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Google Blocks 'Innocence of Muslim' Video In Indonesia and India

hypnosec writes "Google has blocked the anti-Islamic video, which was posted on YouTube, in Indonesia as well as India. YouTube has already denied a complete removal of the clip 'Innocence of Muslims' that mocks Islam and Prophet Mohammed. The video has led to protests and violence across the Arab world. The foreign ministry spokesperson of Indonesia and India have confirmed that Google has blocked access to the video. Indonesia has also asked RIM to filter the video on its smartphones."

484 comments

  1. Not Convenient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Apparently freedom of speech applies only when it's convenient. Sounds a lot like the model in China where only specific protests/violence are "allowed". Way to go Google for adopting the China model. Maybe they'll let you back in!

    1. Re:Not Convenient by StinkyDanger · · Score: 1, Troll

      Apparently freedom of speech applies only when it's convenient. Sounds a lot like the model in China where only specific protests/violence are "allowed". Way to go Google for adopting the China model. Maybe they'll let you back in!

      Essentially it's this. It also applies to Google's action elsewhere. First they pirate ebooks and defense that right, but they have no problem removing megaupload and the pirate bay from suggestions. Secondly they open source products when they have to, but most of their products are sealed closed source projects.

    2. Re:Not Convenient by somersault · · Score: 0, Troll

      Secondly they open source products when they have to, but most of their products are sealed closed source projects.

      Like that has anything to do with anything. I already know you don't believe the shit you spew in your little trolls. I just wish you'd have a heart attack already so that we can get on with grown up conversations.

      --
      which is totally what she said
    3. Re:Not Convenient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Apparently freedom of speech applies only when it's convenient.

      Apparently you think US law governs the whole world.

      The film is inciteful enough to be in a grey area legally even in some western nations like the UK.

      I think you're stretching the truth to just call this speech anyway. There is no significant communication in the entire bit. It is just a call to violence.

    4. Re:Not Convenient by Sqr(twg) · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Freedom of speech is a concept that applies to law-making, not web-hosting. Google has done nothing to prevent the filmmakers from distributing this trailer. They are also not blocking it from search.

      All they do is abstain from hosting it themselves in ceratin countries in the same way as a US newspaper might refuse to publish a nazi propaganda ad. People perceive publication/distribution as (weak) a form of endorsment, and Google wants to avoid this.

      (Also, the movie itself seems to be a piece of crap, regardess of any point it's trying to make.)

    5. Re:Not Convenient by somersault · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Compared to pretty much all other global corporations, they're saints. There is nothing wrong with complying with the law in these countries. You don't personally agree with the laws, but that's irrelevant. If you were brought up in a Muslim culture you'd be saying Google are evil for leaving the videos viewable in other countries.

      --
      which is totally what she said
    6. Re:Not Convenient by StinkyDanger · · Score: 2

      This has nothing to do with complying with the laws of a country. India doesn't have such laws.

    7. Re:Not Convenient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      here's a big surprise for you... the first amendment only applies in America. Other countries have their own constitutions (or not) and their own laws. Google is obliged to conform to local laws of the countries in which it operates. They're also a private company, not an arm of the state - so the first amendment wouldn't even apply if they chose to block the video in the US.
      There is no violation here - but you can continue you to rant if you wish (as is your first amendment right) - but please be aware that to do so only shows the rest of us that either you can't understand this point or that you are so ignorant in your rhetoric that you chose to ignore it.

    8. Re:Not Convenient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Freedom of speech only applies in countries with Freedom of speech laws...

    9. Re:Not Convenient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sounds a lot like the model in China where only specific protests/violence are "allowed".

      Pretty much like free speech zones then. You are free to say whatever you want as long as you don't do it where anyone can hear you.

      Censorship has never been about preventing people from talking, it's about preventing people from hearing.

    10. Re:Not Convenient by bloodhawk · · Score: 0

      Since when did the US laws apply to everyone else in the world? The case could easily be argued that this video was meant to incite violence and hence falls under laws that prohibit such in most countries (prior examples in the world easily demonstrate that a reasonable person could well expect that posting such a video would lead to people getting injured or killed), Watching the poor quality of it you could probably argue that the producers of it had sufficiently low intelligence level to be able realise the innocents that might get hurt by their video, but none the less that only excuses them, not those allowing it to be hosted.

    11. Re:Not Convenient by somersault · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, after actually reading up on this I see that Islamic "protesters" have killed people in US embassies over this, so maybe Google are trying to save lives here. They've left the videos up in countries where people are less retarde- oh sorry, I mean religious.

      --
      which is totally what she said
    12. Re:Not Convenient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Article 25(1) states, "Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion".

      Article 19 gives all citizens the right to freedom of speech and expression but subject to reasonable restrictions for preserving inter alia "public order, decency or morality".

      Riots are not public order.

    13. Re:Not Convenient by Entropius · · Score: 2

      So before someone speaks in India they have to wonder whether what they're about to say is going to make some crazy people have a riot?

    14. Re:Not Convenient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Central Government Act Section 295A in The Indian Penal Code, 1860 295A. 5[ Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.-- Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of 6[ citizens of India], 7[ by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise] insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 8[ three years], or with fine, or with both.]

    15. Re:Not Convenient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They haven't been killing people over the video. They've been killing people because someone is telling them or paying them to. The video is merely an excuse.

    16. Re:Not Convenient by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      somersault, buddy, you're having a conversation with a troll and his AC sockpuppet.

      Don't get sucked in.

      I've run the texts of the comments of both this stranger danger guy and the AC through the expert heuristic system known as me and they're written by the same semi-sentient being. And as you say, he's been doing this "Evil, thy name is "Google"" act since he got here.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    17. Re:Not Convenient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think the reasoning is that as Google is a U.S. company, it is beholden to American laws, of which the "Free Speech" aspect is severely misunderstood. People think it means one can say anything they want anytime they want, which isn't the case.

      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.

      Basically, here it means the government cannot stop one from promoting either religious or political views as long as they are done peaceably, but this only applies to government areas - privately owned areas have more leeway and the police can respond to complaints of "disturbing the peace" and whatnot.

    18. Re:Not Convenient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Speech you do not agree with or don't find convenient is still a speech. I also have seen no call for violence there. Not for any grown up person anyway.

    19. Re:Not Convenient by somersault · · Score: 1

      Yeah, my own analysis system was saying the same thing, but it upsets me to see that some people actually fall for it. Unless all the mods he gets are done by more sock puppet accounts, which wouldn't surprise me all that much.

      Anti-google, pro MS. Always in as soon as the article is posted, completely derailing everything. He actually stopped me visiting completely for a few months before..

      --
      which is totally what she said
    20. Re:Not Convenient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Pretty much. There have been riots over less.

      And while, technically, you might be in the clear as far as freedom of speech and the law is concerned, you'll still be arrested for inciting violence or something like that and being dragged through the legal system until that decision is reached is punishment enough.

      Yup, in India, the rioters who actually do the damage seem to have it easier than anyone whose (free) speech triggers their reaction.

    21. Re:Not Convenient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, if they want to stay in India alive and unharmed.

    22. Re:Not Convenient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apparently freedom of speech applies only when it's convenient. Sounds a lot like the model in China where only specific protests/violence are "allowed". Way to go Google for adopting the China model. Maybe they'll let you back in!

      Freedom of Speech doesn't apply in this situation to start with, Google can take down whatever they want whenever they feel like it.
      It also has nothing to do with blocking exports of that speech to specific countries.

      Google blocked the video before some asshat in one of those countries decided to block youtube in its entirety, there's no reason to get all pissed off at them about it. Get pissed at the backwater idiots who got offended enough by the video to kill people over it. Get pissed at their moronic leaders for allowing and even condoning such behavior.

    23. Re:Not Convenient by heathen_01 · · Score: 1

      If you were brought up in a Muslim culture you'd be saying Google are evil for leaving the videos viewable in other countries.

      Granted that the outcome is likely, but it should not be used or accepted as an excuse. Blindly following any culture without applying reason will lead to someing taking advantage of you. Every individual should take personal responsibility for their own actions and not try to deflect their guilt onto their parents/town/country/religion.

    24. Re:Not Convenient by misexistentialist · · Score: 0

      People perceive publication/distribution as (weak) a form of endorsment, and Google wants to avoid this.

      Google (weakly) endorses everything else on Youtube? Then Google is a maniac.

      (Also, the movie itself seems to be a piece of crap, regardess of any point it's trying to make.)

      Since when does YouTube have quality standards?

    25. Re:Not Convenient by somersault · · Score: 1

      You are perhaps overlooking the point of my post. These people likely do take personal responsibility for their own actions, but their consideration of what is right and wrong is guided by their cultural and religious influences. They don't feel they need an excuse to do what they're doing - they feel everyone else needs to justify their actions in not agreeing with them. There is no such thing as objective right and wrong, so it's basically impossible to get people to agree on everything 100% because everyone has different opinions and beliefs.

      --
      which is totally what she said
    26. Re:Not Convenient by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Apparently freedom of speech applies only when it's convenient.

      Google is exersizing their freedom of speech. You can't force me to repeat what you say any more than I can keep you from saying it.

      Freedom of speech would only be impinged if it was the government removing it, or forcing Google to remove it. The government did ask Google to take it down and they declined.

      Have you seen the movie? I don't see how anyone can watch long enough to be offended! I don't think I've ever seen worse acting, directing, and writing. I got maybe a minute into it before shutting it off, nowhere near long enough to see what the fuss was about.

    27. Re:Not Convenient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'll bet they got a lot of pressure from the Administration, the same Administration that had the filmmaker pulled out of home in the middle of the night and taken in by "authorities."

      Google isn't a government and hasn't taken an oath to defend free speech. Obama runs the government, took the oath, and is attacking free speech.

    28. Re:Not Convenient by assertation · · Score: 1

      If someone was saying something meaningful or the author of that clip was putting HIS life, not other people's lives on the line I might sympathize with your point.

      I don't want to get killed because some misfit wants to childishly piss people off

      Google's only fault here is not doing it soon enough....before people got killed ( I guess that isn't as serious as a copyright violation which they are usually fast and efficient with )

    29. Re:Not Convenient by mcgrew · · Score: 4, Insightful

      They've left the videos up in countries where people are less retarde- oh sorry, I mean religious.

      No, I think you got it right the first time -- retarded. From what I understand (which isn't much when it comes to Islam), killing is as much a sin to them as to Christians. They're retards following secularists who pretend to be religious for their own personal gain. The rioters are being duped.

      The religious ones aren't rioting, they're at home reading their Korans and praying.

    30. Re:Not Convenient by LordLimecat · · Score: 1

      Apparently freedom of speech applies only when it's convenient.

      Freedom of speech protects you from the government. If folks at Google decide that they dont like fanning the flames of violent riots, theyre within their rights to un-host the video.

      Sounds a lot like the model in China where only specific protests/violence are "allowed".

      Except that Google isnt a government and cannot censor a population; it can merely decide not to extend their services to you. Youre free to host your video on vimeo or whatever.

      This is the disconnect that people dont get. Every website is its own little totalitarian province; the operator has (and should have) the right to tell you to get stuffed at any time for any reason; its OK because their power stops at the boundaries of their domain. Governments are held to a far different standard precisely because of the reach of their power-- the government deciding to disenfranchise you has far bigger and more global consequences..

    31. Re:Not Convenient by LordLimecat · · Score: 1

      Secondly they open source products when they have to, but most of their products are sealed closed source projects.

      Omigosh, they only open source SOME things? Those jerks!

      Is this really the sense of entitlement that gets modded up these days? How about you be happy that they contribute as much as they do, even to the extent that they provide Google Code hosting which strongly pushes FOSS licenses (to the extent you CANNOT have a closed-source project hosted by google). Theyve contributed a web browser, big parts of the database system their core product runs on, lots of code to Linux, a Linux derivative (Android), and lots of other big projects.

      I challenge you to name any other for-profit company that has done more for OSS than Google (maybe Apple?). But of course THATS not enough, they need to OS license EVERYTHING for you to be satisfied, right?

    32. Re:Not Convenient by heathen_01 · · Score: 1

      I think we are in agreement. My issue was with the wording, "If you were brought up in a Muslim culture ...". I feel that it distracts from the underlying problem of people not relying on their own judgement and being guided too heavily by their culture. However its a very circular argument as its likely that the culture and lack of education and censorship factors into the ability for an individual to reason and make decisions independant of their cultures traditions.

    33. Re:Not Convenient by Stan92057 · · Score: 1

      The Don't be Evil Google is long since gone the day they went public.

      --
      Jack of all trades,master of none
    34. Re:Not Convenient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Freedom of speech is a concept that applies to law-making, not web-hosting.

      Freedom of speech is not a concept; its something you were born with. Like birds chirping. Your freedom to speak goes right along with your freedom to breathe. It does not only apply to law making; it applies to "Life, the Universe, and Everything[TM]". The only part of law in our society (USA) regarding this freedom to speak is a codified protection from the government taking it away from you (ya ya, capital punishment yadda yadda).

      You should maybe look up the word "inalienable," and you also might want to look up the meaning of the phrase "endowed by our creator". Simply put: the only people that lack the freedom to speak are the people that were born without the ability to speak (thankfully in our society that freedom covers writing as well).

      What I think you were really trying to say is that apparently Google/Youtube is not a USA corporation any longer, and can now be considered an Indonesian and Indian corporation; bound to conform to Indonesian and Indian censorship.

    35. Re:Not Convenient by Sqr(twg) · · Score: 1

      Google (weakly) endorses everything else on Youtube? Then Google is a maniac.

      No, they don't. But they are perceived as doing so. Perhaps not by you, but by lots of people. (Very few of the rioters are slashdotters.)

    36. Re:Not Convenient by TsuruchiBrian · · Score: 1

      China is actively stopping people from getting information. It is blocking access to websites that are administered by others. Google is not preventing anyone from uploading the video to other hosting services. Freedom of speech does not mean you have the freedom to force others (i.e. google) to propagate your speech. It only implies that you are not hindering others from willingly conveying speech to each other or mediating it. Google doesn't want to mediate this particular speech. That is their right. Google (nor any company) should be depended upon to protect our freedom of speech. They should only be treated as participants in the free market of ideas. They are not enemies of free speech, any more than you are for not hosting the video in question on your dime. Freedom of speech would only be a question if the US government tried to force youtube to block the video or threatened punishment to individuals who attempted to disseminate the video. Youtube is not obligated to disseminate your speech. They do so voluntarily in 99.9% of cases, even if they do not endorse the content. This happens to be one exception.

    37. Re:Not Convenient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What civilized person watches a video and then thinks it's OK to kill other people?

    38. Re:Not Convenient by toriver · · Score: 1

      Exactly: Congress, not Google. Google are free to do as they please. There is no provision that Google have a duty to distribute your speech.

    39. Re:Not Convenient by chrismcb · · Score: 1

      I think you're stretching the truth to just call this speech anyway. There is no significant communication in the entire bit. It is just a call to violence.

      IF it was just a call to violence, and there is no significant communication, then the call will go unheeded.
      Considering the video has generated a lot of discussion, it sounds to me like there is significant communication in there. There doesn't have to be a lot of spoken words to get a meaning across.

    40. Re:Not Convenient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe you should actually read the koran yourself, before you bless it by a comparison with christianity. In better words than mine, it is a "nazi rewrite of the bible."

      There is no equivalance between a vengeful, conquering death cult, and a religion based upon forgiveness.
      Anyone who says that there is, is either a tool -- a useful idiot -- or a jihadist propagandist.

    41. Re:Not Convenient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Posting AC as to not undo moderation.

      The US ambassador in Libya was not killed by people protesting the video. He was attacked by a well organized military group associated with Al-Qaeda. 24 hours before the attack, Al-Qaeda released a memorial video about their number 2 in charge, who was recently killed by the US. His nickname was "The Libyan".

         

  2. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by wienerschnizzel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Google complies with the laws of the country it operates in. If they are required by law to remove something, they do it.

    Are you suggesting that big companies in general should be exempt from the law and obey it only as they see fit?

  3. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This isn't about freedom of speech. People can still post videos on youtube like this without any concern for having it removed, and Google has been utterly unequivocal about that.

    This is only about distribution. And in this case, for the most part, it is doing things in order to try to avoid distributing to a group of callous thugs with no sense of decency and every desire to exploit whatever religious or political motivation they can to grab at power.

    I'm not sure whether their stance here is the correct one, but it is not the stance you seem to think it is.

  4. BTW, here is an archive of Mohammad images by Adult+film+producer · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed_image_archive/

    Pass it around, Free Mohammad.

    1. Re:BTW, here is an archive of Mohammad images by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Pretty naive of the admin of this web site to believe that he will be able to safeguard his anonymity in the long run.

      Anyway, picture of Mohammad are boring and nobody wants to see them.

    2. Re:BTW, here is an archive of Mohammad images by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The guy probably knows what he is doing. Not everybody is a pussy like you.

    3. Re:BTW, here is an archive of Mohammad images by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Pretty naive of the admin of this web site to believe that he will be able to safeguard his anonymity in the long run.

      Why would he have to?

      Anyway, picture of Mohammad are boring and nobody wants to see them.

      [citation needed]

    4. Re:BTW, here is an archive of Mohammad images by SuricouRaven · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There are only two types of people who will take the risk of activism against those willing to use violence: Those who are so dedicated they are willing to risk their life or freedom, and those who are too dumb to realise that is what they are doing.

    5. Re:BTW, here is an archive of Mohammad images by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      Give me liberty, or give me death - Patrick Henry.

      Wise people know the stakes. Dumb people side with their self preservation, by selling out their children.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    6. Re:BTW, here is an archive of Mohammad images by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Islam is a joke.

      And the punchline is..... YOU'RE DEAD!

    7. Re:BTW, here is an archive of Mohammad images by toriver · · Score: 0

      Well, it's the third rehash of the same desert fairy tales the Jews and Christians believe in: The Christians added Mithranism to make it more palatable to Romans, and the Muslims just ripped that part out again. Though apart from the Old Testament genocides, it seems the Jews have done less killing than their other two descendant religions - that's a plus in their favor at least...

    8. Re:BTW, here is an archive of Mohammad images by xenobyte · · Score: 1

      Pretty naive of the admin of this web site to believe that he will be able to safeguard his anonymity in the long run.

      Zombie is a well-known character that attends many "religious nut gatherings" to take pictures he then puts up on his blog. He loves to expose the multitude of brainless stupidity that's abundant at such events. Basically he offends everybody by exposing their mind-numbing infantility and sheer idiocy.

      So far nothing serious has happened, but he's prepared to defend himself if somebody is stupid enough to try something.

      --
      "For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong." -- H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) --
    9. Re:BTW, here is an archive of Mohammad images by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

      Not all. Some dumb people go on protest marches against the oppressive government (Or, in this age, DDoS the oppressor's website) and then are surprised to discover that they too can be thrown in jail.

  5. Are they also going to block this image by Chrisq · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Are they going to block this image from the Onion, entitled "No One Murdered Because Of This Image"? After all everyone tells us that Muslims are no worse than people of other religions, so surely this insult to Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism will have the members of respective religions storming embassies and murdering people all over the place?

    If not some people might suspect that Islam really is a more violent and savage religion than the others

    1. Re:Are they also going to block this image by ericloewe · · Score: 0

      The problem isn't as much Islam as the assholes who put themselves in charge of preaching "Islam" to the masses.

      Just because the Catholic church is a mess (and it's gotten much better), doesn't mean Christianity is bad.

    2. Re:Are they also going to block this image by Chrisq · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The problem isn't as much Islam as the assholes who put themselves in charge of preaching "Islam" to the masses.

      To paraphrase, "the problem is not so much Islam as what the followers of Islam believe and is taught by the leaders of Islam.

      Just because the Catholic church is a mess (and it's gotten much better), doesn't mean Christianity is bad.

      The Catholic church is guilty of many things, indifference, cover-up, etc. but I have not heard one Catholic priest say that child abuse is right, and that those who follow Catholicism should support it and encourage their kids to put up with it. I have heard many Muslim teachers and Imams say that killing people over films, books, cartoons, lifestyle, or choice of belief is not just right but an obligation.

