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After Columbine, Eric Holder Advocated Internet "Restrictions"
ErikTheRed writes "In an audio clip discovered by NewsBusters, then-Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder advocated federal censorship of the Internet. This was in the aftermath of the Columbine High School shootings. From the clip: 'The court has really struck down every government effort to try to regulate it. We tried with regard to pornography. It is gonna be a difficult thing, but it seems to me that if we can come up with reasonable restrictions, reasonable regulations in how people interact on the Internet, that is something that the Supreme Court and the courts ought to favorably look at.'" Holder is reported to be Barack Obama's choice for Attorney General of the United States.
Once again, who deemed the internet to be appropriate for children?
On the Oregon Cost born and raised, On the beach is where I spent most of my days
I guess this is what they mean by "Change you can believe in."
What part of "shall not be infringed" is so hard to understand?
Obama, do not appoint this man!!
I can't think of any feasible government restrictions that would also be reasonable.
People will believe any promise pandered to them during a campaign. Daschle, Clinton, and now Holder? Change, indeed.
The internet is just a way for people to talk to each other. If you censor "the internet", it is the same as censoring what you can speak to another person. We have this whole thing called the 1st amendment that protects that.
If a parent doesnt want their child on the internet, they shouldn't allow them on it. Case by case. It is the same reason why you don't bring your kid with you to a sex shop. The material should be allowed to be there, and the parents should choose whether it is appropriate for their child or not.
There is no such thing as "reasonable" censoring.
Yet another case proving that as soon as children enter the decision making process, rationality goes out the window.
Is it not possible that he was just reacting out of a still far too fresh sense of the horror of those events?
People say all sorts of things after distressing events that they wouldn't say normally, or believe in the long term.
A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
This was being held over heads for years as net hostile yahoos like Biden and Lieberman worked on the Communications Decency Act which got stuck down in the courts, then by the Supremes.
Early drafts of this act would make an ISP and all its employees go to prison if someone typed a swear word, and it went through their routers to another destination.
Later drafts would still make it a Federal felony to have anything "indecent" on the tubes.
This passed the House and Senate, Clinton signed it into law... and before it took effect, the courts stuck it down.
What Clinton did get passed was the DMCA.
Looks like Obama's administration will be just as net hostile if not worse. Expect "trusted" chips in all computers/devices and forcible positive identification everywhere.
The RIAA will score, repressive governments who love monitoring their citizens will score, game companies will score, even criminal organizations will score... the honest law abiding citizen gets nothing except increased criminal penalties, more in your face DRM, and no anonymity.
Holder is in favor of censorship, massive gun control, a drug war hawk... and you *ahem* hoped for change from Obama. How is this any different than Gonzalez, Ashcroft or Reno, except maybe a squeamishness about torture?
Go ahead, moderate me down, but you know I'm right. For anyone who believed that things would change, Holder's nomination is basically total effing treason to that.
Seriously, I will be surprised if we don't trade Gitmo and secret CIA prisons for a second round of Waco and Ruby Ridge if this is the start that Obama is off on with his DoJ appointments.
Censorship does not have a party affiliation.
Big suprise. Lawyer wants more laws. I don't think this would happen under obama's watch who has clearly stated the preservation of an "open" internet and "net neutrality". Furthermore, he regularly seeks counsel from the EFF. See obama state his tech policy on this page. I understand that saying and doing are two complete different things. The article; however, is speculation and ignores the president's stated policy. I'm sure the EFF would have commented on this if they thought it was a concern. They havn't and I doubt they missed obama's speculated appointment.
Trying to install linux on my microwave, but keep getting a kernel panic...
in a democracy, you don't get to choose the candidate who fits your beliefs exactly, because such a candidate would, by definition of appealing so tightly to you, therefore appeal to only a small subset of society, and therefore be unelectable
at BEST you get a candidate that appeals to you very weakly. because that candidate must cover as many commonalities of belief as possible in order to get elected
and this is a GOOD thing: a government should closely adhere to the center of society, not to its various fringe groups. so if you are severely disappointed in obama, you're a fool, for judging him against absurd standards that will never, ever be met in reality
in a democracy, you get a choice betwen the candidate who is slightly less evil than the other. that's all you EVER will get to choose from. and that is a sign of a HEALTHY society. meanwhile, when someone is elected who appeals to a small group of people ecstatically, something has failed, and society will suffer for that, for this candidate most certainly doesn't appeal to the majority of society he or see is supposed to lead. got that?:
large appeal to small group != small appeal to large group. large appeal to small group is BAD for society. small appeal to large group is GOOD for society
some of you need to focus on that, and let the implications of that sink in for how you value and judge your leaders
all you could ever hope to do is tug the administration in power SLIGHTLY in the direction of your beliefs. anyone who believed barack obama was going to be some messiah of radical change is frankly, an idiot
i will tell you right now with 100% certainty what you are going to get out of the obama administration: TINY incremental steps away from the bush administration bullshit. and YOU ARE GOING TO LIKE IT, because that is the best you could ever possibly get in reality, as opposed to the fantasies in your head, which some of you seem hellbent on judging your government against. absurd
because the alternative is a continuation of the bush years bullshit. that's worse, right? then pleasde remember that when you judge
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
I can. Try this on for size. The language is a little dated, but I think it gets the point across pretty nicely:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
That seems like a perfectly "reasonable restriction", upon which the Supreme Court not only ought to, but has, repeatedly "favorably looked at".
