet Censorship Is Tightening Worldwide

Thu Jan 15 10:42:45 PST 2009

The Grip Of Internet Censorship Is Tightening Worldwide
http://powerbloggingtips.blogspot.com/2009/01/grip-of-internet-censorship-is.html

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-internet-is-imminent--canada-will-be-test-case.html

#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-economic-slavery.html

#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-accusation-090105/
27. 
http://www.inquisitr.com/12909/great-firewall-of-australia-whats-not-mentioned-makes-it-even-more-scary/
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_thailand/4039/
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
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