    3. Re:Are they also going to block this image by nospam007 · · Score: 2, Informative

      "so surely this insult to Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism will have the members of respective religions storming embassies and murdering people all over the place? "

      I suspect you're too young to remember the deaths that 'Christians' caused after having seen the movie 'Jud Süß'
      The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 8, 1940 and received rave reviews, earning the top award.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jud_S%C3%BC%C3%9F_(1940_film)
      http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032653/

    4. Re:Are they also going to block this image by slim · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I have heard many Muslim teachers and Imams say that killing people over films, books, cartoons, lifestyle, or choice of belief is not just right but an obligation.

      Out of interest, how many?

      How about as a percentage of the 1.6 Million imams in the world (rough estimate, based on one imam per 1000 muslims)?

    5. Re:Are they also going to block this image by Chrisq · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "so surely this insult to Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism will have the members of respective religions storming embassies and murdering people all over the place? "

      I suspect you're too young to remember the deaths that 'Christians' caused after having seen the movie 'Jud Süß' The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 8, 1940 and received rave reviews, earning the top award.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jud_S%C3%BC%C3%9F_(1940_film) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032653/

      Yes, I am too young to remember Nazi propaganda films. leaving aside whether or not it was a "Christian" film - it is much more aligned to NAziism than Christianity, I will make two points:

      1. 1) I doubt if you would find any mainstream Christian denomination that would support this today
      2. 2) Muslims are fond of pointing out a time in history or an individual who acts like them and use it as justification. They say "yes we blew up the World Trade Centre, but McVeigh bombed the Oklahoma building", or "Yes we go on murderous rampages but so did Medieval Christians". In my view the attempt to say that it is OK to behave in the worst way that anybody else ever has done is wrong. Setting of bombs and killing is wrong, even if you can show that someone else did it before.
    6. Re:Are they also going to block this image by Chrisq · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I have heard many Muslim teachers and Imams say that killing people over films, books, cartoons, lifestyle, or choice of belief is not just right but an obligation.

      Out of interest, how many?

      How about as a percentage of the 1.6 Million imams in the world (rough estimate, based on one imam per 1000 muslims)?

      100% more than those I have heard saying that killing over cartoons etc. is unjustified and wrong.

    7. Re:Are they also going to block this image by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      100% more than those I have heard saying that killing over cartoons etc. is unjustified and wrong.

      So, one?

    8. Re:Are they also going to block this image by Chrisq · · Score: 2

      100% more than those I have heard saying that killing over cartoons etc. is unjustified and wrong.

      So, one?

      Dozens. Its not so much the number (I am sure that many more than I have heard say it) as the fact that it is never contradicted. Contrast this with the number of Christians objecting to the Westboro Baptists saying "God hates fags", or celebrating death of soldiers - or Christians bombing abortion clinics. To put it in perspective I have only heard Catholic priests talk about papal infallability a couple of times, but since it is discussed in the open an none disagree I know it is the teaching of all the millions of priests.

    9. Re:Are they also going to block this image by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      To paraphrase, "the problem is not so much Islam as what the followers of Islam believe and is taught by the leaders of Islam.

      ...

      A distinction without a difference.

      Islam IS who its leader are and what its followers DO.

    10. Re:Are they also going to block this image by slim · · Score: 4, Informative

      I found this condemnation of the current riots within 30 seconds of searching. http://www.mcb.org.uk/media/presstext.php?ann_id=501

      I'm certain you'd find similar condemnations for the cartoons episode, if you looked.

    11. Re:Are they also going to block this image by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yep, that identifies the problem.

      The main difference is that for the majority of it's existence Christianity has had one distinct leader in the pope; and I'm talking about the whole 2000 year range here not just the last 4 centuries. And then of course there was the council of Nicaea in the early days to get everyone singing from the same hymn sheet, as it were.

      Islam has never had that and seems to be more afflicted by internal contradiction, as many different voices spout different messages, than the Christian church ever was. Of course the Christian church was very brutal in quashing any dissent to get everyone in line at the peak of it's power, so maybe Islam has that coming.

    12. Re:Are they also going to block this image by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I have not heard one Catholic priest say that child abuse is right

      But you will see them cover up and move priests around to avoid charges. In my book, this is definitely saying, "It's OK... we got your back."

      Also, I'm not sure why you chose "abuse" as your descriptive word. Are you hoping we forget the "sexual" part of it?

      Let's get you started on differentiating "abuse" and "sex abuse".

    13. Re:Are they also going to block this image by Chrisq · · Score: 2

      I found this condemnation of the current riots within 30 seconds of searching. http://www.mcb.org.uk/media/presstext.php?ann_id=501

      I'm certain you'd find similar condemnations for the cartoons episode, if you looked.

      This is not by a muslim religious leader but an organisation who's aims is "To work for a more enlightened appreciation of Islam and Muslims in the wider society". By "more enlightened" read dhimmi.

    14. Re:Are they also going to block this image by Chrisq · · Score: 0

      I have not heard one Catholic priest say that child abuse is right

      But you will see them cover up and move priests around to avoid charges. In my book, this is definitely saying, "It's OK... we got your back."

      Also, I'm not sure why you chose "abuse" as your descriptive word. Are you hoping we forget the "sexual" part of it?

      Let's get you started on differentiating "abuse" and "sex abuse".

      Just quick writing - I know that Catholic priests specialise in sexual abuse whereas teaching Catholic monks and nuns specialised in the physical abuse. I can't edit the post now but certainly read it as "both sexual and violent physical abuse".

    15. Re:Are they also going to block this image by dave420 · · Score: 1

      You are (wilfully?) conflating people and a set of beliefs. I'm an atheist, but as I'm not an asshole, I don't do that.

    16. Re:Are they also going to block this image by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Medieval Christians were initially fighting to free a land invaded by Islamist who decided to invade Israel because they want to worship a rock from space... So do we start throwing stones to justify murder going back centuries? No, the dead should remain dead and the living should respect the living and maybe we'd have a chance to get along.
           

    17. Re:Are they also going to block this image by squiggleslash · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      I'm going to make a guess that you're - if not making it up, then - intentionally building a narative you have every reason to know is suspect. That you've never actually met any imams, that you've probably based your opinion on the basis of a hysterical news report or two that has gone out of its way to quote an imam who's completely unrepresentative of US Muslims.

      What's going on in Egypt and Libya is clearly unusual and hard to use as an example of anything concrete. Meanwhile neighboring "Christian" countries are executing people for being homosexuals using laws that were lobbied for by US "Christian" organizations, backed, bizarrely, by customers of a certain fast food chain who were outraged when it was suggested that support for such groups and views might be, well, wrong.

      Right wing "Christians" are patting themselves on the back for not being like those ignorant savage Muslims in being violent over their reaction to a movie, when the considerably less offensive "Last Temptation of Christ" was, indeed, greeted with violence, including the firebombing of cinemas who were showing the movies (and by showing I mean they were showing the films at the precise point they were being firebombed.)

      All this from the US far right, a group that believes in "personal responsibility", except when it comes to certain groups. That nice Muslim couple down the road? They're evil, because they're responsible for the behavior of some rioters in another country. That Catholic couple next door? They're probably not, although, my gosh, they are Catholic rather than members of a real Christian sect! The couple on the other side of the street who listen to the 700 Club all the time and donate money to anti-gay hate groups and see no problem with the bombing of the occasional abortion doctor? How can you disagree with them? They're not responsible for anyone else's actions!

      I'm tired of it. Treat people as responsible for what they themselves do, not what others who share a label do. The vast majority of people, Christian, Muslim, or whatever, are good people. Remember that.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    18. Re:Are they also going to block this image by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have heard many Muslim teachers and Imams say that killing people over films, books, cartoons, lifestyle, or choice of belief is not just right but an obligation.

      Out of interest, how many?

      How about as a percentage of the 1.6 Million imams in the world (rough estimate, based on one imam per 1000 muslims)?

      As a percentage? Well that's hard to say. But I do know that there are currently ZERO muslims sitting outside our embassies with candles to show support for the dead and to condemn the killers, in stark contrast to what happened a few weeks back when some crazy religious nut here in the US shot up a bunch of people at a temple. I also know that on the few occasions that a Christian goes on some kind of God-inspired rampage, he doesn't end up with a fucking mob backing him up.

      One guy standing up to condemn an act (or support it) is not a good indicator of the overall sentiment of a religion. I agree with that. But these are not lone acts, and they are not being applauded by one person- the applause drowns out the condemnation and THAT is what is revealing.

      And before you start more of your hand-waving, I'm not basing this on anecdote or single information sources. I'm basing this off history and multiple news outlets including the so-called "Anti American" sources out of the East.

    19. Re:Are they also going to block this image by slim · · Score: 2

      Oh FFS. If that matters, then I Googled "Imam condemns riots" and got a bunch of hits. You could do the same.

      MCB is more of a bellweather though.

    20. Re:Are they also going to block this image by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      including the firebombing of cinemas who were showing the movies (and by showing I mean they were showing the films at the precise point they were being firebombed.)

      One theater. In France, by a bunch of excommunicated people who followed a far-right teaching bishop. 13 people were injured. No one died. (That doesn't make it correct, just less severe)

      Compare that with the protests going on right now. The storming of the US embassy in Cairo, and the killing of US diplomats in Libya. Look at the rioting going on outside the US consulates in most countries where this is going on and say with a straight face that the Scorsese film garnered this much hate. And the movie we're talking about came out on youtube FFS.

    21. Re:Are they also going to block this image by LordLimecat · · Score: 0

      Im pretty sure Google has no power to block stuff on domains not hosted by them, which is why this whole discussion is absurd. Google is not and cannot be a national filter; they can simply make internal decisions about whether to host stuff and where to allow it to be streamed from their servers.

    22. Re:Are they also going to block this image by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This. Exactly.

      Its not as if a religion is something separate and apart from those who espouse it.

    23. Re:Are they also going to block this image by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Please add a NSFW tag. Some of us would get in trouble for that image.

    24. Re:Are they also going to block this image by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Westboro Baptist Church.

      I rest my case.

    25. Re:Are they also going to block this image by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't decide whether to poke Ganesh or follow the example set by Buddha.

    26. Re:Are they also going to block this image by dwpro · · Score: 3, Informative

      well polls suggest that the vast majority of Muslims support strict enforcement of sharia law. I think there's enough evidence of to confirm the GP's statement that we'd need counter evidence to infer anything else.

      http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/pdf/feb09/STARTII_Feb09_rpt.pdf

      --
      Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon. -- Susan Ertz
    27. Re:Are they also going to block this image by sjames · · Score: 1

      It's primarily a matter of a violent and backward people cherry picking bits from their religion to act on while ignoring the bits that say they shouldn't do that. It's a very old story and Islam isn't the only religion to suffer that sort of abuse.

    28. Re:Are they also going to block this image by darkwing_bmf · · Score: 1

      But I do know that there are currently ZERO muslims sitting outside our embassies with candles to show support for the dead and to condemn the killers

      http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012/09/16/libyans-express-sorrow-over-killing-of-americans/57785218/1?csp=34news

    29. Re:Are they also going to block this image by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I suggest emigrating from the US if that's really true.

    30. Re:Are they also going to block this image by TsuruchiBrian · · Score: 1

      I don't see any difference between lumping all muslims together and lumping all religious people together. They all (depending on the definition of religion) believe in a life beyond this one on earth, and they can not be counted on to behave rationally. I don't see the point in singling out muslims as more violent as a way to apologize for other religions. You could just as easily single out only the violent muslims. It makes much more sense to me to single out potentially violent people in general regardless of the particular brand of fantasy that motivates them. I am perfectly content with leaving the peacefully deluded people alone. It was not too long ago that Christians were mass murdering people in the name of Christianity. I don't see any reason that we can't treat the Muslims who manage to ignore the violence advocated by their religion with the same respect as we treat the Christians who manage to ignore the violence advocated by their equally violent religion. Figuring out which religion is more violent is a bit like figuring out which race of people is more violent. It's not an impossible question to answer, there are just more meaningful questions to ask and answer.

    31. Re:Are they also going to block this image by squiggleslash · · Score: 1

      What have we come to that posting a straightforward comment condemning hatred against one particular group, especially by people who are have no problems understanding the difference between extremists and non-extremists in "groups they like", gets modded Flamebait.

      Demonizing people of a particular religion never works out well. It's a step towards a future no-one in their right mind should want to go towards. Unfortunately, I suspect those trying to mod the above down are well aware of that, and are looking forward to the slaughter of innocents that unfettered, unchallenged, hatred brings.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    32. Re:Are they also going to block this image by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agreed. A crime committed in the past is not an excuse for committing it today (or in the future). We will never see peace if that excuse is used for every crime.

    33. Re:Are they also going to block this image by toriver · · Score: 1

      Only the Shia minority branch has "religious leaders", the majority Sunni have no formal church hierarchy. You are looking for the Arab Pope where none is to be found.

    34. Re:Are they also going to block this image by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      It's not really abuse in case of Islam since it's natural (i.e. literally interpreted) state is violent. Which is not surprising given that it is a religion of a state that engaged in wars of conquest pretty much non-stop for the first century of its existence.

      Of course, so was early Judaism, as opposed to what the majority of Jews today really believe, so such origins don't preclude the religion from being reformatted into something more compatible with a peaceful society. Islam is certainly nowhere near that today, unfortunately.

    35. Re:Are they also going to block this image by toriver · · Score: 1

      Were they? All signs point to "No, they were sent to bring back riches". One of the crusades even decided to detour and sack Christian (but the "wrong kind") city of Constantinople. Then we have the "Children's Crusade", where the participants were sold into slavery.

      There was no Israel to invade - it is a modern construct; There used to be Judea and Samaria, lands under varying rulers, Romans, Persians, Turks etc. and later the British. They were not there to free it, but to claim it for their empire; the crusaders murdered both Muslims and Jews. Stop romanticizing their brutality.

    36. Re:Are they also going to block this image by toriver · · Score: 1

      Move to a more free country. :)

    37. Re:Are they also going to block this image by sjames · · Score: 1

      Muslims I have spoken with already have moderated the doctrine much as Jews and Christians have. Naturally they're not as loud as the shouting fundamentalists ( a problem moderate Christians van likely relate to).

    38. Re:Are they also going to block this image by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      There are certainly many Muslims that don't espouse the violent doctrines directly. The problem is that a lot of them are tolerant of such doctrines when they're preached in their midst - less so than most Christians today are. It's not because Christians are Christians, of course, but because they are raised in liberal societies where the culture is centered around concepts like human rights and freedoms, and because those societies have shaped their religion to conform.

    39. Re:Are they also going to block this image by exomondo · · Score: 1

      I suspect you're too young to remember the deaths that 'Christians' caused after having seen the movie 'Jud Süß' The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 8, 1940 and received rave reviews, earning the top award.

      Yeah i don't think Innocence of Muslims is winning any awards...at least not related to production values anyway :P

    40. Re:Are they also going to block this image by sjames · · Score: 1

      To be fair, I did hear a radio preacher espousing blood atonement for homosexuals a few years ago. It's not so much that I have heard others denouncing that as I just assume (thankfully correctly) that no mainstream Christian would support it. Moderate Muslims don't really get that benefit of the doubt.

    41. Re:Are they also going to block this image by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Catholics never say anything is 'right' - they only say what is 'wrong'

      Premarital sex is wrong - condemn all who practice it!
      Homosexual sex is wrong - condemn all who practice it!
      Any type of marriage that isn't a 1-man to 1-woman ratio is wrong - condemn all who practice it!
      Preventing Christians from doing something that we also prevent everyone else from doing, is wrong - condemn all who practice it!
      Abortion is wrong - condemn all who practice it!
      Using contraceptives, even to prevent transmission of Aids, is wrong - condemn all who practice it!

      As an institution they had over 1000 years to kill people for it - so the fact that they've not been doing this for the last ~50 years or so ,doesn't exclude them from the religious nutters party yet.

      Go to Northern Ireland and you can still get your kneecaps and ankles shot out just for doing something that is against 'local religious rules'. And those are practicing Christians.
       

    42. Re:Are they also going to block this image by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      First of, I am glad it was you an not me pointing out parallels between radical muslims today and German Nazis in the 1940s.

      Second, you got things confused a bit - those Germans who were already on an anti-Jewish hype, watched a film (and an extremely well made one) that spurred that hype even more. Those Muslims did n o t watch this movie, they are simply going against people whom they t h i n k might watch that movie.

      And thirdly, let's not forget that the first victims of the Nazi regime were those writers and critics who were prepared to die for the freedom of thought, the freedom of speech. And they did die. I think that is a sacrifice that should be honoured by all nations that call themselves free. Maybe even Google.

  6. Delicate Balance by wermske · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    I believe there is a delicate balance between having and holding values and imposing them upon others. I don't deny that the violent reaction is itself an imposition of values; however, I posit that traditions of free speech can withstand the assault and our culture is unharmed by demonstration of respect. Where as, I am not confident that opposition cultures with outspoken and violent counter-mainstream elements -- unsteeped in and intollerant of traditions of free speech -- are capable of withstanding the intense pressures of cultural imperialism.

    I think it is entirely appropriate, for regional stability, diplomatic relations, and national security to consider being judicious in how we share our culture, how we respect minority voices (while at the same time reserving the right to disagree), and how we permit individual members of our society to cause harm through negligent speech or action.

    Within the boundaries of our civil society remedy can be sought for harms; however, when the reach of members of our society extend beyond our sphere of influence with ramifications and consequences (blowback) that cause harm or create disruption (directly or indirectly) for our society...it is the duty of governments -- as representatives of the people and charged with the safety and security of the people (and society) to take action.

    In this case Google is taking action, but whether it is taking action of its own accord or at the insistance of governments...it is action all the same. I can understand how this would make the EFF and/or the ACLU twitchy... but when it comes to human life, there IS a price that is too high to pay for free speech relative to the time value received in return (or time cost extracted from humanity as a whole).

  7. Since when is India a Muslim country? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    87% of Indians are not Muslims, and are not going to care one way or another about this movie. What was the need to block it here? Let them block it in dar ul Islam, which includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh & Fuckistan, but does NOT include India.

    1. Re:Since when is India a Muslim country? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, and I just checked. That movie is NOT blocked in India. Here is its link

      http://youtu.be/Lgx1_JVxfZE

      It's a 74 minute track. Yeah, one gets a 'viewer discretion advised advisory, but that's just a blah blah blah

    2. Re:Since when is India a Muslim country? by wermske · · Score: 1

      New to the internets or just drunk? .be is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Belgium.

      The short bus version -- On the website YouTube, a shortener for YouTube videos is youtu.be, for example www.youtube.com/watch?v=CODE become youtu.be/CODE.

      youtu.be and youtube.be are both YouTube Belgium.

    3. Re:Since when is India a Muslim country? by vodka2112 · · Score: 1

      87% of Indians are not Muslims, and are not going to care one way or another about this movie.

      Yes, but that 13% still accounts for more muslims than there are in all of those other countries, except for Malaysia.

      Objectively speaking, the video is insipid and has substandard production... maybe the Indian/Indonesian governments simply have taste :)

      --
      All those who believe in psychokinesis, raise my hand.
    4. Re:Since when is India a Muslim country? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The point is not about India, or for that matter any country, being a Muslim country. The point is that even if you have a minority, you cannot afford to hurt their sentiments. To understand this better, you need to have lived in India, which you have not - that is pretty obvious from your post.

      By now I am sure that most slashdotters would be aware that politics and religion end up in bed together. Minorities may be minorities in comparative numbers, but they are valuable weapons in the political arsenal. A politician who ignores the minorities stands little chance of getting elected.

      You may be right by saying that the common person will not give a rat's ass about what is happening, but there will be 10 politicians for every common man, who would be willing to ignite fires to make themselves 'visible'.

    5. Re:Since when is India a Muslim country? by icebraining · · Score: 1

      There's no such thing as youtube.be or Youtube Belgium, they all redirect to a single site, youtube.com.