If, as Holder says in TFA, the court has "struck down every attempt" that he and his kind (whether they be religious zealots attempting to censor whatever their God deems "pornography", or nanny-statists attempting to censor portrayals of violence and whatever "hate speech" is this week) have made to get around it, then what would be so wrong with respecting the court's decision?
Holder, you're about to become the Attorney-General. If you really want to demonstrate "change" relative to the prior Administration, why not do things differently? You could start by respecting the Judiciary as a coequal branch of government, even when (and especially when) its rulings aren't to your personal liking.
As Lenny Bruce put it almost 50 years ago, "If you can't say 'Fuck', you can't say 'Fuck the government.'" As the Supreme Court ruled in 1971, Cohen v. California, can even say Fuck the Draft.
Sometimes offensive speech is political speech. In modern idiom, Holden doesn't have to post tits, but if he thinks he can stop you from posting tits, the Courts have made it clear that he's the one who should GTFO.
But... but it's O-ba-ma...
http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/57241.html
Yup this guy is also a strong drug warrior.
You thought Obama would be nice on drugs? Think again.
I'm fucking pissed off by the morons who keep cheering at every election for a candidate or the other. Oh yea, sure politics is screwed and power corrupts... but but, *this* guy, he's for real, you'll see.
We need change, but not political change. In politics, change means, more shit than before. Political change is for the worth.
Wake up, it's not about the people in charge, the problems lie with the incentives and yes, democracy itself.
\u262D = \u5350
I'm sorry, I don't know why this is a big deal. It's not like he said this yesterday. He said it 10 years ago in a panicked climate when a great number of tax-paying citizens were clamoring for the government to do something to keep the intarwebs from contaminating our children.
As far as I can tell, no legislation was ever introduced. Not that the AG writes legislation, which is another reason this is a non-issue.
If this makes headlines, I am sure we'll see a clarification of some kind from Holder.
But other than that, I mean is "Politician in 1999 was wrong about the internet" really a big story?
It breaks my pluginses, my precious!
Regardless of personal views, doesn't the AG advance the position of the administration? You say what your client wants you to say or you find another job. Isn't that the case for all attorneys? So the real question is what will Obama's policy be?
Change, REAL CHANGE, and eliminating the evils of Washington insiders and lobbyists were a centerpiece of Obama's campaign. Do you really think that message would have been as strong if he said he was going to appoint Holder, Emanuel, Daschle, and Hillary fucking Clinton as part of his cabinet? He would have been laughed at and then ripped to tiny pieces trying to pass that off as *real* change, and rightly so. Instead of a career politician, why not appoint someone that really knows something about healthcare instead of friggin' Tom Daschle, married to a one of Washington's top lobbyists?!!?? The hyprcrisy is downright insulting.
Oh yeah, quit telling me I'M GOING TO LIKE IT. You don't know a damn thing about me.
Everyone's said stupid things once in a while, right? If he's willing to say that he was an idiot for advocating pervasive restrictions in the wake of such an event, I could let it slide.
It's important to make a big deal about things like this, but don't completely lose it over this.
Wow . . . one post and you've already resorted to name-calling. No need to get so defensive.
Thing is . . . I don't recall any talk of moderate, incremental, slow change during the campaign, at all. That message wouldn't go over so well in front of 200,000 rabid Berliners or a stadium full of college kids -- it's just not sexy enough. If anything, the exact opposite was promised -- a quick, decisive end to the evil and corruption of Washington and the power of lobbyists. If anything, I'm judging him by the standards set by his own supporters. Oh yeah, what happened to the promise of troops out of Iraq in 16 months? Change.
Indeed, this administration will be made up of the Same Old Washington. If this is what counts as change, we really are fucked.
And don't forget the V-chip, which allows parents to disable certain TV channels. It's in all new TVs and unused in nearly all of them.
The 90s were a very different era, and the culture war/political correctness issues that dominated the decade look painfully idiotic in retrospect.
I am pretty confident that Holder has many higher priorities than regulating speech on the internet, but someone definitely needs to ask him.
Considering the age and context of this quote, we have to take this statement with at least a little skepticism. Columbine threw the entire US off kilter, making them say and do things they wouldn't currently do.
I believe that's specifically not an excuse for overreaction from an official. Sadly, I expect the general public to overreact, but those in positions of authority should have level heads (at least on any reasonable planet, not this one) - that's a big part of why they're there. If he's susceptible to knee-jerk responses (and I don't know if he truly is), then he doesn't belong in the position of US Attorney General.
