The internet. Don't think for a millisecond...

[Triana]

...that the US Gov't isn't studying CHINA profusely to determine how they can censor and control the internet here just like they do there. The Chinese Gov't has hundreds of thousands of internet 'monitors' over there to censor and prevent/deny access to ANYTHING the Chinese gov't does not want their citizens to see. It's the same type stranglehold the US gov't has on the media here. The internet is next. China is their example and they are over there studying how it's done so they can implement it here. MARK MY WORDS.

Hopefully, before the bu$hit / Repuke fascists get their grubby tentacles around it, we can use it to get them out of office.

[plasticsundance]

1. Perhaps ... but

There would still be quite a bit of legal wrangling in the US. Any intrusion would unite both the right and the left, much as it did when the FCC tried to make it easier for MSM to monopolize even more.

[WillyT]

2. Hmmm... Where've I Heard That Before, LOL !!!

:bounce::hi::bounce:

[Triana]

10. I know...but

it's important enough (IMO) to warrant its own post. I know DUers are aware of this but it's worth bringing to the forefront once in a while to remind people what's at stake and that this precious medium we are enjoying is at risk so we can do whatever is possible to try and save it. It's all we got.

[WillyT]

12. I Agree... And Did So Below !!!

:yourock:

[Catma]

3. The Internet is serious business

[SpiralHawk]

5. The internets are "hard work"

Better take some more weeks off for R and R at the Imperial Pig Farm Upon Crawford.

[plasticsundance]

9. Love that picture.

Bush probably isn't on the Internet. He's just fascinated with the moving cursor. "Wow," he thinks. "What we'll they think of next?"

:rofl:

[Lone_Wolf]

19. kick

n/t

[aden_nak]

4. It starts with "Protecting Intellectual Property Rights".

Not because the two are related, but because that is the first real movement towards controlling what an individual user can do, as well as when and how often they can do it. It's also a movement not started by the government itself, so it looks like the will of, if not the people, then a lovable entertainment industry. It's a very small step from "We need to have distributor-driven media restrictions" to "We need to have government-driven media restrictions".

[eek]

7. How, pray tell, do we know when the Internets

are being snooped?
If the PA allows for secret peeks without permission based upon Their judgement...

[aden_nak]

16. You don't. So you just have to assume that they are.

Even in dungeons as deep and dark as the internet. The only real recourses are sheer media overload (the fact that everyone and their cat have websites at this point) and the utter stubborn determination of people who will defy even tiny steps in this direction simply to prove their internet prowess.

Sort of like a merging of Democratic Underground and Slashdot.

[BigBearJohn]

6. I think this is our last chance -- our we really are doomed.

[Triana]

8. I think so too...

...that's why I posted this (seperately). I had put it in another post as well.

This is IT. We HAVE TO keep the internet(s) free from gov't influence as much as possible - or we WILL end up like China. THE way to do that is to use it NOW to get them out of office so they can't mess with it.

A well-informed public is Enemy #1 to Republicans and the plutocracy (govt/big business).

[WillyT]

11. Exactly... This Is The Engine Of The Information Age, And Needs Protection

Government, hands off the Internet!

:kick:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

13. The Patriot Act already allows them to legally track email and all....

...other Internet communications to include board postings.

Think about this for a second...prior to 911, the NSA was responsible for tapping all telephone calls and faxes entering and leaving the country. Some agencies are also responsible for tapping all INTERNAL phone and fax communications.

How hard would it have been for these same groups to add the capability to almost immediately track emails and board traffic? But our agencies do most of the monitoring by machines using key-word scan that sound an alarm when certain words appear in the message/board traffic.

[morgan2]

14. the us government doesnt have to study it

The great firewall of china is designed and built by Cisco Systems.

[markbark]

15. One of the nifty things about transport protocols....

is that they interpret any blockages as an error and attempt to route around them.

That, coupled with the fact that most geeks have a notoriously libertarian bent, would seem to doom any serious attempt by the .gov to censor the internet.

(Unless they want to shut down all telecommunication lines)

Cheers!

--MAB

[Lone_Wolf]

17. Look into Freenet... It has tremendous potential to fight censorship

"Freenet is free software which lets you publish and obtain information on the Internet without fear of censorship. To achieve this freedom, the network is entirely decentralized and publishers and consumers of information are anonymous. Without anonymity there can never be true freedom of speech, and without decentralization the network will be vulnerable to attack."

http://freenetproject.org/

[walldude]

18. You know what

the only way they can put a stranglehold on the Net is to move to a police state. Arrest anyone not abiding by their rules. Other than that this administration is, and let me make this very clear, TOO FUCKING STUPID, to go up against the people with the skills to protect the internet....