    6. Re:Since when is India a Muslim country? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's a load of crap. In India, had anybody made a movie mocking any Hinduism, it would have been ignored. Bollywood does it all the time. Just that non Muslims worldwide - be it Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Jews, et al don't go around killing each other or burning embassies if something like this happens. Sentiments get hurt all the time, but they don't go ballistic about it. Like Muslims.

      Point is India wouldn't have done anything had it been another religion. When the da Vinci Chronicles movie ran, it was not banned in India, although some states did ban it. So there goes your theory that they'd have done it for ANY minority. Muslims are the only ones they'd do it for, and only because they don't want riots.

    7. Re:Since when is India a Muslim country? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is the site you get when you click on the 'Share' box on the page. They take you to the page where it can be viewed, and that's what I copied. I'm sitting in India, and when I click on that link here from /., it takes me to that page. Yeah, I could have just copied the YouTube link instead.

      I essentially have no problems viewing it, despite sitting in India. Oh, and when I type the URL of the page, substituting youtube.in in place of youtube.com, it redirects me to this page http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=IN&hl=en-GB&v=Lgx1_JVxfZE

      So that foreign ministry statement was just there for public consumption. Which is just as well.

    8. Re:Since when is India a Muslim country? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So are a lot of other movies that get released in Hollywood & Bollywood every week, which the Indian government wouldn't dream of banning. That's no rational to BAN a movie, or in this case, actually try & censor the internet.

    9. Re:Since when is India a Muslim country? by BenoitRen · · Score: 1

      I wish people would stop abusing my country's TLD for their stupid shortener.

    10. Re:Since when is India a Muslim country? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are many different religions in India, and they respect all religions, as long as one religion does not affect the other. One way of respecting all religions means being sensitive by avoiding hate speech, because some of them hold their religion dearly. Since the people of India recognize that a minority of people may resort to violence taking innocent lives, they have voted to outlaw hate speech. The United States took many years to mature to allow hate speech. Give India its time. Peace.

    11. Re:Since when is India a Muslim country? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      87% of Indians are not Muslims, and are not going to care one way or another about this movie. What was the need to block it here? Let them block it in dar ul Islam, which includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh & Fuckistan, but does NOT include India.

      Current government of Congress has a long history of pacifying Muslims in India by changing laws, banning books and authors etc.. Since Muslims in India all vote together to the same party (dictated by their mullahs), they become a big force/vote-bank to be counted on. Hindus on the other hand come from variety of backgrounds, most of them not being keen on religion. That makes this "you are a Muslim so you get a free pass" kind of attitude a good political bet without much repercussion from other side.

      Except when it does. Then we have riots, of course.

    12. Re:Since when is India a Muslim country? by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      When 13% of your citizens riot all at once, they can cause some serious damage and deaths. So India is pandering to the sensitivities of that 13% quite a lot.

      That they also vote mostly as a single block also helps there.

    13. Re:Since when is India a Muslim country? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      87% of Indians are not Muslims, and are not going to care one way or another about this movie. What was the need to block it here? Let them block it in dar ul Islam, which includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh & Fuckistan, but does NOT include India.

      In India, every religion is respected. Ruling party cares a lot about Muslims because it is their vote bank. Also, there was attack in Chennai US assembly. So they banned.

  8. Makes me laugh... by ibsteve2u · · Score: 0

    Strange, how the blood-thirstiest Americans on all subjects Islamic are those who have avoided - or, all too often, evaded - wearing one of the uniforms of this nation's military.

    --
    Orwell: "In a Time of Universal Deceit, telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act"
    1. Re:Makes me laugh... by couchslug · · Score: 2

      Plenty of GI's hate Muslims after personal experience with them.

      However, it's unprofessional to voice it, and why voice it when you can act on it instead?

      --
      "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
    2. Re:Makes me laugh... by ibsteve2u · · Score: 1

      Perhaps...I won't bother to contest the definition of "plenty"; instead I would ask how many GIs are demanding that other Americans be sent off to risk life and limb to satisfy their lust for blood sacrifices in the name of religion while they stay safe at home?

      --
      Orwell: "In a Time of Universal Deceit, telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act"
    3. Re:Makes me laugh... by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

      I imagine that if someone in the US military went around talking about how much they need to purge the world of the evils of Islam, their superiors would make sure they are kept far, far away from the front lines. Right now, it's important the US military mainstains a squeaky-clean image. People in uniform declaring they are waging holy war are just providing material for enemy propaganda.

    4. Re:Makes me laugh... by ibsteve2u · · Score: 1

      I certainly wouldn't disagree with you - in fact, I'd say that your comment is so very "common sense" that I am unable to see the actions of that filmmaker or those who distribute that film as being anything other than a conscious attempt to betray our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines as well as all overseas American civilians.

      --
      Orwell: "In a Time of Universal Deceit, telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act"
    5. Re:Makes me laugh... by SuricouRaven · · Score: 2

      I've not seen the film, but I have seen a lot of right-wing propaganda, and have my own theory. A common sentiment on the right is that the western world and the islamic world are already fighting an undeclared culture war, and there can be only one victor. They are very concerned that those on the left deny this. From the point of view of the right, this is a disaster: There is a war on, and their own generals refuse to fight back or even admit a conflict exists. Thus the production of materials like this, intended to be inflamatory and provoke a violent reaction, and force this simmering culture war into an open conflict which no-one can deny.

    6. Re:Makes me laugh... by ibsteve2u · · Score: 0

      Concur, again...we didn't get all of the Charlie Mansons out there locked up.

      --
      Orwell: "In a Time of Universal Deceit, telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act"
    7. Re:Makes me laugh... by d3ac0n · · Score: 3, Insightful

      how many GIs are demanding that other Americans be sent off to risk life and limb to satisfy their lust for blood sacrifices in the name of religion while they stay safe at home?

      I would say probably none. But then, I would count the number of Americans in general that believe that as ALSO none.

      I WOULD count the number of Americans that falsely believe that some their fellow Americans are crazed religious nutbags that want to slaughter people who theologically disagree with them as AT LEAST one, and probably more as I know that there is a strain of anti-religious (Really, Anti-Christian) fervor that has infected some people in America that has no grounding in reality and is instead held up by anti-religiously bigoted propaganda by people with political and financial hay to make.

      Congratulations on buying into the lie, BTW.

      --
      Official Heretic from the "Church of Global Warming". Proven right thanks to whistle blowers. AGW = Flat Earth Theory
    8. Re:Makes me laugh... by dave420 · · Score: 1

      And not to mention it's illogical and the result of a mind too lazy or unaware to differentiate some Muslims with all Muslims...

    9. Re:Makes me laugh... by ibsteve2u · · Score: 1

      a) I see lots of commentators on the web who quote the Bible - I guess as a way of breaking up their unending stream of anti-Islam rhetoric

      b) I live in the hills of Western Pennsylvania - right here where Bibles and guns (lots of guns, I might add) are in everybody's living room...I hear such rhetoric "live and in person"...enough.

      c) Ever watch CBN?

      If it's a "lie", ya'll surely do have a lot of great actors...way better than Romney and Ryan.

      --
      Orwell: "In a Time of Universal Deceit, telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act"
    10. Re:Makes me laugh... by stdarg · · Score: 1

      Do a search for "american cultural imperialism" and you'll see this isn't just a US-based right-wing idea. It's a pretty widely accepted thing. Liberals in the US are very pro-cultural-imperialism as well -- which is why there are movements HERE to influence laws about homosexuality in Uganda; and why activists HERE fight female circumcision in Africa. That's us trying to get our liberal-slanted cultural norms to win out over their cultural norms.

      You're right that the left and right don't agree on the role of Islam in the culture wars. But I don't think you can say that the left doesn't see a culture war to begin with.

      Also I don't think films like the one in question are intended to produce an open conflict. To me the purpose they serve is to force Muslims to confront themselves and their beliefs that lead to violent protests over silly and harmless images. I guarantee if every Muslim in the world sat down and watched a new film just like "Innocence of Muslims", the result wouldn't be world war, it would be a total cessation of protests about ANY religious matter after a few weeks. In reality the desensitization campaign can't be so concentrated.. it trickles in slowly. After enough years, maybe decades, I think it'll have the same effect.

    11. Re:Makes me laugh... by Goth+Biker+Babe · · Score: 2

      And plenty of Muslims loath GIs after America has invaded their sovereign territory and massacred them. It goes both ways.

    12. Re:Makes me laugh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Strange, how the blood-thirstiest Americans on all subjects Islamic are those who have avoided - or, all too often, evaded - wearing one of the uniforms of this nation's military [Citation needed].

    13. Re:Makes me laugh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ooh, ooh, troll troll troll

      Maybe those selfsame Muslims should police their own and stop their indiscriminant murder of everyone who does not share their belief system. Maybe all Muslims should stop blaming everyone else for speaking their mind and instead blame themselves for acting out with violence. The religion of Islam, a supposed religion of "peace", though murder.

      See what I did there? I TOO can blame ALL Muslims and their faith for the actions of a few...

      Feeling persecuted yet? Piss off enough non-Muslims and you won't have to police yourselves...we will all do it for you.

    14. Re:Makes me laugh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And plenty of Muslims loath GIs after America has invaded their sovereign territory and massacred them. It goes both ways.

      And has, for significantly longer than the events which you are referencing (see also the Crusades), and it won't stop until cooler heads prevail.

    15. Re:Makes me laugh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This response is so laughably untrue that I almost think it has to be a troll. But, just in case this is so, let me speak from personal experience.

      I live in an affluent suburban area in Pennsylvania. The religious spectrum here is virtually entirely Protestant Christian, and that spectrum has undergone some major ideological shifts in the past 10-20 years. My family actively engaged in a conservative Mennonite congregation from when I was young until I graduated from High School, and compared to the sort of neoconservative elements that have risen post-9/11, our former church now seems almost alienly liberal. 9/11 changed the Christian outlook on the world, but especially on the Middle East.

      Islam, which had been largely ignored to the point of nonexistence, gained a special place of hate. I am still involved with the Christian community, and I have heard countless references to "muslimism", "towelheads", "sand niggers", and so on; I have heard people who I thought were otherwise sane and rational suggest measures like "turn the entire Middle East into a parking lot [with nuclear weapons]"; I have heard said with a straight face that the government of Haiti "sold the country to Satan"; and countless other similar comments. These are not jokes-- and to disagree with any of these notions is to invite derision. There is an uncomfortable overlap between the neoconservative movement and present evangelicalism, and it is not confined to backwater communities of the American South or Midwest. It spans the United States, and it is growing.

      If you genuinely believe that there is not a present and vehement hatred for other religions in modern day Christian America, you are either enviably sheltered from the past 12 years, or you're blind. As you say, there is considerable "political and financial hay to make" with "bigoted propaganda", but said propaganda is in the employ of the Religious Right. The ways they are gaining power from this are obvious-- look at the rise of the Tea Party and the consolidation of the Republican Party on further and more inflammatory rhetoric (always in the name of "family values"). Look at the explosive growth of Christian "megachurches" which transcend older denominational splits and are bound by corporatism. There are many people getting rich off of hateful invective, and the Glenn Becks and Ann Coulters aren't making that kind of bank from being "anti-Christian".

      I know it feels good to log in to Slashdot and act smugly superior to others (as they, of course, "buy into the lie" and you do not), but the criticism you level is as absurd as your own backpatting.

    16. Re:Makes me laugh... by ibsteve2u · · Score: 1

      I WOULD count the number of Americans that falsely believe that some their fellow Americans are crazed religious nutbags that want to slaughter people who theologically disagree with them as AT LEAST one, and probably more as I know that there is a strain of anti-religious (Really, Anti-Christian) fervor that has infected some people in America that has no grounding in reality and is instead held up by anti-religiously bigoted propaganda by people with political and financial hay to make.

      Congratulations on buying into the lie, BTW.

      Guess I should have included:

      d) Ever heard of the Family Research Council?

      --
      Orwell: "In a Time of Universal Deceit, telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act"
    17. Re:Makes me laugh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They aren't _that_ far apart, but what I read in that link was more fear than hate. The Christian right in the US fears Islam/Muslims, which is different from Muslim extremists who hate the USA (and probably all of the west). I definitely got a different vibe reading that than when reading about the actions of Muslim extremists throughout the world.

      It would be like comparing the speakers in that article to Timothy McVeigh... and I assume you can see a difference there also.

  9. Election Year People by FriendlyLurker · · Score: 4, Informative

    "Muslim world rising against America" is your shock doctrine for this election, please vote accordingly and against your own interests.

    1. Re:Election Year People by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      "Muslim world rising against America" is your shock doctrine for this election, please vote accordingly and against your own interests.

      Except that the mythological 'Shock Doctrine' is supposed to be a purposely manufactured or media overblown event.

      There is nothing that indicates this was a purposely manufactured or media overblown event.

      If you apply the 'Shock Doctrine' mythology of Naomi Klein in this way then every crisis or bad thing that happens will be a conspiracy designed to control you, manufactured by the shadowy capitalist masters.

      It seriously concerns me that this view is at +5 on Slashdot.

    2. Re:Election Year People by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I find it sad that in the mail section many people claim it is a religion of peace and 90% of the other comments are hate speech, especially aimed at Christianity. I wouldn't like to use this as a judge for all Islamic people but I feel like a lot of those commenters have lost track of reality and are more concerned with calling people's mothers whores than doing something constructive with their time.

    3. Re:Election Year People by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hear you, brother. Kleins book is riddled with errors and contradictions; it leaves out inconvenient facts and has a general hyperbolic tone. That anyone could find that piece of work inspiring or intellectual is absolutely beyond me. Klein is the Michael Moore of books (and that certainly is not meant as positive statement). If you are left-(leaning) there are much better works out there (Chomsky for example).

  10. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What's that? You want to allow completely free speech to those terrorist pedophile human-trafficking druglord hackers do you?

    Sir, would you have a seat, we need to have a little chat.

  11. It's phenomenally rubbish by Nazlfrag · · Score: 1

    Noone would be trying to watch this without the Streisand effect. I can't see how anyone could take such a terrible piece of filmmaking seriously. Hell, it doesn't even make fucking sense most of the time, it's just so disjointed and jarring. Blocking it worldwide would be doing humanity a favour.

    1. Re:It's phenomenally rubbish by Chrisq · · Score: 1, Troll

      Noone would be trying to watch this without the Streisand effect. I can't see how anyone could take such a terrible piece of filmmaking seriously. Hell, it doesn't even make fucking sense most of the time, it's just so disjointed and jarring. Blocking it worldwide would be doing humanity a favour.

      Hello, we're talking MUZZIES here. They go nuts over books, cartoons, TV shows - just about anything. The more you limit free speech the more they will want it limited.

    2. Re:It's phenomenally rubbish by SuricouRaven · · Score: 2

      Just because people are outraged that the video exists doesn't mean they've actually seen it.

    3. Re:It's phenomenally rubbish by Chrisq · · Score: 5, Informative

      Wow. That was a little harsh? In case you haven't realized this, there are groups, right here in America, that do that sort of thing too - boycotting books, TV shows, movies, or anything that has content they don't agree with. Why was it necessary for the bigoted slur on Muslims?

      Typical Muslim equivocation. Other groups boycotting stores means that it is OK to drag people out of embassies, torture, and murder them. "We are just doing what those Catholics who said 'don't buy the davinci code' did'". I say no it is not the same, if Muslims said "don't watch youtube" then I would not have a problem with it. Its because they react in their traditional manner of killing, rioting, etc.

    4. Re:It's phenomenally rubbish by dave420 · · Score: 1

      Grow the fuck up. Stop making ridiculous generalisations. You do realise those of us who are not hate-filled bigots see your generalisation a mile off (and your use of "Muzzies", which seems to be a favourite word of yours), and can see instantly you, and your pathetic argument, are weak.

    5. Re:It's phenomenally rubbish by MickyTheIdiot · · Score: 0

      We do have right winger implying that they should take up arms if Obama wins the election.

      The right in the U.S. is getting very close the right in the east. Albeit we're not there yet, but we've got loonies that are capable of it and they've got a decent number of followers.

    6. Re:It's phenomenally rubbish by Cajun+Hell · · Score: 1

      Blocking it worldwide would be doing humanity a favour.

      No, giving it a bad review would be doing humanity a favor. Blocking it (or perhaps, as what happened in this case, abstaining from hosting it (Google did not block it)), is a way of implicitly giving it a titillating review (as opposed to bad one), as per the Streisand Effect which you mentioned.

      The worst you think it is, then the more blocking it is the opposite of going humanity a favor.

      Wanna know some shitty content which is both disrespected and ignored by humanity, and ignored all the more, the less it is blocked? Spam. If you want to do humanity a favor, help humanity see this movie as Spam.

      --
      "Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
    7. Re:It's phenomenally rubbish by jjo · · Score: 2

      And we have left wingers saying we need to blow up Wall Street. And no one cares, because lunatic ravings have always been with us and will always be with us; the difference these days is that the lunatics have a bigger megaphone available. The day you see left-wing or right-wing mobs murdering people in the USA is the day I will start being concerned in the USA. In Muslim countries, the mobs are murdering right now.

    8. Re:It's phenomenally rubbish by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If quality was a criteria on whether movies should be banned or not, the bulk of them coming out of Hollywood ought to be banned.

    9. Re:It's phenomenally rubbish by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are riots or violent demonstrations in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen, Lebanon, Pakistan and who knows where next. What's common to all these countries? Why, yes, these are MUSLIM countries, and its MUSLIMS who've gone unhinged over an obscure movie about their pedophilic, rapist, murderous, deranged founder. So there was nothing wrong with what the GP said. If a majority of Muslims did not/do not agree with these reactions, all these countries wouldn't be discussing how to censor YouTube for carrying that movie.

  12. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    > What happened to freedom of speech, Google?

    Trumped by local laws. Local laws like the DMCA, copyright, etc. Theres no way for a company to fight laws.

    > They are no longer the freedom loving and defending company

    They cannot fight a state, they can only get out of that state.

    > All went downhill after the failured product Google+.

    No, all went down the crapper when single states introduced laws to censor the net. Theocracies introducing laws to censor blashpemy is no different than capitalist states having laws censoring filesharing.

  13. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What happened to freedom of speech, Google?

    Fatwas, son. Fatwas.

  14. Nothing new here by aepervius · · Score: 1

    Specific video have been region blocked for a long while. I can watch many video even from game because it is blocked in germany due to copyright reason. So if you block due to one law (copyright) you can block due to anotehr law (incitation at blasphemy or whatever the law is called there).

    I am not saying it is good or bad or anything, it is jsut business as usual and local law compliance.

    --
    C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
    visit randi.org
  15. wise to poke animal in cage? by zugedneb · · Score: 0

    this is not about freedom of speech, this is about not angering the animal. say, even if u had the right to poke the monkey in the cage, would it be wise to do it?

    freedom only works when the involved partys can reason, and have reasonable education. this is not true about large parts of the world.

    the people in the middle east are not human beings, as it is today. their minds can not handle higher functions like duality, humor, poetry, analogy and such...

    they are animals, posessed by an abstract entity, Muhammed. be polite and hard towards them, but do not provoke or insult them.

    1. Re:wise to poke animal in cage? by Chrisq · · Score: 1

      this is not about freedom of speech, this is about not angering the animal. say, even if u had the right to poke the monkey in the cage, would it be wise to do it?

      freedom only works when the involved partys can reason, and have reasonable education. this is not true about large parts of the world.

      the people in the middle east are not human beings, as it is today. their minds can not handle higher functions like duality, humor, poetry, analogy and such...

      they are animals, posessed by an abstract entity, Muhammed. be polite and hard towards them, but do not provoke or insult them.

      Firstly this is about Islam, not the Middle East. The funny thing is they want to be seen as sub-human. Their cry is "look what you made me do with your pictures/words. You should have known that Muslims are not capable of self control". And we are supposed to give them special status as an "exemption to free speech" because of this.

