Internet politics?

[MetalRenard]

This is a thread to discuss something I feel we all care about - freedom online.
We all know what SOPA was and how many people were up in arms about it. The same went for PIPA and ACTA.
Well it turns out the fight is never over as on 3rd December more decisions are being made about who controls the Internet.
The site: http://www.internetcoup.org/en/ (watch the video lower on the page too)
An interesting article about it: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/edit...5845.story

The Internet is a relatively new set of technologies and has yet to be fully understood or exploited, especially by a government in relation with its citizens. At the moment it is largely unregulated compared to traditional media such as TV and radio and I believe it should stay that way.

I recently had to write a 3000 word essay on freedom of speech for the end of my studies (in French so you probably wouldn't understand it) and a big part of it I feel is having the tools to be heard. Today, our tools are social media, and if a government or private entity is able to pick and choose who or what is heard (even more than they can now) then it negates our freedom. The changes that may take place next month will essentially be the same as what everyone fought in regards to SOPA and the other grand scale schemes to control online activity.

Feel free to share your opinion on the matter and take part in the fight if you feel it affects you too.
How would you feel if Save-Point itself showed signs to support the online movement such as a logo/link or even a black symbol to represent blackout days?

[kyonides]

There's something else that bothered me for a while, to see or to hear that some politicians in countries like Panama really believed that they should tax the internet... Really? Man, that sounds not just ridiculous but arrogant, like a way to cut the access to the internet to the poorest as if they actually needed to be less computer literate as they already are. The thing is that while countries like Mexico stopped discussing projects like these one, Panama approved it and Costa Rica is still considering as a viable option to collect more taxes. Come on! Don't the internet service providers make tax payments already? Why would they need to approve another baseless, needless, non-sensical tax to be unfairly imposed to its citizens?

[millarso]

The whole idea of limiting the internet is conceited on politicians' parts. I mean, look at the crackdown the The Pirate Bay that happened a while back. Not only are they up and running again, they have learned how to jump from server to server so that they can't be busted again.
Trying to limit the internet is a futile task in my opinion because there are always going to be hackers and internet enthusiasts smarter and more wily than the tech goons that the government would hire to control it.
And they wonder why people are clinging to the internet so intensely? It lets you releases ideas en masse that would never reach others' ears otherwise. You can't just post your thoughts in a newspaper or sell a bunch of DVDs of your own personal musings.
While it baffles me, the amount of stupid, stupid junk that people post on the internet, it is refreshing to know that I can use it to talk to people a continent away because they identify with something I like or believe in. The power of a free internet is an amazing thing and a terrifying one at the same time. Maybe that is why politicians want to limit it, but if they think that making our internet more like China's completely controlled internet system is a smart idea then they have another thing coming.
I say we wave the blackout banner proudly.

[KasperKalamity]

...
I say we wave the blackout banner proudly.

[Taylor]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20546302
I...

[MetalRenard]

Yes, I heard of this earlier... GAH!
Is this what we want for every FREE country? Because this is what will happen. It will either become just another way to control the masses, or only be allowed WHEN they choose.

Worst part is? I'm half Syrian and I have a grandmother, 3 uncles, 2 aunts and 16 cousins in Syria.

[millarso]

Heard this in Mass Communications class yesterday. Do they really think that we are ignorant enough not to realize the indecencies occurring in Syria without protesters and rebels posting footage of it? Very sad.
I know not too many guys on here are Christian or anything like that, so this might not mean much, Metal, but I'll keep your family in my prayers. I hope that doesn't come off as proud or stuck up.

[MetalRenard]

It doesn't sound pretentious at all, thank you for your concern.

[KasperKalamity]

something something something find out who controls you... something something something whoever you're not allowed to criticize.

[MetalRenard]

One too many drinks, eh buddy? :)