I do wonder how Holder would respond to questions regarding his stance on internet restrictions today.
Based only on the Holder quote from the summary, 'The court has really struck down every government effort to try to regulate it. We tried with regard to pornography...', it is apparent that he has favored restricting internet communications for reasons unrelated to the Columbine incident. Unless someone provides evidence that he has modified his opinion in these matters, it is reasonable to assume they remain the same. And his own assertion of such a change in position would not be sufficient by itself.
/. this is ridiculous: "Slow Down Cowboy!...It's been 1 hour, 28 minutes since you last successfully posted a comment". I know ACs are responsible for too much noise here, but this amounts to an unnecessary restriction of anonymous speech. Why not just go all the way and require an account if that's the kind of site you want to be?</rant>
- T
Come on
You know what though?
I'm not going to give up my right to (XYZ) just because (ABC) extreme case happened someday sometime. This has been a huge problem with the US.
Take rights away from corporations. Take them all away till corporations are hardly anything. But don't take away personal freedoms from individuals.
In other words, we now force the good drivers to subsidize the mistakes of the bad drivers.
were really just so other people would understand.
Liabilities are real. You screw up, and someone dies. true. My point is that SANE people are not going to take a car to 200 miles an hour near a school zone or a bus route. Insane people are not going to follow the rule anyway, so it doesn't do any good. This is true for all common sense rules.
The other point in here is who learned their states laws in school? Yet you are still responsible for breaking them? The commandment and golden laws need not apply to this conversation, but I'll throw out an example.
I can't say that lack of freedom would apply to me, I feel free. If you want to kill someone, you can use what ever method you want. 1/2 the methods will prove to be unsolvable. If you use a gun, you have to wait three days before you kill someone, but you still can.
You get caught though, and its 25-life, less you had Cochran.
I am not an anarchist, I want laws... and mostly I was just trying to be funny, but does the law really stop you from speeding? (it never has me, though I am far more careful about it now) Has the law stopped millions from downloading copywrited music? Has the law stopped any big CEO from embezlement? Where a law stops someone, that person was not really wanting to commit the crime anyway. It is just a means to control the masses, and we need that to some extent.
But back on topic,
If you supress a path for information, a new path will emerge if the information is valuable enough. The only time freedom will truly be supressed is when we are repressed from speaking. Unfortunately though, today, many people "speak" electronically, and that is why I am against censorship of the web.
How much is your data worth? Back it up now.
The problem is the law doesn't stop crime from happening, it simply gives it a name, and gives people an easy guilt-free device to lay blame on others. The only difference between law and religion is that lawyers are rarely child molesters - they prefer hookers.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
The man doesn't respect it, so he shouldn't be a member of the bar, let alone living on the public payroll.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
A little perspective yourself!
Today we can't renovate without a permit, tomorrow we won't be able to commute without an outdoor permit, and eventually we won't be able to think without a permit.
Sure, there might be well-meaning justifications for many of these arbitrary restrictions, but the fact remains that they were enacted in response to the actions of a small group of crazies. How many people do you know who are bomb-throwing terrorists ? I'm going to tell it flat out: I'm the craziest person I know. I don't blow shit up (but sometimes I'd like to). I don't run over pedestrians (but sometimes I'd like to). Frankly, I'd nuke 90% of Earth's population if I had the opportunity. Does that make me a terrorist ? Should I be locked up for all the things I haven't done, but joke about in my trademark ha-ha-only-serious manner ? Should everyone else be restrained, monitored, taxed and judged, just in case they might be misanthropes like myself ?
FUCK NO!
Life is dangerous. It is almost certainly less dangerous today than it was before, not because we had less bombs, but because everything was a little less refined. Human curiosity constantly pushes forward in the fields of engineering, medicine, and just plain human interaction - getting along better with each other. Racism isn't as bad as it used to be, things like that. We still have idiots with guns and trucks and buzzcuts, we still have hateful bigots and greedy crooks and angry cultists, but they've always been there. They didn't just beam down from Jupiter, we just notice them more because the whole world is connected. This whole mess is a distortion due to mass media's ever-invasive presence in our lives, and the will of certain militaristic leaders being forced upon the masses for personal gain.
I don't feel less safe today than I did ten years ago, neither should anyone else. Save for the actions of a few tyrannical fools and short-sighted thugs, humanity is evolving and every day is a step forward. Law is not the future. Crime is not the future. Understanding is the future.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
They also say they are going to ease taxes while providing bailouts for every failing industry and providing every man, woman, and child in America with unlimited free health care, a bullet-proof retirement, unlimited free energy, and a magical flying puppy(okay, I'm exaggerating a little---they never actually promised the puppy would fly).
They never promised to lower taxes across the board, or that health care would be free or unlimited, retirement would be bulletproof, or energy would be free or unlimited either.
But hey, you wouldn't have gotten modded up if you'd just stuck to the facts, right?
Visual IRC: Fast. Powerful. Free.
Change? Hmm....sounds like "same as the old boss" to me.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........