Russia adopts web blacklist despite outcry

11/07/2012

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We in the West are under threat from our governments, that is our Internet freedom is under threat. Canada, the USA, the UK and more have implemented some restrictions on our Internet privacy and they plan to take these restrictions further.

The reasons given tend to be to stop child pornography and terrorism. Both of these are used as examples as law abiding citizens will obviously oppose them. They are however used to intimidate and scare rather than telling the truth.

It is a fact that uprisings such as the Arab Spring involved people mobilised by way of Facebook and Twitter. In the Summer 2011 UK riots thugs used Blackberry phones in order to out fox the police.

Tightening laws regarding our Internet freedoms will have little impact on thugs, child pornographers and terrorists. They will simply find another way. Like a criminal hell bent on stealing an old Master from a gallery, where there is a will there is a way.

All that the proposed laws will do is alienate citizens, intrude on our freedom and privacy, open the door for corrupt officials to abuse the system and allow governments to believe they can then go one step further.

Today July 11, 2012, Russia followed the West. Russia's lower house of parliament yesterday  passed a censorship bill in its third and final reading, despite criticism of censorship from the country's most popular websites. Originally the Russian authorities only planned to censor information deemed  harmful. In common with other governments it has now changed its mind.

Yesterday the Russian Wikipedia website had a black out in protest. SOPA, the western stop online piracy act, caused fury in the West and it seems the Russian proposals are doing the same in that country.

Last night a government re-think led to a hard list of what will be censored under the new law. According to RT the list now includes, web pages which advocate suicide, substance abuse, excessively risky behaviour, and child pornography. There will be a black list of sites deemed unsuitable for children but ultimately this will limit the Internet freedom of the Russian people.

The Soviet Union used strict censorship and more to control its people. New Russia looks set to go the same way. There has already been an election this year which many claim was rigged.

The West has a crumbling economy with the prospect of even higher unemployment, more poverty, conflicts and a brutally damaged environment. Allowing people freedom or the means to mobilise in such dire circumstances will not be desirable, will it?

Read More Here 
http://www.rt.com/news/wikipedia-yandex-censorship-bill-936/http://questgarden.com/51/61/3/070519135841/process.htm 

Tags: Russian Internet snooping, Russian Internet censorship, internet privacy, SOPA, western Internet snooping

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US: House Judiciary Committee postpones SOPA

20/01/2012

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If you use the Internet you must have seen the initials SOPA bandied about. It refers to the US Stop Online Piracy Act. Many in the media industry had lobbied officials about the lost revenue online piracy costs the industry. Whilst media moguls still make mega bucks, in time this piracy could put an end to huge parts of the industry.

This week sites like Wikipedia held a 24 hour black-out in protest against the proposed online piracy act. This is because, in simplistic terms the act may seem fair, but it could have a far reaching damaging effect on the world-wide-web. The Internet has been bombarded with complaints about SOPA and its potentially negative effects. Finally the protests have been heard and SOPA has been postponed.

An announcement by U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) stated that the government "will postpone consideration of the legislation until there is wider agreement on a solution." He went on to say, "It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products."

This happens to many countries around the world though and it is fair to say governments will have to decide how they will tackle such issues. The Internet is a powerful tool which will suffer if regulated too tightly. SOPA is not a good move forward though. It should be a case of back to the drawing board whilst politicians work out a sensible plan.

As the proposals stand they would be far too restrictive and so self defeating. In the GOP debate of Thursday January 20, 2012, the remaining four candidates tried their best to alienate themselves from the online piracy issues. They will not want to jeopardise their GOP campaigns. None of them though promised that if they were returned to office they would not instigate such an Act.

Perhaps today's postponement is more down to the 2012 election than much else. Both sides will be aiming to secure the support of the biggest majority of the population. They need to remember the old adage thabout not beig able to please everyone though. Sometimes in trying to do so you actually please no-one.

The good news for now though is that SOPA and PIPA have been postponed indefintely. It is expected that some form of legislation will sooner or later be implemented but perhaps now it will be something that is acceptable to all. For now it is a victory for the Internet and its many users.
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