    2. Re:wise to poke animal in cage? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      this is not about freedom of speech, this is about not angering the animal. say, even if u had the right to poke the monkey in the cage, would it be wise to do it?

      freedom only works when the involved partys can reason, and have reasonable education. this is not true about large parts of the world.

      the people in the middle east are not human beings, as it is today. their minds can not handle higher functions like duality, humor, poetry, analogy and such...

      they are animals, posessed by an abstract entity, Muhammed. be polite and hard towards them, but do not provoke or insult them.

      So, Muslims can't be expected to act better than animals?

      Hey, you said it.

  16. In other news.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Religious people offended by

  17. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by quantaman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Frankly I'm not hugely bothered by it.

    Nowhere is freedom of speech absolute, it's limited by the ability of the society to tolerate it. Even in the US advocating violence can get you in trouble along with forms of obscenity. Quite relevantly public nudity, which I'd qualify as a form of speech, will get you arrested in a lot of places, but if society was more comfortable with the idea than that restriction would be removed.

    In these countries video they're not used to this level of freedom of speech and their society needs time to adapt. I like pushing the boundaries of free speech in these countries, but sometimes things go viral and push past their ability to deal with it. Given that people are dying as a direct result of this video I can see the justification of some limited censorship (given that it's far beyond what they're allowed to do in their own society).

    As to whether it's effective is another matter, censorship can easily be circumvented, but maybe it's enough of a hindrance to stop it from going viral.

    --
    I stole this Sig
  18. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Freedom of speech means that one shall not be punished for having expressed any opinion (save a few, at least in France, where for example speech that promotes racist hate -- incitation à la haine raciale -- is not protected under freedom of speech).

    However, freedom of speech does not mean that one would have a right to express oneself through any specific medium. Thus, the fact that some medium refuses to carry someone's message is not a restriction to that person's freedom of speech.

  19. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Gordonjcp · · Score: 1, Insightful

    So under freedom of speech, should they be allowed to publish neo-Nazi material too? Post up a video calling for the extermination of all the Jews and see how long it takes before it gets pulled.

    This "Innocence of Muslims" video is exactly the same as the anti-Semetic propaganda produced by the Nazis 80-odd years ago.

  20. Google = Youtube by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...and let's face it, YouTube blocks based on 'country' more than anyone else based on nothing more than COPYRIGHT. How is this a surprise?

  21. Now its blocked in Malaysia as well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The video has now been blocked in Malaysia as well. I guess this request and removal phase is going to go on for a few days. Pity!!!

  22. If Islam is such a peaceful religion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    why do so many of its adherents riot and call for executions every time someone does/says something vaguely (or not vaguely) insulting? Some idiot preacher in Florida says he's going to burn some Qurans and half the middle east goes up in flames. Someone draws a cartoon of Mohammed and gets murdered for it. Now some dopes make a movie and embassies all over the world are under attack.

    The official line is that the violence is perpetrated by "a few extremists" but when I watch the news I see hundreds of thousands of people fighting with police, burning cars and buildings, attacking embassies, etc. Peaceful? Really?

    Religion, stupidity, and politics are a bad combination.

    1. Re:If Islam is such a peaceful religion by slim · · Score: 1

      why do so many of its adherents riot and call for executions every time someone does/says something vaguely (or not vaguely) insulting?

      Define "so many". There are 1,600 million Muslims, most of whom are not extremists.

    2. Re:If Islam is such a peaceful religion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also 'Bipartisanship', but you're not supposed to mention that in mixed company :)

    3. Re:If Islam is such a peaceful religion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Religion, stupidity, and politics are a bad combination.

      Yes, its called islam

      Or Mitt Romney

    4. Re:If Islam is such a peaceful religion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The answer here is to get them used to it. Someone needs to make a tool that can quickly create a website blaspheming their religion in a different way every day.

      Maybe then they can grow some thick skin.

    5. Re:If Islam is such a peaceful religion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Many enough to kill significant numbers of other people (some not even related to the supposed offence).

      Objectively the muslims are a more violent religious group on average. They are more likely to kill people in the name of their religion than members of the other top religions in the world.

      The Christians kill those abortion clinic doctors, but their kill rates are way lower. Whereas the muslims kill apostates, blasphemers, alleged blasphemers, victims of rape, etc. There are just so many abortion clinic doctors...

      The Hindus do a fair bit of violence - to Christians and Muslims, but they are still behind the Muslims (I think).

      The violent Buddhists seem mainly concentrated in Sri Lanka. We're likely safe from them ;).

    6. Re:If Islam is such a peaceful religion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Indeed there are so many muslims in the world yet why do they make so little noise when it comes to opposing extremists and islamic terrorists? Why do so few stand up and be counted? The world is watching.

    7. Re:If Islam is such a peaceful religion by slim · · Score: 1

      Every time there's a terrorist attack / etc, groups representing Muslims make public statements opposing them. In Britain it's usually the Muslim Council of Britain. There's some controversy because it's a completely self-appointed organisation, but still they broadly represent ordinary British Muslims.

      Where you live, I don't know who it is -- but I'm certain they exist.

      Now, how keen is your news channel to broadcast their boring old conciliatory message, I wonder?

    8. Re:If Islam is such a peaceful religion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you are not with us than you're with them.

    9. Re:If Islam is such a peaceful religion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is really no stand made against the violence, otherwise it would be condemned worldwide and it would not happen. The fact that there are riots everywhere shows every Muslim's complicity in the attacks.

      Really Muslims, you and your religion look horrible today.

    10. Re:If Islam is such a peaceful religion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    11. Re:If Islam is such a peaceful religion by toriver · · Score: 1

      Well, it has to be self-appointed, since Sunni Islam does not have a formal church like the Catholics do, so who else should appoint it? As long as it has been accepted by most it should function as intended.

      I would like to have seen Fox News' coverage of the recently uncovered cover-up of sexual abuses in the (largely Christian and conservative) Scout organizations over there...

  23. Well, with a lot of differences by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Jews didn't control much of the world oil, making them filthy rich with little to do to keep their exploding population happy. (The arab "spring" was just a lot of young people with an education and no jobs getting fed up with doing nothing. Even in Libia which could afford to have an enormous essentially un-employed population)

    Jews are one of smallest groups in the world, Muslims one of the biggest.

    Jews don't hijack aircraft.

    There is no mass immigration of jews into atheist countries from Jewish countries and then trying to turn their new homeland into a muslim state. Muslims are fleeing muslim controlled countries, then trying to convert their new country to be run the same way. See Sharia4Beglim and Sharia4Holland. England already has Sharia courts.

    Need I go on? Stop comparing the conflict with Islam with nazi germany, the differences are gigantic and the parallells are at right angles to each other.

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

    1. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by ericloewe · · Score: 1

      Have you ever heard that every discussion on the internet, if it runs long enough, will lead to a Hitler/Nazi comparison?

      The parent sure has a valid point, though: That video is pretty much on the same level as Nazi propaganda, only far less spectacular.

      Frankly, these provocations won't help anyone. I do believe most of those people could learn quite a bit about democracy, freedom of speech, cooperation and tolerance. However, provoking them is asking for troube, since they don't yet respect the aforementioned principles and still seriously listen to religious extremists.

    2. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by miketheanimal · · Score: 5, Informative

      England already has Sharia courts.

      This is technically true but grossly misleading: England also already has Jewish courts. They have exactly the same standing, which is they have no standing in law. They operate purely where the plaintiffs agree to abide by their judgement. Really, they are no different from say two people going to a mutual friend and asking the friend to adjudicate on a disagreement.

    3. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by martinX · · Score: 4, Funny

      And the US has Bozo Courts.

      --
      When they came for the communists, I said "He's next door. Take him away. Goddam commies."
    4. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Jews don't hijack aircraft."

      They don't need to, they were the ones who built nukes for the US seven decades ago.

    5. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by KiloByte · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You're getting the Nazi comparison wrong. It's not muslims who are victims here, they are the offenders.

      Let's see:
      * vicious hatred towards jews, to the point of utter annihilation
      * hatred towards everyone not of their race^Wreligion, considering them not good for being anything but slaves (dhimmis)
      * demand for all the land
      * personality cult of the Glorious Leader (uncle Adolf vs Muhammad)
      * mass-murders of any perceived opposition
      * ... especially of civilians

      --
      The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
    6. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by jlar · · Score: 4, Informative

      "Frankly, these provocations won't help anyone."

      I agree that the Mohammed film in question is terrible. But it does address some important issues with Islam. And that will help us non-believers in the long run. For example the issue of child marriage. Aisha, one of Mohammeds wifes were 9 or 10 when the marriage was consummated. And we should of course (also as non-muslims) be free to debate if that is behaviour befitting for a prophet. Another example is the glorification of violence against non-muslims. At least as long as the main schools of Islam argue that the behaviour of Mohammed is perfect and should form an ideal guideline on how muslims should live in the 21st century.

      Another point is that this film is only one pearl in a series of incidents where muslims are threatening fellow muslims or non-muslims over perceived blasphemy. The last example was a documentary on Channel 4 (examining the historical roots of Islam) where a planning screening was cancelled due to threats to the historian behind the film:

      http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/channel-4-cancels-controversial-screening-of-islam-the-untold-story-documentary-after-presenter-tom-holland-is-threatened-8125641.html

    7. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you look hard enough, you will find that marriage was in fact frequent between very young girls and men. Even among Christians and Jews. Not sure about 9-10 years old but then again who can really accurately tell us the age of those girls?

    8. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The one issue w/ sharia courts being voluntary is coercion of defendants.
      Women in particular.
      They may be "voluntarily" agreeing to a system which may deny them civil rights.

    9. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by ghostdoc · · Score: 3, Insightful

      From where I'm standing, I see all of that coming from Christian fundamentalists too.

      There are plenty of perfectly reasonable people of all races and religions, and a minority of extremists.

      You've got to stop feeding the trolls...

      --
      Business/App ideas are like arseholes: everyone's got one, they're mostly shit, but very rarely they contain a diamond
    10. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by jlar · · Score: 1

      I agree. In a historical context small girls were probably given away (sold) as spouses in Arabia. And that is history. But all islamic schools insist that the behaviour of Mohammed is perfect and should not put into a historical context. And that is exactly my point. It is good that the parts of the life of Mohammed that are totally unacceptable in the world today are drawn into the clear sunlight. It must be made clear that if muslims want to live in harmony with the rest of the World they have to abandon the notion that the Quran is perfect and is not part of any historical context.

    11. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by Ash+Vince · · Score: 4, Informative

      England already has Sharia courts.

      Please stop repeating this crap. You might be able to dump a village elder in a local community centre and pretend it is a court but it carries no legal weight. The only way it can work is if both parties decide to forgo their normal entitlement to a real legal court and agree to an independent tribunal with no legal weight.

      England does not have sharia courts with and legal weight. Just because some dickhead can sit in a room and pretend it is a court does not mean it carries and legal weight. If I do not like what a Sharia court says it has no legal right to force me into it unless a real court also agrees following normal legal precedent.

      England does not have Sharia courts with any legal standing.

      --
      I dont read /. to RTFA, I read /. to offend people in ignorance.
    12. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by cpghost · · Score: 1

      This is technically true but grossly misleading: England also already has Jewish courts. They have exactly the same standing, which is they have no standing in law.

      In this case, rabbinical courts have more standing in law in Morocco than in England, since Morocco explicitly grants them autonomy in matters of civilian family matters.

      --
      cpghost at Cordula's Web.
    13. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by heathen_01 · · Score: 0

      There are plenty of perfectly reasonable people of all races and religions, and a minority of extremists.

      I have yet to meet an adherent of any religion who is reasonable. They all seem to have a basic problem with the fundementals of reason.

    14. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by heathen_01 · · Score: 1

      England does not have Sharia courts with any legal standing.

      While you're technically correct, I don't think the matter is black and white. For example look at the case with forced marriages & circumcision. The UK has laws against that behaviour however the tradition still persists and people suffer because of it. Sharia courts can be abused and people taken advantage of.

    15. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by KiloByte · · Score: 1

      The difference is, the Bible is a big pile of inconsistent self-contradicting works, it is impossible to follow it without cherry-picking. With Koran, this is not the case: it's the work of a single man, Uthman (ok, text selection, nameless scribes did the actual editing). And it contains very few contradictions, making the message clear. And I really don't like what that message says.

      In other words: there are no good muslims. Islam and peaceful coexistence with others are mutually exclusive. There is plenty of good folks who call themselves muslims, but they're sinful cherry-pickers who are muslims in name only. You don't murder infidels? Then you don't deserve to be called a muslim, as you don't do what your scripture demands.

      --
      The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
    16. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by psiclops · · Score: 3, Informative

      Jews are one of smallest groups in the world, Muslims one of the biggest.

      Jews don't hijack aircraft.

      if you want to compare entire races you might want to read up on Igrun you'll find them in the wiki page regarding The History of terrorism

      Irgun sought to aggressively defend Jews from Arab attacks. Its tactic of attacking Arab communities, including the bombing a crowded Arab market, is considered among the first examples of terrorism directed against civilians.

      From later in the same page:

      Lehi (Lohamei Herut Yisrael, a.k.a. "Freedom Fighters for Israel", a.k.a. Stern Gang) was a revisionist Zionist group that splintered off from Irgun in 1940

      and then:

      After Israel's 1948 founding, Lehi was formally dissolved and its members integrated into the Israeli Defense Forces

      see, it's easy to pick any race and make them all out to be the bad guys.

      Muslims are fleeing muslim controlled countries, then trying to convert their new country to be run the same way.

      you've never met a Muslim who's actually fled their home country have you? hell i'd bet 50/50 you've never had a real conversation with one of Islamic faith. everyone i know certainly does not want to turn this country into something like where they came from (hint: there's a reason they fled.) generally those with enough power who's anti-west statements you hear did not need to flee their home country, and those on the streets inciting violence are just lapping up what they say (and like do not know what their hometowns are like)

      --
      i spent five minutes thinking and all i got was this crappy sig
    17. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Walk into an average church during a service, at least half of them will be perfectly reasonable.

    18. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by heathen_01 · · Score: 1
    19. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have met Muslims who have fled their country. I know a black man from Sudan who fled the genocide there. I know a woman from Sweden who married a Muslim, converted, and later left that marriage (and Islam) after the Husband started being abusive. I know a Coptic woman from Egypt who left Egypt for good following the recent "democratic" revolution. All have less than kind things to say about Islam.

    20. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by digitalaudiorock · · Score: 2

      From where I'm standing, I see all of that coming from Christian fundamentalists too.

      There are plenty of perfectly reasonable people of all races and religions, and a minority of extremists.

      You've got to stop feeding the trolls...

      You hit the nail on the head when you say "a minority of extremists".

      That's what blow my mind with this "all Muslims are terrorists" mentality. Let's do a little math: There are 1.4 billion Muslims in the world. If, hypothetically, even one tenth of one percent of that number were terrorists, a large portion of the rest of the world would likely be dead already, because their numbers would equal the entire active U.S. military.

      A while back, out of curiosity, I checked the numbers and discovered that the percentage of Islam represented by al-Qaeda was the same (down to several decimal places) as the percentage of Protestants represented by the Klan...it was 0.0013 %

      When you have a group that huge, the fringe is going to be very visible, and neither religion should be held accountable for the actions of a tiny minority.

    21. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by slim · · Score: 2

      The difference is, the Bible is a big pile of inconsistent self-contradicting works, it is impossible to follow it without cherry-picking. With Koran, this is not the case: it's the work of a single man, Uthman (ok, text selection, nameless scribes did the actual editing). And it contains very few contradictions, making the message clear

      Well, it's not quite as simple as that -- or why would the Sunnis and the Shiites disagree so vehemently? The Koran is open to interpretation, because of course the modern world is not the same as 600CE. Hence we have Muftis who produce fatwaa, in which they document their interpretation of what the Koran has to say about some modern subject. So there's plenty of scope for Muslims to disagree with each other -- they can have almighty scraps about which Muftis are entitled to issue fatwaa and which ones are not.

    22. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by alantus · · Score: 1

      If you look hard enough, you will find that marriage was in fact frequent between very young girls and men. Even among Christians and Jews. Not sure about 9-10 years old but then again who can really accurately tell us the age of those girls?

      Not only that, but I have strong reasons to believe that Moses was a picker.

    23. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      but it carries no legal weight

      If the opposing parties both seek and abide by the ruling, does it need "legal weight" to be legitimized? If not, then sharia law has a foothold in England.

      Laws only have meaning if the people using them believe they have meaning.

    24. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by slim · · Score: 1

      Here's the important thing.

      An English Sharia court can't sentence someone to death, because if the sentence were carried out it would be murder under English law.

      An English Sharia court can't sentence someone to imprisonment, because if the sentence were carried out it would be unlawful imprisonment under English law. ... and so it goes on. It's restricted to rulings which the opposing parties can voluntarily abide by, within English law.

      It really is no different from a separating couple saying to each other "we can't agree how to split the proceeds from selling the house; let's agree to do whatever our mutual friend Dave tells us". (Where Dave is considered an senior upstanding figure)

    25. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree that there are "minority" groups within each religions that will kill others who disagrees with them. The question here is proportions -- in some religions, these "minority" groups are not that minor. At some point, these "outliers" become statistically significant.

      We need to stop talking about anecdotal incidents and start analyzing this with some scientific rigor. What is the total population size of the religion in question? What proportion of your sample exhibits violent behavior? Statistical conclusions can be made, and I don't believe the results will say "all religions are the same". (Just because a 6-sided die and a 100-sided die will probably roll 1 at least once when rolled 1000000 times, it doesn't mean both dice are the same.)

    26. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by nanospook · · Score: 1

      I tried to jerk off to Judge Judy but I immediately felt guilty!

      --
      Have you fscked your local propeller head today?
    27. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by KiloByte · · Score: 1

      They disagree which additional hadith should be obeyed, not about the Koran itself.

      This said, Koran is not strictly without contradictions -- it's hard for a text 1400 years old to be clearly understandable by a modern reader. Skeptic's Annotated Quran lists 32 issues -- as opposed to Bible's 462 ones. I'd also assign Koran's contradictions a far lesser weight (as opposed to, say, whether afterlife exists or not), and in many cases dispute them entirely (like, "Allah cannot possibly have a child" doesn't contradict "Allah is omnipotent", it sounds more like a description of his nature, as a being transcending the world).

      --
      The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
    28. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      INSIGHTFUL!

    29. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by toriver · · Score: 1

      Yes, he consummated the marriage early (for a modern Western frame of reference, what with the women's right campaigners having managed to establish proper age of content laws), but it should be pointed out that he remained married to her for many years. If he had been a "pedophile" (as so many haters yell), he would he found himself a new youngster, right?

    30. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by toriver · · Score: 1

      Given that women generally had far greater rights in Islam than in e.g. Catholicism, I fail to see the problem; yes there are stronger separations of the rights and duties of the sexes, but they are not that different from what were practiced in the Christian West as late as the 1950s. Except women could not divorce abusive husbands in Catholic countries...

    31. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by toriver · · Score: 1

      As I understand it, forced marriages are illegal in Islam as well (though arranged marriages are OK), but some pre-Islamic traditions persist (e.g. some Pakistani Muslims employ the Hindu caste system, defying that all men should be equal before God and all that)..

      As for circumcision, it is practiced also among Jews and some protestant Americans, the latter often using varying justifications citing health advantages (long since refuted)... not sure what they have to do with sharia courts.

    32. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      Not that I like them, but how many people have Christian fundies decapitated last year while chanting "Praise Jesus"?

    33. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Given that women generally had far greater rights in Islam than in e.g. Catholicism, I fail to see the problem; yes there are stronger separations of the rights and duties of the sexes, but they are not that different from what were practiced in the Christian West as late as the 1950s. Except women could not divorce abusive husbands in Catholic countries...

