Slashdot Mirror
Geography, Laws, and the Internet
Sara Chan writes: "This week's edition of The Economist has the cover story and lead editorial devoted to how geography affects the Internet after all. The whole of China is basically firewalled. In France, Yahoo! is appealing the court ruling that banned its selling Nazi memorabilia. In Iran, ISPs are required to block immoral sites. Each country wants to impose its own laws on others, of course without reciprocation. The editorial concludes thus: "The likely outcome is that, like shipping and aviation, the Internet will be subject to a patchwork of overlapping regulations, with local laws that respect local sensibilities, supplemented by higher-level rules governing cross-border transactions and international standards." Not all new, but worth pondering."
If the internet is without restrictions there will be plenty if web sites that will promote illegal actions like kiddy-porn.
I think we need some restrictions at the net. But where do we set these? What kind of sites should be banned from the net? If we use filters we will filter out some useful sites like information about incest, etc...
And if we choose to put a lot of restrictions on the net, whom shall we punish? Will the ISP's be responsible for their users? Will you be responsible for friends using your computer?
If it's wet, Drink it!
"the idea that the Internet liberates you from geography is a myth".
This part of the article will be a non issue once satallite internet takes off in a few years.
-Im standing next to a mountain,
Chop it down with the edge of my hand -Jimi Hendrix