Media reform activists have drawn a line in the sand. Net Neutrality must be defended at all costs. Preserving a viable, independent, free and open Internet (and the media overall) is essential to a functioning democracy, but the forces aligned against it are formidable, daunting, relentless, and reprehensible. Some past challenges suggest future ones ahead. FULL ARTICLE
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5 comments ↓
Sometimes I think they do stuff like this to send a little fear in people – to remind us “we’ll be watching” with the goal of chilling free speech.
The internet is such a powerful tool, I doubt that government will rest easily until they get their grimy little fingers in it.
Crystal. It’s coming unless the public is extremely vigilant. And change is not necessarily good. Ther are two types of change:
1) Change for the better
2) Change for the worse.
I had hoped for change for the better with Obama, but the jury is still out and the evidence seems to suggest more of the same old Bush criminal activity.
To prevent censorship and spying while on the net.. use encryption, signing and decentralized networks.
Example, chat using encrypted means (check out pidgin and pidgin-encryption). If you blog, sign all blog posts with a key and make the public key very public. It can be used to verify posts are indeed from one person and haven’t been tampered with. Also the use of decentralized networks (i2p and tor come to mind as well as gnutella) could be useful in spreading potentially censored material. Yes I know I don’t currently sign my blog posts.
Whenever using decentralized networks to spread info, signing the info is a good idea.
Another good, telling, article, Steve! Thank you.
We are living in increasingly Orwellian times.
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
The congress has already “invented” thoughtcrime and has been enhancing the definition ever since. Remember how Winston Smith lived in “Oceania.” Surveillance everywhere including your home. An absolute need to censor your every word, watch your expression at all times. Never trust anybody, for anyone could be a member of the “thought police.” People were brought up from childhood to spy on others and report anything suspicious even in their own parents.
Times were hard, shortages were growing, but part of Winston’s job at the Ministry of Truth was to correct the “errors” that crept into official notices. If a ration was cut from two ounces per week to one, then the official record had to show that it had been increased from, say, one half ounce to an ounce. Questioning that was a thoughtcrime.
Now, here we are in the Obamanation, under steadily increasing surveillance and goebbelian big lie propaganda being told that good times are here and prosperity is just around the corner, as millions are made homeless and the banksters get yet more trillions.
I’ve taken it for granted that every word I write, every phone call I make and every e-mail I send off is recorded by the government, ever since I was urging an end to the cold war, the elimination of nuclear weapons and an end to the Vietnam war in the 60’s.
Obviously, I am not effective, for if I were, I’d have probably been hit by a big truck while crossing an intersection.
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