      I always find it hilarious that whenever issues with basic human rights in muslim countries is brought up, situation that has had only incremental improvement in the past few decades, a situation that is often worst in the most fundamental muslim comunities (i.e. - not Turkey, but sure as hell the muslims practicing sharia law in the UK) that someone points out that the situation in the West sucked at some point in the distant past.
      1950 is definitely pushing that figure, but is still hilarious.

      http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/women-under-sharia-law

    34. Re:Well, with a lot of differences by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good thing the Aryan master race would NEVER engage in terrorism. It's always those damn jews, I tell you.

  24. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by wienerschnizzel · · Score: 5, Informative

    Don't understand. If anything your remark only supports the point that companies should comply with the law.

  25. A better idea by GeekWithAKnife · · Score: 1


    Let's just give people an option in their web browsers to filter content. Perhaps a similar option to "do not track" we can have a "stick head in the sand" option?
    Perhaps better described as; "If I can't see you you can't see me too"

    On a more serious google is a multinational business. As a business it must protect its revenue. A good business knows better than to anger it's customers. When you will anger them anyways, you choose the lesser of two evils. Perfectly understandable on their part.
    Besides, the people that really want to see the video will find a way.

    About the video...yes the video is intentionally provocative and at the same time it does not preach violence. It makes a mockery of a religion.

    I'm not a scholar of Islam but I am told that a Muslim must always try to represent Islam in a positive manner. If anything such an approach would lead one to behave in a manner that was better.

    Is this how those people hat are burning flags and embassies want to represent Islam? will this lead people to respect your beliefs?

    Just because some people believe in some unicorns does not mean it's special. Does not mean it demands respect. Heck it can be a genuine fact based belief and still would be made fun of.
    I believe that humor is the real offense to totalitarian regimes, the real danger to unilateral and undisputed rule.

    --
    A 'singular oddity' is an event that cannot be explained and only happens when you are alone.
    1. Re:A better idea by toriver · · Score: 1

      I thought burning (at least the U.S. flag) was protected speech if done in the United States? That there is a yearly ritual where some conservative Senator proposes a bill to ban it which is then summarily voted down on 1st Amendment grounds? So why not let others do that, too?

  26. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So under freedom of speech, should they be allowed to publish neo-Nazi material too? Post up a video calling for the extermination of all the Jews and see how long it takes before it gets pulled.

    This "Innocence of Muslims" video is exactly the same as the anti-Semetic propaganda produced by the Nazis 80-odd years ago.

    BULLSHIT

    The "Innocence of Muslims" would be a parody of Hitler and the Nazis.

    The rioting jackasses are the murderous Nazis.

    Literally.

    Way to really fuck things up, you grovelling twerp.

  27. Still.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I really don't care... Really. This is just the latest excuse someone somewhere tossed out for the reason that muslims are killing people... again.
    If it wasnt this video it would be some cartoon. Or maybe a book. Or a newspaper. Maybe just something someone somewhere did or said... or didnt say.

    You can't deal with a religion that wants everyone else dead by saying ' i respect your right to religious differences' and pandering to them.
    It's just not gonna work.

    Someday the world is gonna have to deal with the muslims in a much stronger tone. A good chunk of them don't seem to be compatable with the rest of the people on the planet.
    Doesn't look like that's gonna change anytime soon either. In fact it seems to keep getting worse.

    The longer you wait to deal with the problem. The worse it will be to deal with too.

    1. Re:Still.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Better off dealing with the Americans - they've kllled far more people in the last decade then all the Islamic countries put together. For the good of the world America needs to be put down, like the rapid dog it is.

    2. Re:Still.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree with you, but have no idea how that's going to work.

  28. Stupid is as stupid does by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    These are just angry poor people who want someone to blame for the injustices and inequities in their lives, there is no coherent ideology, kinda like poking bees. They deserve our sympathy for the pathetic uneducated lives that they leave. Despite all this, how we treat them is a test (of sorts) for how far "we" have progressed from them.

  29. good compromise by Tom · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I actually like what they are doing here.

    Refusing to take it down entirely is good. Blocking it in countries where the authorities want it blocked is also good. Refusing to do that would be a typical USA "we know better than you" move, and that is a big piece of the reason why the US is hated in so many places around the world.

    If people within the country don't like what their government is doing, it is their job to solve that problem. If they need help, they can ask for it. Don't force "help" on people who may or may not want it.

    --
    Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
    1. Re:good compromise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So agreeing to censorship is good? Ha! It's nonsense that Islam thinks non-Muslims care at all about their rules. One big lesson about growing up that we all learn eventually is that you can't control what other people do - you can only control what you do.

      By the way, Google is not "the U.S.". It is an international, multibillion dollar corporation that cares only about profit.

    2. Re:good compromise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And Google should know the laws of these countries and not have allowed it to be shown there in the first place.

      The FCC censors nudity on the TV here, but it is acceptable in Europe.

    3. Re:good compromise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Does any supposed smart person on the site believe this move was even real? The thing was a fraud.

    4. Re:good compromise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because being liked is what's most important.

    5. Re:good compromise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If people within the country don't like what their government is doing, it is their job to solve that problem

      AAAAHAHAHAHAHA! Man, I was with you up until this point. Because y'know, this method is working out just perfectly for North America right now.

      Course, it doesn't help that the vast majority of voters is as dumb as a bag of hammers, but still... the last time I heard about a "satisfaction with how the government is doing" poll was some horrendously low number. Not sure if it was for Obama or Bush, but generally, I don't think the public's opinion of the US Government has skyrocketted since Bush was there.

      Could be wrong, since I'm in Canada on the outside looking in... but from what I can tell, the general approval of what the US government is doing right now isn't too high. I honestly can't remember the last time I heard someone even remotely say anything along the lines of "man, Obama is making the country AWESOME".

    6. Re:good compromise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Blocking it in countries where the authorities want it blocked is also good."

      No, it is not. Arbitrary rulers and their arbitrary whims and arbitrary violence are not the measure by which we can say whether it is right or good that something can or cannot be seen. What would be good is the voluntary association of viewers and content provider be freed from the violent intrusion by 3rd parties.

      The only force in this equation is coming from those evil fucks stopping people from peacefully sharing ideas(however dismal they are as is the case with this mediocre video). Refusing to comply with violent mandates is simply a recognition of the basic truths about morality, in which case it most certainly would be true that the peaceful content providers absolutely do know better than the evil thugs willing to hurt innocent people for making mutually accepted exchange. This action would have nothing to do with "USA"(anyone pulling that bullshit is obviously projecting their misplaced low self esteem ego into tribal identities like countries); it would simply be a recognition of the universal and consistent moral principles of reality.

      That said, it is totally understandable that google blocked the video in these countries. They can serve people more by blocking some content and still operating vs being entirely prohibited from operating within a geographical region by some state. If the people find this move worse than being entirely removed from the country as a result of refusing to comply with government demands, then they themselves can make that choice by no longer associating with google.

    7. Re:good compromise by Tom · · Score: 1

      No, it is not. Arbitrary rulers and their arbitrary whims

      That's exactly the attitude I am talking about. Quite a few of those "arbitrary rulers" were elected in elections that were every bit as fair, unbiased, unpolluted by big money and bribery and with clear winners by considerable margins as, say, the election of GW Bush.

      You may or may not like it, but first and foremost, these are the governments of other people. It is not up to you to judge them, it is up to their people.

      What would be good is the voluntary association of viewers and content provider be freed from the violent intrusion by 3rd parties.

      That is your set of values. For every one of you there are two muslims who will say something different. Who are you to claim that your morale is superior to theirs? I am intentionally excluding the cowardly murderers.

      I'm not advocating moral relativism - there certainly are morale absolutes. Any morale that includes sentences ending in "...shall be put to death" is certainly inferior to one that has a more civilized punishment.
      However, I am also not a friend of moral absolutism, the view that your values are the only correct ones. They may even be - for you. Doesn't mean they are for other people.

      And finally, even if these are corrupt, evil governments headed by arbitrary rulers - it is none of your fucking business as long as they don't intrude on your rights or those of your friends or allies.

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
    8. Re:good compromise by Tom · · Score: 1

      Because y'know, this method is working out just perfectly for North America right now.

      Most westerns hate their government. In fact, I personally consider our Chancellor Merkel the worst possible person for that job, entirely incompetent, completely without vision or values and interested only in the perpetuation of her power.

      But very few of us are dissatisfied enough to actually work on overthrowing the government. Lots and lots of arabs, on the other hand, are.

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
    9. Re:good compromise by Tom · · Score: 1

      So agreeing to censorship is good?

      If censorship is the law then yes, it is the right thing to do.
      If you don't like the law, getting it changed is what you should try first.

      And, whatever else those governments do in evil thinks, when it comes to insulting their prophet, they actually do seem to represent the majority opinion of their people.

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
    10. Re:good compromise by toriver · · Score: 1

      Plenty of so-called "copyright infringements" get blocked on a daily basis, abusing the freedom of the people to gain access to cultural creations they are entitled to because the proper terms of copyright monopoly have expired. But because of "arbitrary rulers and arbitrary whims" the rules have been changed to abuse this monopoly, a violation of the contract: A limited protection in return for the work entering the public domain.

      Yet Google have automatic software that scans YouTube and the like, looking for potential "copyright violations" and take them down.

      Fix that, first. That is even without involving another country but the United States themselves.

    11. Re:good compromise by danaris · · Score: 1

      Any morale that includes sentences ending in "...shall be put to death" is certainly inferior to one that has a more civilized punishment.

      Does that include those relating to spammers, and the putting to death thereof?

      [/snark]

      Dan Aris

      --
      Fun. Free. Online. RPG. BattleMaster.
    12. Re:good compromise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The problem with any tyranny is that the populous is typically kept in the dark. How can they respond to ideas outside of what they're told to believe, if they aren't exposed to them? Religious cults are especially adept at removing all doubt from their member's lives, and people typically get inducted into cults by their parents.

      I don't normally go with hard line approaches which could be seen as disrespecting other people's cultures (I'm Australian FFS, we just couldn't be bothered), but I for one think that Google has a moral duty to allow freedom of expression within their networks.

      If these governments don't like it, they can (try to) block it or replace it with a service of their own devising. Hopefully those actions will alarm some of their populace into asking the right questions.

    13. Re:good compromise by Tom · · Score: 1

      Does that include those relating to spammers, and the putting to death thereof?

      Yes, because the more civilized punishment for spammers makes sure that it is a very slow, very painful and very public (to discourage the others) death.

      Alternatively, in countries that don't have the death penalty anymore, I'm willing to settle for a compromise of life-long torture.

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
    14. Re:good compromise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The first step to changing a law is to disobey it.

    15. Re:good compromise by Tom · · Score: 1

      That's not true.

      Many laws have been changed in the history of mankind without disobedience. Civil disobedience is one of many ways in which you can push for a change.

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
  30. Not blocked in Pakistan by kokoko1 · · Score: 3, Informative

    This still not blocked in Pakistan. Google should block it in all the Islamic countries.. India is not Islamic country however after Indonesia it has the 2nd largest Muslim population.

    --
    http://askaralikhan.blogspot.com/
    1. Re:Not blocked in Pakistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Why does something critical of a religion have to be blocked?

      I'm an agnostic, and I've seen any number of documentaries, interviews and propaganda by various religions suggesting that I'm anything from a devil-worshipper to a deviant to an idiot for not wanting to believe whatever religion it is that they believe in and also that I'll burn in hell for all eternity. I don't call that a pleasant belief and especially not when they want to tell me that I'm going to suffer eternal pain for how I live my life.

      I don't ask for them to be blocked, though, or banned. Hell, I can barely be bothered to be offended. If that's truly someone's opinion then it's an opinion (and therefore person, and whatever group they claim membership of) that DOES NOT MATTER to me. Disregard it, move on.

      If it's offensive, don't watch it. Don't encourage it. Ignore it and it will be in the Recycle Bin within a week. As it is, "banning" it has made it one of THE most googled-for items across the world and exposed it to millions who wouldn't have cared and also, because of the ban, put it into people's head that maybe there's something in there that the religion DOESN'T WANT US TO KNOW. Why would you call for something to be banned just because it's inaccurate when you could just put out a correction, an official statement on the film's veracity, and invite the filmmaker to tack it on to the end of the film?

      I don't know. I've not seen it. I don't really care. All I see is people wanting something banned that isn't against YouTube's content guidelines in most countries (i.e. if it's not offensive or inaccurate enough to ban in my own country, then it's probably not actaully that "offensive" at all - just taken personally by the target of the movie).

      Please think of this next time you comment to an athiest, agnostic, or even someone of another religion about how their belief is "wrong". As far as I'm concerned, I've been subjected to more insults and complete dismissal of my opinion from members of religious organisations than just about any other type of organisation, ever.

      One of which is that some of them believe that they should be immune to all forms of criticism, and be endowed with superior powers to curb it and censor such criticism - involving violence. I find that more insulting than anything that could find into a clip on YouTube.

    2. Re:Not blocked in Pakistan by ryzvonusef · · Score: 1

      Actually It's blocked:
      http://i46.tinypic.com/byhx.jpg

      --
      I am an ACCA student. Got a query on Accountancy/Finance? Maybe I can help!
    3. Re:Not blocked in Pakistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As of now Pakistan government blocked the whole YouTube

    4. Re:Not blocked in Pakistan by kokoko1 · · Score: 1

      Yes I read the news on dawn.com they blocked the whole site. While in other Muslim countries Google coordinated with the government and block only the offensive contents no idea why Google refuses to do so in Pakistani government request.

      --
      http://askaralikhan.blogspot.com/
    5. Re:Not blocked in Pakistan by schlachter · · Score: 1

      I'm thinking that people should continue to release videos like this on a regular basis to systematically desensitize these nut jobs. These people can't riot for ever...and even if they do...what do we care?

      --
      My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
  31. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    "Google complies with the laws of the country it operates in."

    If people are not able to use the comment section under the video, they have to go to the street to vent their anger.

  32. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by circletimessquare · · Score: 5, Insightful

    it's a tough call

    1. there are laws in china that are odious and disgusting in terms of privacy invasion and censorship. such that an american company operating there, by submitting to that law, breaks it's fidelity with the principles of its home country in ways that stink. but google has, in fact, stood up to china in some ways, such as with censorship, and lost market share in china due to that and pissed off the chinese government. go google!

    http://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/06/01/1450204/google-highlights-censored-search-terms-in-china

    other western companies, for example, will do business with oppressive regimes in ways that support those oppressive regimes in evil and odious ways:

    http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/08/31/1434229/finspy-commercial-spyware-abused-by-governments

    what a company like this deserves is to be shut down, kicked out, and have their business actively destroyed in righteous indignation of operating from the west while grossly violating important beliefs of the west and in support of evil regimes

    2. however, there are also local laws that, while you can find more abstract objections with them, it makes prudent sense to just comply with the local laws to continue doing business there, and also be in a position to effect long term liberty improving change in that country by remaining a force there

    such as, for example, with this stupid video: while speech should be free all over the world, it isn't in some places. and going crazy and not cooperating, for example, with germany for not allowing nazi imagery or indonesia for not allowing mohammad imagery, doesn't convince anyone of anything and you just piss off that country and lose market share

    so it's better to just comply with local law on this issue. but on other issues, it's better to stick up your middle finger at oppressive governments. each case is different

    shrewd governance, of countries or companies, is a matter of finesse

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  33. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by wienerschnizzel · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Given that people are dying as a direct result of this video I can see the justification of some limited censorship

    I disagree with the above statement. This is a way to grant power to extremist groups. If societies are 'unprepared' for free speech, as you say, they should have laws about the matter. And in fact they do - there are laws against (religious) slander, even laws protecting a specific religion such as Islam.

    I don't think that Google should break the laws in such country in order to make a point - that should be done by activists from inside if they think the law was unjust. So Google should remove the video from the countries where the law requires it. However, it should not cater to extremist groups giving them the power to change things through violence.

    That would only bring more violence.

  34. While at the same time by Vinegar+Joe · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Indosiar (one of the largest TV networks in Indonesia) is running a vicious anti-Hindu series "Sembilan Wali". The Balinese are upset but they aren't beheading anyone.

    --
    "The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
  35. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by wienerschnizzel · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yes, that's a valid point. But the decision that a company makes should be whether or not to withdraw from the country or whether or not to pressure the government for a change but not whether or not to break the law. That should be used only in extreme cases (aka Oskar Schindler) but not in issues such as removing a video from your server.

  36. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by slim · · Score: 2

    He doesn't "beg for forgiveness at all".

    He makes it clear that he (and the Norwegian authorities) "utterly reject" the video, and he calls for a calm response.

    It all seems perfectly appropriate to me.

  37. Red Herring by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We're being told night and day that these protests are against this video and not a general uprising against the US and its policies, yet when you watch coverage of the mobs they don't seem to mention it at all. This is the propaganda work of an administration desperately trying to get re-elected.

  38. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    So under freedom of speech, should they be allowed to publish neo-Nazi material too? Post up a video calling for the extermination of all the Jews and see how long it takes before it gets pulled.

    Have you seen what is regularly produced about Jews in the Islamic world?

    Also, false equivalence. A video calling for the extermination of all the Jews would be subject to the same universal set of rules as this one - i.e. that calling for people to be murdered is 'informally illegal' (would get your video pulled or not shown most places) but mocking people is not.

    This applies quite universally. Your video would be pulled if it seriously called for the extermination of all Nepalese, or gingers, or Buddhists, or farmers, or people in skirts, and it would not be pulled if it parodied and presented in a ridiculous way the leaders of Nepalese, or gingers, or Buddhists, or farmers, or people in skirts.

    It is surprising to me that so many people apparently find this concept difficult to comprehend.

    This "Innocence of Muslims" video is exactly the same as the anti-Semetic propaganda produced by the Nazis 80-odd years ago.

    Is there any parody or ridicule that is not exactly the same as the anti-Semitic propaganda produced by the Nazis?

  39. Protests ALL over the World. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This morning, Sept 17, 2012, I've been watching and listenting to reports of riots and civil unrest all over the World - from mostly international sources.

    While the American news sources are focused almost exclusively on the Middle East, their are riots in China, Japan, S. Africa, Western Europe, etc ....

    NONE of them are about Islam. They are all about economics.

    Deep down it's the same with the MIddle Eastern riots. This piss-ant video was just a the spark or an excuse for the riots.

    ANYONE who thinks these riots are really about Islam being "insulted" is horribly provincial and uninformed.

    An example of something similar in the States would be the Occupy Wall Street protests. It's really not about Wall Street "greed". It's about young people pissed off about the percveived lack of economic opportunities and jobs that are available to them - exactly the same reason all those young people in the Middle East are rioting. Give'em jobs and they'll be back in their homes.

    We have BILLIONS of people trying to get a slice of the ecnomic pie and the pie isn't growing fast enough for us all to have increasing standards of living. Hence, the haves are getting more and the have nots are being left in the dust.

    But go ahead, blame the video and Islam because that's what the media is telling you.

    And go ahead be a smug that you have a nice life because you were smart enough to get a degree in the right field in the right country and live in the right are.

    If this keeps up, YOU will be affected - if not already.

    1. Re:Protests ALL over the World. by Alarash · · Score: 1

      People have no sense of scale. The cumulated amount of protesters is around 10,000 - worldwide. Let's bump it to 20,000. There are 1,600,000,000 muslims in the world. In France there was been 200 protesters out of 6,000,000 muslims. So I don't think it's fair to say that these protests show that the Muslim world is at war against the US. It's just the top 0.1% jerks.

    2. Re:Protests ALL over the World. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Riots in Japan right now? I think you need to try following world events better instead of just being a twat.

      --Live from Nakano

    3. Re:Protests ALL over the World. by Bongo · · Score: 1

      Blasphemy is illegal in some countries. Why? Largely because Islam forbids reinterpretation and that's so much part of the system that it is law. You need to remember many take the religion seriously, as in they spend many hours reading the texts, and taking the authority of the religious leaders as truth. Yes there are many economic factors, but religion is a factor too, just like Western philosophers who were just writing some books and spreading ideas, were a factor in the development of Western modernity. Modernity says, choose Progress or choose God. So to some extent, when these guys hold up signs saying, "God is great, Islam will rule the world", that is literally what they intend. From a Moslem perspective, Christianity and Judaism got it wrong ––those religions turned out soft and undisciplined, and that's why the West is filled with godless pornography and women with jobs. A certain percentage of Muslims do not want to make that mistake again. They want a return to the Golden Age. That's why a principle like "free speech" which an English philosopher was writing about in 1870 or so, is seen as a mere "excuse" by Islamists. To some extent the religious thinking, is part of the cultural thinking and attitudes towards modernity, and they largely reject it. The question is how many? What percentage of Islamic countries are modernising, and what percentage are just biding their time until they can gain more power.

    4. Re:Protests ALL over the World. by Schmorgluck · · Score: 1

      Thanks oh so very much for pointing that out!

      --
      There's nothing like $HOME
    5. Re:Protests ALL over the World. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      NONE of them are about Islam. They are all about economics.

      Well, then let's just test your theory and encourage a few tens of thousands (or maybe even hundreds of thousands if we can get the ball rolling) of Americans to produce their own homemade "insult islam/mohammed" videos and push them out over the internet all at once.

    6. Re:Protests ALL over the World. by stdarg · · Score: 1

      The people who will take to the streets or commit criminal acts are a tiny tiny sliver of the people who support what the protesters do. Only a few Christians actually bomb abortion clinics, but it would be lunacy to say that only a few Christians are anti-abortion.

      There aren't many causes that get 20,000 people out protesting violently. That's the sense of scale you need to look at.

    7. Re:Protests ALL over the World. by AlphaWolf_HK · · Score: 2, Informative

      The thing with muslims is they consider any belief system other than their own to be unacceptable, so mocking theirs is fair game. However mocking islam is completely unacceptable.

      If you read the qu'ran, it is full of stuff like this. Muslims may not lie to other muslims, but they are allowed to lie to non-muslims. Muslims are allowed to claim non-muslims as slaves. Sure not all muslims believe this, but it is written in their book. Don't take my word for it, read the qu'ran for yourself.

      Also the idea that islamic terrorism is a result of poverty and lack of education is a farce. Osama bin laden himself was very rich, and had a college education. ALL of the 9/11 hijackers had college degrees, and could have gotten very nice careers if they wanted to. Al-Qeada's current leader is a surgeon.

      The idea that muslim terrorists are reacting about being oppressed is also false. Buddhists have seen far worse treatment from the chinese, have been slaughtered in the millions, even had their land (Tibet) blatantly annexed, had certain forms of worship banned, and been told that reincarnation is forbidden. Yet where are the buddhist suicide bombers?

      The problem with islam is what it teaches.

      FWIW I am an atheist, and I see islam for what it is. Also, another poster above stated that nobody who has ever worn a uniform of the US military would say what I just said; well, once upon a time I wore such a uniform.

      --
      Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
    8. Re:Protests ALL over the World. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Muslims may not lie to other muslims, but they are allowed to lie to non-muslims.

      Just thought I'd mention that any muslim that doesn't believe in your particular brand of Islam is considered apostate, which is considered even worse than a non-believer; i.e., an infidel.

      The traditional view is that apostasy is punishable by death or imprisonment, which is the justification for all the violence between the various branches of Islam.

    9. Re:Protests ALL over the World. by slim · · Score: 1

      Only a few Christians actually bomb abortion clinics, but it would be lunacy to say that only a few Christians are anti-abortion.

      It would also be lunacy to tar all Christians as being anti-abortion.

    10. Re:Protests ALL over the World. by slim · · Score: 1

      Blasphemy is illegal in some countries. Why? Largely because Islam forbids reinterpretation and that's so much part of the system that it is law.

      Blasphemy was illegal in the United Kingdom until 2008. Why? Because the church and the state are linked. Blasphemy is effectively treason.

    11. Re:Protests ALL over the World. by LordLimecat · · Score: 1

      So the middle east riots focused on American embassies, why? I mean, if its about what they do and dont have, it doesnt make terribly much sense to go and murder an ambassador.

    12. Re:Protests ALL over the World. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you read the qu'ran, it is full of stuff like this. Muslims may not lie to other muslims, but they are allowed to lie to non-muslims. Muslims are allowed to claim non-muslims as slaves. Sure not all muslims believe this, but it is written in their book. Don't take my word for it, read the qu'ran for yourself.

      Not one of your "examples" is true. And I read the Qur'an myself at least 3 times in my life. Is it too much to ask for just one quote from the qur'an that supports what you just wrote ? :)

    13. Re:Protests ALL over the World. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You said:

      However mocking islam is completely unacceptable.

      and

      FWIW I am an atheist, and I see islam for what it is.

      How do you reconcile these two statements?

    14. Re:Protests ALL over the World. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's easy to confuse the Riots in China over (expressing hostility towards) Japan, for Japanese Riots. His point stands, you are just a douche bag. Thanks for playing!

    15. Re:Protests ALL over the World. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you have trouble telling the difference between a Muslim and Talmudic Jew? Go back and study, I think someone swapped book covers on you. Either that, or you are just making shit up.

    16. Re:Protests ALL over the World. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...No it's not. You're making up riots. And making up pronouns ("he").

    17. Re:Protests ALL over the World. by kenorland · · Score: 1

      We have BILLIONS of people trying to get a slice of the ecnomic pie and the pie isn't growing fast enough for us all to have increasing standards of living. Hence, the haves are getting more and the have nots are being left in the dust.

      Everybody, from poorest to richest, is doing a lot better now than a few decades ago, largely thanks to liberal and secular government, free trade, and free markets. This idea of the "have nots being left in the dust" is a political fabrication from people who simply can't deal with the fact that their ideologies and politics have failed.

    18. Re:Protests ALL over the World. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't take my word for it, read the qu'ran for yourself
      Doesn't the bible has the same kind of incitement hidden because it wasn't wrote in a literal maner ?

      The idea that muslim terrorists are reacting about being oppressed is also false.

      I actually think their behavior is actually the result of oppression in some way.

      The problem with islam is what it teaches.

      Do they have any reason to teach on how to hate besides the fact that they where oppressed too long ?

      The reasons that took me to believe that their actions are the result of oppression are the following:
      -Yeah the bible isn't that bad, in theory, what actually happened is that (tons of) people got killed anyway, as far as i know.
      Although i think christians realized "oh maybe killing people isn't nice" and now they transmit a little bit less hate.
      On the other hand those qu'ran guys are being taught by people that lived said oppression themselves i find it hard to believe that this dosen't help making them violent.
      ( i am not into these subjects simply because i dont care ,but with this incident i formed a opinion which i would like to be the most accurate possible.
      But i might be wrong about some assumptions i make.)
      -As far as i know christians,popes,etc aren't reading the bible literally, christianity adapted itself to the modern world but christians arent at war.
      Though i think Muslims are a different story ,while being oppressed they had nothing to hold themselves but their hope ( mostly their religion i guess ),
      im also guessing they where pissed off due to what was happening,they read the qu'ran literally since they modern world was destroying them why would they care about anyone but themselves? When im pissed with someone i will probably interpret everything they say differently and i wont take have coffee with them.
      Muslims where not different from anyone else.

      Concluding,
      You do believe that they teach their kids to bomb because qu'ran says it? thats it ?
      There is no hate from those really old guys that lived under terrible conditions and now are advisors?

      I think that mad people (reason to ) that where never taught to calm down and solve problems will recur to the only mean they where taught , violence.
      Then we bomb then and "show them how nice democracy is" , that totally helps them learning that violence isn't good.

    19. Re:Protests ALL over the World. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't be completely sure, of course, but reading your comment I find it hard to believe that you have read the Koran.

      You are aware that the Koran can only be read in Arabic, right? Once translated, it's no longer "the Koran", and any comments based on it - may or may not be valid, but should never assume that the particular words and phrases they are talking about have the specific meanings you think they do.

    20. Re:Protests ALL over the World. by AlphaWolf_HK · · Score: 1

      I don't know what christianity has to do with it (again, I am an atheist.) Though honestly, I don't get it how when somebody talks about what people have done in the name of islam, somebody has to come along and say "well look what christians have done here..."

      If a christian does it, does that somehow make it ok if the muslim does it? I don't get it.

      In any case, christians haven't deliberately flown any airplanes into buildings, executed civilians on a cruise ship, or bombed any subways in order to promote their belief system as far as I'm aware.

      --
      Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
    21. Re:Protests ALL over the World. by AlphaWolf_HK · · Score: 1

      I think you misread what I said? I'm not saying I find it unacceptable, I'm saying muslims do (and apparently so do the hosts of the view.)

      --
      Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
    22. Re:Protests ALL over the World. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  40. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by ewanm89 · · Score: 0

    Google is just trying to stop it becoming more violent. However it's the American government that needs to step up, citizens of Libya technically declared war on the US and they did it with an invitation engraved in the blood of American citizens. But the US government is being it's usual weak willed self and tiptoeing around the situation sticking a couple of special forces units on the ground and emphasizing their cooperative relations with the Libyan government. Attacking an embassy is an act of war and should be treated as such. Yes I feel for the non-extremists in Libya that didn't participate in the attacks, but they didn't stop it either.

  41. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by flyneye · · Score: 1

    I think he's mistaken freedom of speech as being honored worldwide. Blame public schools.

    --
    *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
  42. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by toddmbloom · · Score: 0

    Hate speech should never be included in any definition of "free speech". The video in question was not made to inform, it was made to offend and inflame.

  43. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by flyneye · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I suspect this is more a humanitarian issue to lessen bloodshed amongst the ignorant, than a political issue. Blame newsclowns for coloring it any other way.Election year.

    --
    *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
  44. manufactured media overblown event - tick. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    There is nothing that indicates this was a purposely manufactured or media overblown event.

    *cough* *cough*. Yeah, right.

  45. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Right, because the violence started right after Google blocked the video?

  46. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Gordonjcp · · Score: 1

    Is there any parody or ridicule that is not exactly the same as the anti-Semitic propaganda produced by the Nazis?

    You make quite a good point there; it's ridiculous to the point of parody. The trouble is, it was created as hate speech by an anti-islamic group which kind of knocks the parody idea on the head. These are the same people who support the idea of having the Israelis herd even more Palestinians into ghettoes and exterminating them; something you'd think the Israelis would have more sense than to do.

  47. Mitt Romney has also apologized for the film by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://articles.philly.com/2012-09-16/news/33864030_1_efforts-by-misguided-individuals-anti-muslim-mitt-romney

    "And the idea of using something that some people consider sacred and then parading that out a negative way is simply inappropriate and wrong," [Romney] said. "And I wish people wouldn't do it."

    1. Re:Mitt Romney has also apologized for the film by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  48. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by flyneye · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Agreed, this is monday morning and I just watched the video here in the u.s.
    I've seen video slamming the tenets of just about any major religion and several obscure ones.
    No reason Islam can't suck it up just like everyone else.
    How many movies cover the Inquisition? The Crusades? Bad Buddhist Kung Fu? Make Hindi Gods into animated villains? Show faithful anywhere to be subversive and evil in the name of good?
    Suck it up and quit acting like children and the world will stop treating you like children. Keep it up and get spanked.
    Hey, that's not a threat, that's nearly a physical law of the universe.
    No one asks you to go along with the flow of the world, but if you stand against it, you stand against the world. You stand the chance of an ant to a steamroller, a drop of water in a volcano, an undercover cop at a rap show.
    This is all so unecessary for everyone. A peaceful solution for all can be found at http://www.subgenius.com/ .

    --
    *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
  49. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You make some interesting points, but this is Google we are talking about. Google! My blood is boiling just to think the word "Google". Oh my god I just can't handle it. Google is EVILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111!!eleven

  50. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by RaceProUK · · Score: 1

    Google definitely acts like they are above the law. See the multiple occasions they've been under investigations and in court in various countries and EU as a whole. You can start from the Wi-Fi snooping.

    And the EU whipped Google's ass until it bled.

    --
    No colour or religion ever stopped the bullet from a gun
  51. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is there any parody or ridicule that is not exactly the same as the anti-Semitic propaganda produced by the Nazis?

    You make quite a good point there; it's ridiculous to the point of parody. The trouble is, it was created as hate speech by an anti-islamic group which kind of knocks the parody idea on the head. These are the same people who support the idea of having the Israelis herd even more Palestinians into ghettoes and exterminating them; something you'd think the Israelis would have more sense than to do.

    Soooo, it's OK for Moslems to respond to a parody that portrays Islam as murderously violent with murder and violence?

    There's NO trouble, except for murderous thugs looking for an excuse to murder.

  52. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by circletimessquare · · Score: 2, Funny

    shhh...

    microsoft microsoft microsoft

    hush now

    apple apple apple

    there now, calm down

    microsoft apple microsoft apple microsoft apple...

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  53. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by doshell · · Score: 2

    citizens of Libya technically declared war on the US.

    Citizens do not declare war. States do.

    Are you suggesting that, if a bunch of Americans vandalized a foreign embassy on US soil, that shold technically count as a declaration of war on that country by the United States of America?

    --
    Score: i, Imaginary
  54. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    These are the same people who support the idea of having the Israelis herd even more Palestinians into ghettoes and exterminating them; something you'd think the Israelis would have more sense than to do.

    You are a crackpot conspiracy theorist.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_Palestinian_territories#Life_expectancy_at_birth

    The average life expectancy of the Palestinians is 75 years. The life expectancy in Jordan according to Google is 73 years and of Lebanon is 72.4 years.

    And you talk about propaganda designed to induce hatred?

  55. Perspective by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm not going to justify the actions of any extremists, but keep in mind that most of us hold certain concepts sacred. This can be anything from our social norms, our privacy, our way of life, and our national beliefs. There are many many hot button issues....this isn't just unique to religion. We usually live in environments and consume media that censors most content we find objectionable. YouTube is an exception because it has the ability to broadcast content to the entire world, to a people who may have different belief systems from ours. Personally, i think this video should be banned completely. Its express purpose is to offend by specifically targeting the beliefs that uniquely define a certain set of people. Its not art, debate, information, humor or balanced satire. The single reason it was made was to get a reaction. It's that reaction from extremists which gets the attention, but what about the vast majority of more moderate people who are offended by this too? Freedom of speech is important, is isn't anything that has any kind of merit to justify that defense. Before you argue otherwise, think of something you hold extremely sacred...what would your thoughts be if someone expressly produced something that was specifically designed to deeply offend those beliefs?...not debate them, or hold them up for examination, only to offend.

    1. Re:Perspective by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I refer you to my earlier post:

      http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3121705&cid=41360505

      Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you should have greater right over something else than those NOT offended.

      Being offended is partly voluntary. You are choosing to view it and choosing to be offended by it because of what you choose to believe or not. Being offended by a random thing on the Internet is, pretty much, like being the child who runs to teacher "because Billy called me a name".

      Really, it's just that childish. If someone calls you a swearword on the street, you can try to start a fight, you can try to get them to apologise or, in the privacy of your head or aloud, you can choose to disregard their personal opinion that's obviously incompatible with yours. Guess which response is associated with hooligans, thugs and playground fights, which response will either end in a fight or humiliation when they turn around and so "No" when you ask them to apologise, and which response the sensible majority of most peaceful adults will take.

      I'm offended, to the same degree and to the same extent as others, when people disregard, say, science to forward a religious doctrine in a country. Seriously. I get offended. I find it inconsiderate, ignorant, demanding, demeaning, unfair and detrimental to the health of myself, my children and my country. But religions don't take me seriously when I'm offended by their intrusion into the educational system.

      So I can work to ban all religion (which I would see as "wrong"), I can work to remove that religion (e.g. through violence, censorship or other means), or I can ignore that religion and its followers and explain to my child that some people have some very strange ideas that I don't think are correct.

      It's not about extremism, it's not about religion, it's not about offence. It's about what you do when a random stranger on the Internet does something that you find distasteful. So far, the impression given via the media is that Islam enacts violence. True or not, that's what shown.

      You wish to ban the video completely. So, technically, that means that even the creator of the video would not be allowed to have a copy. You're saying that the very act of insulting Islam should be "illegal". Strange, then, that insulting agnosticism isn't. I would demand the same right if that were true and there'd be a LOT less nonsense on the web if I could just get Google to pull those videos and websites that I'm aware of spreading anti-agnostic diatribe.

      What you suggests creates an environment where a thought or opinion is "illegal". Not an action, or a product, but a thought. The video may be a product itself, but it's only a brief extension to say that his believing those things is illegal, whether or not he speaks about them. Or did you just mean that he can't distribute it? Or that he can't distribute it to people who might potentially be offended? How do you police that sort of action?

      This isn't about anything but child-like bullies who are NOT immune to criticism (given that it offends them so) who want criticism outlawed for them and them alone. Or for some select group which includes them and not the guy who made that film.

      If the video is illegal in a country, it should be banned in that country. What you're suggesting, though, is a universal, outright ban on anything vaguely critical of Islam. That suggest more to people like myself that there's something to hide, something that you disapprove of others knowing, lurking in the video (which I haven't watched, but millions have JUST because there was a fuss about it). That's not how you deal with critics. You either ignore them, or provide counter-arguments. And any mention of banning, blocking, censoring, violence or anything else just makes your whole position untenable.

      "The sky is purple. I'm right, everyone else is wrong, and anything to the contrary will be eradicated or silenced."

      That's not a reasonable opinion. And

  56. So where's the movie? by iCEBaLM · · Score: 1

    All I've seen is a max a 14 minute trailer. Is this supposed to be the whole movie? 5 million dollars to create a terrible trailer? The movie probably doesn't even exist.

  57. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Doctor_Jest · · Score: 1

    So? "Hate Speech" is dangerously close to labeling speech for purposes of stifling that speech (or outright suppressing it). The movie, though crude and silly, is not advocating anything. (It never says "Kill all the Muslims!" or "I command all followers of FSM to rise up and eliminate the Muslim scourge"), so in effect, it's not anything like what we'd call "hate speech" in the United States. (Which I detest as a human being, but as an advocate of personal liberty do not feel should be repressed or restricted.)

    "Hate Speech" is a convenient way to censor. If I say the Holocaust was a big fat lie perpetrated by the Jewish elite to deflect from all their theft of Nazi gold, I can be labeled as a "hate speech" promoter, or at the very least, a nutjob. Those things in and of themselves aren't grounds to censor my speech. (Keep your knickers calm, I don't believe the Jews were stealing Nazi gold... it's just an outrageous illustration. :) )


    The amount that the US government is backpedaling over this video is pathetic, and it's not even clear if the video sparked the protests in the first place (just a convenient scapegoat for Anti American protests in the Muslim world. Particularly the Libyan embassy ones. There have been attacks and skirmishes for the last year on the embassy there.)

    Remember, in the United States, you don't have a right NOT to be offended. The concept of Freedom of Speech means that someone may say something you find offensive... That's the price of freedom. I don't care if Muslims are offended. I don't care if you are offended, just as you shouldn't care if I am offended. As a human being, we can be tolerant of each other and still have free speech, or as Penn puts it "the marketplace of ideas exists because of freedom of speech."

    --
    It's the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
  58. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by JWW · · Score: 1

    Nowhere is freedom of speech absolute, it's limited by the ability of the society to tolerate it.

    The founding fathers believed Freedom of Speech to be a "natural" right. This means that the right to Free Speech is something that everyone is born with (ie. an absolute).

    The founding fathers got it right, societies that can't tolerate Free Speech are getting it wrong.

  59. Never understood by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 1, Insightful

    On one hand, believing God X is the one and true; the controller of all; omnipotent in every way, and on the other hand, killing people over the lamest and poorly done parodies to defend God X almighty? Make up your mind: is God X an unassailable, infallible supreme being, or a 98-pound weakling that must be defended from bullies kicking sand in his face?

    Religion: Organized Stupidity

    1. Re:Never understood by d3ac0n · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There is a reason why you DO NOT see Christians rioting over the many many many assaults on their religion in the press and the world at large.

      Beyond it being against their religious beliefs to do so, it is exactly this argument. They know they believe in an Omnipotent God. They have no need to defend Him. The most you are likely to get from Christians is a somewhat strongly worded letter or a product boycott.

      That tells me all I need to know about the "equivalence" between Islam and Christianity.

      --
      Official Heretic from the "Church of Global Warming". Proven right thanks to whistle blowers. AGW = Flat Earth Theory
    2. Re:Never understood by TuringTest · · Score: 1

      They know they believe in an Omnipotent God. They have no need to defend Him. (...) That tells me all I need to know about the "equivalence" between Islam and Christianity.

      Yeah, because at no point in history Christianity has killed people because of blasphemy and heresy.</sarcasm>

      If any, it only says about their relative grade of maturity as somewhat civilized religions, and the long due need for a renaissance in Islam. Which won't happen if people trying to make it happen get ridiculed over and over.

      --
      Singularity: a belief in the "God" idea with the "demiurge" relation inverted.
    3. Re:Never understood by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That may be generally true today, but it was not always so... Middle-ages Europe had plenty of people imprisoned, tortured, executed for blasphemy and similar "crimes". My take is that for any number of reasons, the evolution of Islam is similar to that shown by Christianity (and probably others, I'm not a religious scholar), just shifted a few hundred years later. Honestly, the world isn't so different than it was a thousand years ago. People are still people, doing the same stupid shit to each other.

    4. Re:Never understood by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Jessica Ahlquist. Damon Fowler.

    5. Re:Never understood by geek · · Score: 2

      They know they believe in an Omnipotent God. They have no need to defend Him. (...) That tells me all I need to know about the "equivalence" between Islam and Christianity.

      Yeah, because at no point in history Christianity has killed people because of blasphemy and heresy.</sarcasm>

      If any, it only says about their relative grade of maturity as somewhat civilized religions, and the long due need for a renaissance in Islam. Which won't happen if people trying to make it happen get ridiculed over and over.

      Actually you'll find most of those Christian "wars" weren't in the name of God or Jesus. The vast majority of them were simply about power and the ones using Christianity as a rallying cry. The same can be said of Buddhism.

      Waging wars in Jesus's name is strictly forbidden in scripture. It only takes a brief read through the gospels to see it plainly. When someone claims to be acting in the name of God and their actions are violent, they are called out on it pretty quickly. Christian cultures also tend to be self correcting. While Christians have done some bad things, this is pretty much to be expected because Christians are sinners like everyone else. However, Christians also make good efforts to stop sin, such as abolishing slavery. In this way, Christians self correct. No one claims Christians are perfect, in fact it's a tenet of the religion that they make mistakes. Islam thus far hasn't shown any of these characteristics.

    6. Re:Never understood by TeknoHog · · Score: 1

      But if Christians are so sure of themselves, what is it with all the proselytism? Missionary work seems alive and well in the darkest jungles of the world. Even as a first world citizen, I can tell that Christianity was not the native religion of my people, we were ruthlessly converted some centuries ago.

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
    7. Re:Never understood by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are these are the same religious beliefs that spawned the likes of the Inquisition, witch burning and of course the crusades? Who could forget the crusades? Aren’t they still used as a means to rile up the more simple minded followers of islam, to get them to waste their life by becoming bomb delivery systems?

      No, christianity is as bad, there is no moral high ground here, just a lot of lumps and bumps.

      Plenty of people have died in the name of whatever god over the years. As for defending him well, I seem to remember in more recent history that christians got really upset about a film about a bloke called Brian, who wasn't a messiah (he was a very naughty boy). I believe the word blasphemy was used on more than one occasion.

      Also, if this god is so special, why the need to sell it/him/her/whatever? [Ding-Dong], "Yes?" "Hello, have you thought about letting the Lord Jesus Christ in your life?"

      Bah, this has turned into a bit of a rant, but sometimes the words "Your all as fucking bad as each other" isn't quite enough.

    8. Re:Never understood by toriver · · Score: 1

      Yeah, this guy Torquemada and his fine Inquisition would like a word with you. Abolishing slavery? Slavery was defended by Christians based on scripture as well (remember all the laws regarding slaves in the Old Testament). "How can you make equal that which God has made unequal?" as the trailer for the new movie about Lincoln says. And you cannot have failed to see all the references to "God with us" etc. in war propaganda?

    9. Re:Never understood by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      Muslims also believe in an omnipotent God.

      In this case, however, they're not defending God. They're defending the Prophet. Indeed. historically Islamic jurisprudence has made a distinction between blasphemy against the God (which is something that God himself will punish in due time), and blasphemy against human institutions of religion/state (which is the same thing in Islam) and its symbols, such as Muhammad.

    10. Re:Never understood by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "No true Christian" wages war in the name of Jesus, obviously.

      Actually, even if you do read scripture (and you should remember, for most of the church's history scripture was not seen as the only valid source of revelation - to say nothing of the ongoing debate as to what is and isn't "scripture"), the question of violence is not nearly as clear-cut as you make it out to be. For instance: Matthew 10:34, Luke 12:51, Luke 22:36.

      It's commonplace to contrast the blood-and-thunder god of the Old Testament with the peace-and-love god of the New. I think the difference is very easy to explain: the Old Testament god was a tribal god who was dominant within his limited domain (the kingdoms of Israel and Judah), whereas the New Testament god was the deity of a largely negligible ethnic minority in the Roman Empire, who couldn't throw his weight around because he didn't have any. As soon as Christianity became once again a state religion, it returned to violence, and it took centuries to shake that habit.

  60. I made a sculpture of Mohammed by gelfling · · Score: 1, Funny

    It's made out of pig shit and it depicts the prophet having gay sex with Allah.

    Now go burn something down, fucktards.

    1. Re:I made a sculpture of Mohammed by slashmydots · · Score: 1

      But you can't just put muslims in a box and say they're all violent and one specific way. They're all, every single one of them, everywhere universally not like that :-P Oh wait...

    2. Re:I made a sculpture of Mohammed by squiggleslash · · Score: 1

      The utter hypocracy in the above comment is mindblowing.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    3. Re:I made a sculpture of Mohammed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just spat some coffee out when I read this..

  61. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by ewanm89 · · Score: 0

    "A state is an organized political community living under a government." So it's a political community, now members of a political community are it's citizens. Therefore a state is a group of it's citizens.

    Attacking an embassy is an act of war. There is no if's buts and maybes in it. If you are vandalizing a foreign embassy it is an act of war, and the embasy guards have all the authority they need to shoot you.

  62. Sad comment on humanity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Every angle of this one shines a light on some horrible aspect of human nature. Why would someone make the video in the first place? Why would anyone believe their God ever would want them to hurt or kill sentient beings, especially over a taunt? The situation is so sad, the "freedom of speech" and censorship issues are actually an also-ran here imo. Increasingly I call our world the planet of the apes.

    1. Re:Sad comment on humanity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Why would anyone believe their God ever would want them to hurt or kill sentient beings, especially over a taunt?"

      Why would people do what an external entity has supposedly informed them it desires in the first place?

      Tell people that you hear voices that tell you what to do and you end up in a psychiatric ward. Tell them that your God disapproves and people go out of their way to respect those views and not offend you.

      To be honest, I'm hard-pressed to notice any difference apart from possibly organisation and the ability to make money from setting up places of worship.

  63. Not Offensive by Murdoch5 · · Score: 1

    Would it kill the Muslim culture to get a sense of humour? It seems every single time a video is posted that is apparently "offensive" we get wars, protests and freak outs. If a Christian sees a picture of Jesus eating a hot dog we laugh and close it or just don't do anything. If a Muslim notices a picture of Muhammad eating a hot dog seven mosque's get blown up, acts of terrorism get spoken against the free world and people get killed. Here is a new idea, laugh or ignore but shut the F up, radical Muslims are children maturity wise, time to grow up a bit.

    1. Re:Not Offensive by darkstar019 · · Score: 1

      Islam is probably the only religion that is still living in dark ages.

      --
      Fuck Beta
    2. Re:Not Offensive by Goth+Biker+Babe · · Score: 1

      You're correct in using "Religion" here. Compared to "Faith". Just like the Catholic Church and other batshit christian religions there's a lot of stuff layered on top of pure Islam. A lot of the problems are to do with that shit and not the base faith.

  64. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by king+neckbeard · · Score: 1

    So, they can say whatever they want, they just can't be heard?

    --
    This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
  65. weird by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    people dont rise up and have mass riots when parody of the christian god figure is made fun of
    or other used for joke material same for JC ... i dont understand the violence in relation of a film of
    someones' opinion based most likely in ignorance

  66. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by doshell · · Score: 2

    I never said that the embassy guards do not have the authority to retaliate. I'm just contesting the notion that the actions of independent citizens translate as a formal declaration by their nation state. The United States, of course, are free to interpret such an attack as an act of war and declare war on Libya; but to say that Libya have declared war on the United States when the embassy was attacked flies in the face of international laws and conventions.

    --
    Score: i, Imaginary
  67. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Afty0r · · Score: 2

    Given that people are dying as a direct result of this video

    I think "direct" does not mean what you think it means.

  68. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Luckyo · · Score: 2

    And they are getting hit by it and hard. You can certainly test untested legislation, but you're ultimately responsible for results of such testing. In this particular case, the legislation has been tested before and Google was forced to comply. They don't want to step on the same rake again.

  69. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by slim · · Score: 2

    How many movies cover the Inquisition? The Crusades? Bad Buddhist Kung Fu? Make Hindi Gods into animated villains? Show faithful anywhere to be subversive and evil in the name of good?

    I haven't seen The Innocence of Muslims, nor its trailer, but I understand it contains a mocking portrayal of Mohammed himself. Not some historical incident committed by Muslims, but the central holy figure of the religion.

    None of the above target the central tenet of the religion in question. Most Christians can look at the Crusades or the Inquisition, and say "that's not my religion".

    It's more akin to something like The Last Temptation of Christ (in which Jesus marries Mary Magdalene - perhaps in a dream) or Jerry Springer The Opera -- both of these received widespread protests from Christians. Of course a lot of Christians ignored it, just as a lot of Muslims are ignoring this.

  70. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Luckyo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's worth noting that there is a significant cultural difference at play here. What one culture considers "free speech", other may consider "defamation", "copyright infringement", "inciting of hatred" and many other things.

    Consider for example the legislation in place in Germany against denying the Holocaust. Under "universal" free speech umbrella, I should be able to talk about Holocaust not having happened and it being a one big lie. Political and historical realities suggest that such free speech has potential to cause catastrophic damage, and as a result it's illegal in Germany, while legal in, for example, some Nordic countries.

    To add to the mess is the current transition from centralised broadcast media to user-generated one. Much of the stuff comes from amateurs with meagre budgets, such as this movie and can be screened worldwide within minutes of being finished. This was an impossibility only a decade ago. We're in a new territory in terms of what is acceptable in different cultures, and as shown with this particular example, free speech can carry significant price paid in blood by those not even related to the speech in question.

    There really are no easy solutions here. Internationalism is very difficult to make work because of cultural clashes like these. We simply have to take it one step at a time and hope and work for the best outcome.

  71. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by SimonTheSoundMan · · Score: 1

    Founding fathers? Which religion is this?

  72. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by xenobyte · · Score: 1

    Google complies with the laws of the country it operates in. If they are required by law to remove something, they do it.

    Are you suggesting that big companies in general should be exempt from the law and obey it only as they see fit?

    No, but since when does Indian or Malaysian law apply to a US company?

    Google "do no evil" should especially not break basic human rights like the freedom of expression, which actually include the right to receive the expressions of others. Freedom to express yourself is practically worthless if people are prevented from 'listening'.

    --
    "For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong." -- H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) --
  73. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Luckyo · · Score: 1

    There are ways to fight local laws. It's called corruption outside of the Western countries and lobbying inside them.

    Problem is that lobbying/corrupting in cultures very hostile to your idea is difficult. The stronger the innate resistance to your ideas, the more effort is needed, and at certain point, diminishing returns on effort simply become too great.

  74. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by thegreatemu · · Score: 2

    Protests, but not violent, murderous ones...

  75. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Within the American jurisdiction, at least, the federal government is expressly forbidden from prohibiting such discussion.

    (I'm reminded of the scene from Blues Brothers with the Illinois Nazis)

    If the speakers behave themselves, the police may actually be obligated to PROTECT the speakers.

  76. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ghetto, extermination, you keep using those words - I do not think they mean what you think they mean.
    Please, consult dictionary. Or Wikipedia.

  77. I'm sure.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    those countries have no problems with videos bashing Christianity, etc...

  78. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by xenobyte · · Score: 2

    Given that people are dying as a direct result of this video I can see the justification of some limited censorship

    People are dying because Darwin's evolution (see the irony here where it applies to people denouncing Darwin?) is being proved. If you are too stupid to benefit the gene pool it's better you're killed off as soon as possible for the benefit of the future human race. There's no better way to prove stupidity than to fight (to the death) over whose God is the most peaceful...

    --
    "For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong." -- H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) --
  79. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by fustakrakich · · Score: 2

    There's nothing 'humanitarian' about censorship. And I blame newsclowns for linking speech to violence. This whole thing is designed to apply the pressure of the 'crowd' against free speech rights. It is textbook terrorism by the censors looking for and getting public support for their cause.

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  80. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by cpghost · · Score: 1

    Theocracies introducing laws to censor blashpemy is no different than capitalist states having laws censoring filesharing.

    Or, said otherwise: file sharing is blasphemy 2.0

    --
    cpghost at Cordula's Web.
  81. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by darkstar019 · · Score: 1

    Corporate VP of Developer Division at Microsoft The name says it all

    --
    Fuck Beta
  82. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by mrclisdue · · Score: 1

    If I transferred the youtube to 35mm film, and threw the film at someone's head, thus killing him, would that be direct?

    If it were a director's cut, would that enhance the direct-ness?

    cheers,

  83. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by sumdumass · · Score: 1

    I'm not sure that a freedom of expression is violated if someone or a company does not give you a venue or platform to express it. Or would you consider the 6 O'clock news to be violating your freedom of expression every time they do not do a story on one of your rantings?

    I would put following a stupid law in a country you have offices in as less evil then not giving you a stage to vent your (illegal in those countries) expressions in that country. Now there are areas where google doesn't have offices at and should be criticized to some extent. But I do not think it rises to the level of evil. Evil would be killing someone who had no part in the expression over the contents of the expression.

  84. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by FictionPimp · · Score: 1

    I just watched the Life of Brian and I was offended as it's portral of the origins of christianity. I say we go protest England!

  85. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by robthebloke · · Score: 1

    What happened to freedom of speech, Google?

    I actually watched the youtube video in question, and as an atheist (from the UK), I'd quite like it to be removed from youtube. These days, watching something such as 'Bugs bunny nips the nips' is interesting from a historical perspective, but through modern eyes, it's a pretty repugnent piece of derogatory racist propoganda. The 'innocence of muslims' is insulting to anyone who watches it. It's out and out racism, designed to incite a large population of people into reacting in an angry way, and as a result, people have died over this video. You are entitled to free speech, but in most civilised countries, there is a line drawn between free speech, and incitement. The innocence of muslims has crossed that line by a very long distance indeed, and imho, it's on a par with Westboro Baptist Church turning up to protest at a dead soldiers funeral. The people who created the video should not be able to hide behind the claim of 'free speech'. It isn't free speech, it's hate speech plain and simple. The people responsible for the video, should face criminal prosectution for that video. My 2 cents....

  86. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by craigminah · · Score: 1

    Why don't Muslims around the world stand up, look at the violence around the world perpetrated by other Muslims, and publicly state "that's not my religion"? I think the answer is they're scared to be outspoken because violence is a part of the Muslim religion.

  87. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Luckyo · · Score: 2

    You're intentionally missing a forest for the trees. Just because citizens are represented by the state does not mean that state represents all of its citizens. Else, every time a citizen of US kills a citizen of another country, you could argue that it constitutes an act of war by your logic.

    That is obviously not the case.

  88. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by robthebloke · · Score: 1

    I agree with the GP. It is exactly the same as the anti-semetic propoganda from 80 years ago. I'm fairly tolerant of most things, but that video is not a comedy, it's an insult to everyone who watches it (be you christian, jew, atheist, or muslim).

  89. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by psiclops · · Score: 1

    they can be heard. in fact unless yo live in one of the countries that has requested by law this video be taken down, you'll still be able to see it on youtube. unless you are saying google should ignore local laws and decide for itself what it can and cant do.

    --
    i spent five minutes thinking and all i got was this crappy sig
  90. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 2

    I think that a movie like "Life of Brian" couldn't be made in this day and age. Or it would be made but not shown, what with religious sensitivities flaring up even in more or less normal countries. Think of it: if you screened a new "Life of Brian" (new, because then the excuse of showing it as our cultural heritage doesn't fly), then you'd kind of be obliged to also screen a "part 2" movie spoofing the life of Mohammed, and we all know that that would lead to... Easier to ban any religion bashing, which is what is slowly happening in many European countries.

    --
    If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
  91. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by psiclops · · Score: 1

    when a bunch of citizens of another foreign country flew planes into US buildings the US declared war on countries,

    --
    i spent five minutes thinking and all i got was this crappy sig
  92. Seems 99% of /. don't know about N.E.D. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I would think that slashdot'ers were more intelligent. In code perhaps you are intelligent, in geopolitics your a bunch of fucking MUPPETS.

    t isn't a movie doing this bullshit, it's the STATE DEPARTMENT where they use state secrets to cover up the corruption they execute. I been telling you this crap for four years now. Still you don't listen, you talk about movies and free speech, and where to post shit, how to get past the powers that be with proxies, tor, and rooted boxEn yet you fuckers can't grasp reality beyond the motherfucking television set.

    Wake the fuck up. YOU are causing the problem.

    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-92UQsN2S5Uc/UFH2G4B8crI/AAAAAAAADpw/v-Zd2HOtvXQ/s1600/NEDcorporateInterests_1.jpg
    http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/

    Meanwhile (government complicit protest) China about to declare war on Japan?
    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/postcards-furious-china

    Maybe when you wake the fuck up it will because you are now DRAFTED because of the monetary collapse because there's no fucking difference between Republicans and Democrats who are both corporate and foreign driven.

    You did sign up for selective service after all. You had to have paid attention to that. You signed it, saying it was correct, under penalty of perjury.

    So my only question left for you is, when you raise your hand to swear that oath, the part where "to protect the Constitution" will you actually protect the constitution or will you just fight in another undeclared war, under the direction of the treasonous untouchable unapproachable fucking scum running our government take away your god given rights?

    Of course like yesterday, there will be about two hundred comments to squish this on off the bottom. That's not a coincidence either.

    1. Re:Seems 99% of /. don't know about N.E.D. by BanHammor · · Score: 1

      Yep, just like yesterday, people like to post, and just like yesterday, your comment will be out of the bottom quite soon. Want attention? Try FP.
      Slashdot (mostly) believes that, of course, Iran doesn't threaten the West as much as the West desperately wants it to be compliant. No need to get all conspiracy-theoretic about it.
      You know why people don't like conspiracy theories? Because they tend to turn out wrong. You can guess all you want, but unless you actually are behind the curtain, you are not likely to know just what is going on. Only hindsight in these situations is 20/20. So why bother with hopping on to the latest guess?

  93. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Schmorgluck · · Score: 1
    --
    There's nothing like $HOME
  94. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

    If it is our duty to ignore 'intellectual property law' (or actively wage war on it*) as you say in your sig, then it is Google's and everybody elses' duty to stand up for free speech everywhere, including by violation of local statutes. It is their obligation to break through national/state firewalls. No more sitting in the back of the bus.

    * really? a shooting war?

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  95. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by psiclops · · Score: 1
    --
    i spent five minutes thinking and all i got was this crappy sig
  96. Why Is the Media Ignoring This? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Still no one murdered because of this offense to Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism.

    But, there's no shortage of twats on Slashdot and elsewhere making excuses about how offensive the film is, the intent of the producer, it's not Islam, it's about economics, this is only a trigger, bullshit, blah, bullshit, blah, bullshit.

    What about the cops in Los Angeles picking up the film's producer for "questioning"? What the fuck is that about? How is that acceptable?

    1. Re:Why Is the Media Ignoring This? by Dan667 · · Score: 0

      You ever hear about christian extremists killing abortion doctors? And just because iraq and afghanistan are sanitized in the media does not make them any less christian wars.

    2. Re:Why Is the Media Ignoring This? by toriver · · Score: 1

      What about the cops in Los Angeles picking up the film's producer for "questioning"? What the fuck is that about? How is that acceptable?

      Because he was a convicted PCB manufacturer possibly violating his parole? Maybe they wanted to check the ages of some of the people in the soft-core porn movies he also produced?

  97. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by slim · · Score: 4, Informative

    You realise, I hope, that The Life Of Brian was the subject of many protests (albeit not violent as far as I know), and was banned in many places?

  98. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And you're an idiot.

    Why don't Christians stand up and do the same? People are killed every day by governments that talk to g-o-d, and it's just as easy to simplify things and say they were killed because violence is part of the Christian religion.

    Here's a hint - they weren't protesting simply because of a movie. That's the nonsense folks like you lap up because you can't, and don't, want to comprehend why a large part of the world hates you.

  99. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I hope that when people in these countries search for censored stuff, they get presented with a page that says:

    Results hidden from you because angry men with guns pointed at us have made us hide it from you. This is part of their control mechanism over you that lets them maintain their power over you.

    The alternative, Results hidden because you may run around like animals murdering people isn't much better.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  100. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by torsmo · · Score: 1

    Google has probably blocked the original trailer here in India, but many re-ups of it exist, and I'm watching one right now. I knew the government would do something like this as a pre-emptive measure, but other than in the restive Kashmir state, there hasn't been any noticeable protest whatsoever in the rest of the country. People are killing each other over this in neighbouring Pakistan, so that has probably influenced the Kashmiri muslims, but the rest of the country's muslim populace have not really come out and voiced anger or resorted to violence over this.

  101. I can still see it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Blocked in India? I just checked, and I can still see it.

  102. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by HaZardman27 · · Score: 1

    Nothing to see here, people; just another shill. This is a brand new account and this comment was posted the same time as the story.

    --
    Apparently wizard is not a legitimate career path, so I chose programmer instead.
  103. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Goth+Biker+Babe · · Score: 1

    Google and Facebook already do. They are inconsistent.

  104. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Goth+Biker+Babe · · Score: 1

    Not that I'm saying you don't know this but most of the people who did protest about "Life of Brian" had never seen it. If they had they'd have seen that is not about Jesus or the birth of Christianity. It just happens to take place during the same era. Jesus is obviously there, both in the manger and at the sermon on the mount. The film is a dig at organised religion and infighting. "Follow the gourd!". "Follow the shoe!".

    Ironically exactly what is going on here. Islam, Christianity and Judaism are all Abrahemic religions and they split when they picked which son to follow. Islam went with one and Judao/Christian mythology the other.

  105. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Elbart · · Score: 1

    Relying on public corporate entities regarding freedom of speech is like trusting a kid with watching over a bag of candy.

  106. Streisand effect? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Were it not for violent reaction to that awful movie, I would have never watched it.

    Frankly I wonder if Muslim's would not be better off if they had condemed the movie, but not made any big deal out of it.

    Now that it is officially censored, we can be sure that people will jump through hoops to watch it.

  107. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by nschubach · · Score: 1

    Hell, they almost went to protest over the Passion of the Christ.

    --
    Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
  108. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by jitterman · · Score: 1

    I agree - I was insulted by this movie, not from a religious point of view, but as a lover of film! The multiple-voice dubbing for some characters, horrid green (or blue)-screen shots, terrible acting (they weren't all bad, but you can only do so much with the material at hand - see SWI-III for further examples), less-than-low-budget special effects - all contribute to the clear goal of this tripe: to put movie-making as an art form on trial in front of the world. See what can happen when we allow digital video recorders into the hands of rank amateurs!?!???!!? The horror, the horror...

    Further properties of this "film" that are damaging to the image of movie makers around the globe: "sex" scenes that cause no arousal, death scenes with no on-screen interaction between attacker and victim, and parody with no wit, no clarity, and no true sense of purpose other than to be generally insipid. All of these things are an affront to cinema fans in every nation! We must NOT allow just anyone to make movies. We must stamp out those who only "believe" themselves to have a vision but have no true skill.

    Oh, wait... we allow people in this country to freely express themselves as long as they are not infringing upon the rights of others? Oh, I didn't realize that. You mean, if we start clamping down on one form of expression that we find distasteful, it could lead to others wanting OUR way of expression suppressed? Oh, I didn't think of that. Never mind then, make your stupid movie. I'll just ignore it like I did Avatar.

    --
    For conscience is the wound, and there's naught to staunch it
  109. Re:Laugh when Muslims slit your throat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Innocent until proven guilty.

    If there are such persons then, when they present themselves as a threat, they will be dealt with accordingly. Until that time, they are American citizens like any other.

  110. you have not made it until google censors you by eruci · · Score: 1

    I am in the process of making a film that insults your imaginary friend. hope google censors it after you make a big deal about it

    --
    artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
  111. Completely no sense of humor. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I watched the trailer over the weekend, and could not stop laughing. There are so many obvious jokes in there it's crazy. In fact, this could be the 21st version of Plan 9 From Outer Space. It's that bad, it's good.

  112. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    That film was actually banned in Norway at the time. In was marketed in Sweden as "so funny it's banned in Norway".

  113. Islam has no sense of humor by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Jews are famous for their self-deprecating humor but Catholics too have mercilessly made fun of their own faith. It was a great liberator because it was not always thus. Once, religion was deadly serious and to question let alone make fun off, that is heresy and that gets you killed.

    A joke might not seem like much but it forces you to not take things to serious, it was essential in tearing down the ivory towers of religion and force it to become accountable. And this was not something that has stopped. The chaos in the Catholic church now people are talking about its abuses is just part of process. For decade, no, centuries, people knew and did not nothing.

    For evil to triumph all that is needed is for good men to do nothing.

    The so called moderate muslim, does nothing. This leaves a tiny handful of reformers who are often prosecuted or killed (Pakistan can't even protect its ministers, what hope does a normal civilian have) fighting the extreme elements who have the backing of countless hangers on, protected behind the veil of silence. Moderates might not agree with all the extremists do but you stick up for your own, regardless what.

    A very recent case in Holland has a man under arrest for having had sexual encounters with over 200 boys. How did he manage to go undetected with so many victims? Well, people knew, but didn't speak out. The community is a closed one and they keep their troubles to themselves...

    There are countless such cases in history and far bigger ones, hidden behind walls of silence and false respect. But humor has created cracks in this facade. In holland, the catholics created the 8 may movement, which basically told the pope to mind his own business. It allowed people to ignore the church doctrine and make up their own minds on birth-control, on politics, on marriage. On everything.

    For modern free youth, it is hard to realize just how controlled religious communities are. In certain place, if a young couple is married and has not produced a kid after the first your, the pastor comes by to have a talk.

    This control is not nice control, it is to make sure everyone walks the line, no dissenters, no free-thinkers. It is very effective. If you don't question, you don't challenge to status quo and those in charge like that.

    Read up on some of the practices of popes, these weren't devout people, they were depraved men who craved power above all else. And they got away with it, because they were beyond question.

    But humor, that challenges everything, breaks down the most powerful with a simple line or drawing. Don't believe me?

    How tall was Napoleon? He was in reality above average height for french men of that age. It was a cartoon drawing that started the idea that he was a small power crazed war monger. A British cartoon made at a time Napoleon was kicking limey ass.

    Spitting Image, a British satire puppet show, ripped politicians and others in power to shreds, and changed politics forever. People remembered the caricature better then the real person.

    In my life time, the same joke has been done twice. The pope speaking and having underwear thrown at him as if he was a popstar. Caused mild affront but was considered part of a free society. The same joke was done off the Ayatollah (the previous one) in Germany. It caused a crisis, the comedian had to be protected and politicians fell over themselves to try to a peace Muslims.

    It wasn't always allowed to joke about the pope, the christian faith. And the Muslim leaders KNOW what humor lead to and they don't want the same to happen. So anyone who dares to question, make humor, challenge, is silenced. Silenced most of all by moderates who do nothing but silently support the extremists by their inactivity. If you donate to your mosque even when you know the money goes to extremist, turning a blind eye to does, still makes you a supported of these extremists.

    Western leaders are at a loss about how to deal with it. In the west, the crumbling of organized religion just seem

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

    1. Re:Islam has no sense of humor by flyneye · · Score: 1

      Wow you pull out that racist card even when I posted nothing racist. It's a religion, not a race there Jesse.
      Oh I get it you are one of those "activist" people who think they are helping the world by regurgitating crap they heard from another activist or organization they admired. There should be a requirement for activists to complete a degree in "thinktivism"
      before being allowed to do much more than eat, pee or sleep. This would save the world time, trouble and bandwidth in dealing with overly long spews of quasi-attention whore anxiety.

      --
      *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
  114. Dhimmitude by tepples · · Score: 1

    By "more enlightened" read dhimmi.

    And by dhimma you mean members of other Abrahamic faiths that follow scripture (Jews, Christians, and Sabians) living in majority-Muslim countries, correct? Of course people of Abrahamic faiths need to be encouraged to see their similarities and love one another. What point are you trying to make exactly?

    1. Re:Dhimmitude by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 4, Informative

      dhimma is a form where you are put into a lower class, receive less legal and other rights, are TOLD that you are INFERIOR to the 'master race' (yes, I used that wording on purpose) and your lands and rights could be snapped away at a moment's notice if you displease the rulers or religious folks.

      ie, just a notch above slavery.

      nice, huh?

      btw, they see ALL of us as being in this role sooner or later.

      religion of pieces, indeed.

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    2. Re:Dhimmitude by kenorland · · Score: 1

      Of course people of Abrahamic faiths need to be encouraged to see their similarities and love one another.

      Yeah, right. Catholicism claims that even protestants will go to hell. Luther called the Pope the anti-Christ. And to Christians, Mohammed is the "sower of discord" condemned to the deepest levels of hell. Dore even helpfully gives you a picture of naked Mohammed with his chest torn open by God in punishment, found in most copies of Dante's inferno.

      The idea that the Abrahamic religions are one big happy loving whole is a fable created by modern religious leaders circling the wagons to defend against secularism and reason. And if these people ever manage to defeat secularism and reason, they'd go right back to murdering each other, as they have done for more than a millennium.

    3. Re:Dhimmitude by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What Rulers do not have this same aim?

      Please, let me know so I can go live there.

    4. Re:Dhimmitude by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tell me all about how non-Jews can own land in Israel.

    5. Re:Dhimmitude by tepples · · Score: 1

      [Dhimmis, or non-Muslim people of the book living in a Muslim state,] are TOLD that you are INFERIOR to the 'master race'

      Then what's this "and otherwise equal under the laws of property, contract and obligation [citing H. Patrick Glenn, Legal Traditions of the World]" that I see in the Wikipedia article's lead?

  115. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by sFurbo · · Score: 1

    . Political and historical realities suggest that such free speech has potential to cause catastrophic damage, and as a result it's illegal in Germany, while legal in, for example, some Nordic countries.

    If you are talking about the rise of nazism, it is worth to note that the Weimar republic did not have freedom of speech, to the degree that leading nazis were imprisoned for blasphemy. The nazis used the witness stand as a pedestal for getting their message out, and used the prison sentences to "prove" that they were being suppressed by the evil state. If anything, the rise of nazism proved that limiting free speech helps the purveyors of hate.

  116. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

    "Lots of Christians protesting" for Last Temptation meant a few really angry types marching outside movie theaters. The director, writers and actors didn't have to have armed guards or live in fortresses forever after.

    By and large in the West we've pulled a sufficient number of the Church's teeth that even Piss Christ or South Psrk's scatological sacrilege get only the rabid few even to respond.

    Nothing demonstrates how backwards and filled with fear some populations are than this latest event. Allah must be one pathetically weak god if he needs a mob to kill an ambassador whose only crime was to share the nationality of the silly kooks who made this film.

    And as to those kooks, it strikes me that the response has proven them right.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  117. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The word is god, not g-o-d. You will not be struck down by lightning for typing it on slashdot, I heard he only reads reddit.

    They absolutely are protesting because of a movie because their prophet is too delicate and his followers to dickless to handle criticism. Just as they freaked out about the satanic verses which resulted in iran calling for the assassination of salman rushdie (and the price on his head has just been raised because of this movie).

    Muslims of the world DO need to make a very loud and public stand against this primitive radicalism and extremist behaviour because as it stands, 1.5 Billion people are being awfully quiet which leads some to suspect they are not so against it after all.

  118. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by hazah · · Score: 1

    Are you a new kind of stupid?

  119. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by justforgetme · · Score: 2

    No, the violence started because some clueless religious fanatics:
    1. can't comprehend the idea of free speech
    2. would outrage even if they did understand

    It's a moebious strip really. The film exists because people exist that would organize mass violence about anything that puts their faith in bad light, which sort of is the film.

    I have to side with the fanatics on this one though; there isn't one redeemable thing to the film. Viewing it, even in order to teach people what not to do, could easily be classified as psychological torture.

    --
    -- no sig today
  120. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by doshell · · Score: 1

    Try reading what I said again.

    --
    Score: i, Imaginary
  121. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by JDG1980 · · Score: 4, Informative

    You are entitled to free speech, but in most civilised countries, there is a line drawn between free speech, and incitement.

    In the United States, the relevant case law is Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969). Under this interpretation of the First Amendment, speech can only be banned if it is intended to incite "imminent lawless action" and is likely to do so. The classic case would be the leader of an angry mob telling them to attack or kill someone. Does the Innocence of Muslims video qualify? Almost certainly not. While Nakoula may well have intended it to rile up the Islamic community in the US and overseas, it did not pose an imminent threat of lawless action. The reactions of hostile third parties cannot be used as a justification to prohibit free speech; as the Supreme Court put it in Brown v. Louisiana (1966), there is "no heckler's veto".

    The innocence of muslims has crossed that line by a very long distance indeed, and imho, it's on a par with Westboro Baptist Church turning up to protest at a dead soldiers funeral. [...] The people who created the video should not be able to hide behind the claim of 'free speech'. It isn't free speech, it's hate speech plain and simple.

    The WBC protests are also protected free speech in the United States under the First Amendment. You mentioned that you are posting from the UK, so one thing that may be confusing you is that in the US, there is no such legal category as "hate speech". It's all protected by the Constitution. The idea is that if you allowed the government to decide that certain speech was "hate speech" and suppress it, there would be a slippery slope that would inevitably lead to the repression of open and free political discourse.

  122. why this video? by Dan667 · · Score: 1

    how did this particular video become relevant to all these Muslims? Something seems off about why this became important and the timing is suspicious right before the US election.

    1. Re:why this video? by lamber45 · · Score: 1
      It's not just this particular video, I'm sure there are a lot of other things the people rioting are upset about: general economic problems, lack of political voice / security in their own country, heavy red-tape for their countrymen who actually do want to study in the 1st world, creeping secularism in their country, scantily-clad tourists from the 1st world on their beaches. If said video hadn't been released recently, there are a lot of other things people could have protested in a riot.

      Just like the Boston Tea Party wasn't about the price of tea alone, it was about taxes in general, and more beyond that about the right to self-government.

  123. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by alantus · · Score: 1

    Google might not make the right decisions sometimes, but it is nowhere close to the evil empire that Microsoft is.

    See this for a good example of what I'm talking about:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AARD_code

    "What the [user] is supposed to do is feel uncomfortable, and when he has bugs, suspect that the problem is DR-DOS and then go out to buy MS-DOS."

  124. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

    It would be nice if companies had good morals, and followed moral laws, while ignoring the immoral ones. I suppose there could be disagreement about whether censorship of things that offend religious people is moral or not. I also realize that corporations' morals in practice is "can I make money from it," and that wouldn't work out well for us.

    Still, I agree with OP a bit on at least this case. Would be nice if google said "fuck you" to the law in this case. I don't pretend to know if India and/or Indonesia would change their minds if that were the case. It seems possible that such a move could backfire, with google being excluded from those markets, and some other company which was totally on board with limiting the marketplace of ideas would move in.

  125. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by fifedrum · · Score: 3, Informative

    Just for the record, I want to know this.

    You do understand that the world wide Christian response to the move The Last Temptation of Christ, a major motion picture, is nothing, no where, not even close to the world wide Muslim response to a shitty low budget attrocity of an amateur film by a no-budget nobody, right? That the vast majority of radical Christians maybe, maybe considered picketing and a boycot as a valid response?

    That the two responses two the two movies are not just orders of magnitude different, but on completely different planes of existance different?

    That if a major motion picture studio published the same level of movie about Muhammed that the studio would likely burn?

    One story, of one attack? Versus how many hundreds of deaths, and thousands of attacks in the past week?

    Hell there were death to america marches when a completely different country published CARTOONS.

  126. I say pull out by Stan92057 · · Score: 1

    I say pull out all the call centers in India.

    --
    Jack of all trades,master of none
    1. Re:I say pull out by toriver · · Score: 1

      Ookay... what has that to do with anything?

  127. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by smooth+wombat · · Score: 1

    are all Abrahemic religions and they split when they picked which son to follow.

    Worse than that, each group has their own subgroups. Islam has, for the most part, Sunni and Shiites.

    Judaism has Reform, Conservative and Ultra-Orthodox.

    Christianity, gees, too many to count. First there was the Roman Catholic Church vs Eastern Orthodox. Then you have Lutherans, Episcopalians, Baptists, Anglicans (which came from a king making himself ruler or both church and state), Methodists, and the list goes on.

    And this doesn't include the subgroups of these subgroups. Apparently god wanted people to be completely confused about how to worship it.

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
  128. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by flibbidyfloo · · Score: 1

    ...but if society was more comfortable with the idea than that restriction would be removed.

    If society is comfortable with the speech you are using, it may not be a useful form of protest. The whole point of "freedom of speech" as espoused by the founding fathers was to allow people to express ideas that others are *not* comfortable with.

    It's not really freedom if you are "free" to do anything you want as long as it's ok with everyone else.

  129. "Burn a Holy Book Day" by arthurpaliden · · Score: 1

    November 1 is "Burn a Holy Book Day". Light a bonfire and burn the holy book of your choice film it and then post to YouTube, FaceBook et al.

  130. Bad for muslims in Australia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Recently there were two cases of FGM (female genital mutilation) discovered in the muslim community in Sydney , and now this.

    Muslims already have a bad name here and have been accused of shoving their way into Australia on boats and trying to get sharia law instated (in Sydney, no less) on the grounds of how many muslims there are in one area

    Of course that doesn't stop them from trying..

    Now words like islamophobia are being thrown around while a 8 year old muslim girl calls for deaths

    Harken also to the darling child with the sign stating that anyone who insults mohammad should be beheaded

    They most interesting thing about all of this? Combine this together and you have muslims fleeing their countries due to war, war caused by islamic based religious differences, muslims attempting to replace existing laws with mediaeval sharia law in other countries, threats and actual violence in multiple counties for a video made in America, muslims cutting their female children's genitals and one little 8 year old girl calling upon her kind to wage war.
    I do really wonder if she will feel the same way when they take her into a back room, hold her down, pull off her panties, and cut off her labia and clitoris. Perhaps this has already been done, and this bile and hatred we see from this 8 year old girl is due to the constant pain and misery she is in and will be in for the rest of her life.

    I won't hold someone's beliefs against them. If you tell me that you think that a magical pony that shits rainbows helps you get through life then I will thank you for sharing your unique view of this world with me and get on with my life. Threatening me my family or my country is quite another thing. Actually attacking me, my family or my country just provides physical proof of suspected intentions.

    I have to go now, my uncle took a glass bottle to the head recently, thanks to some people who came here from another country claiming that they were being threatened and wanting to get away from the war in their home land. How sad.

  131. Ask this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When was the Innocence of Mulsims completed?

    Not when was it uploaded, but when was it completed. I sense something wrong in the force here...

  132. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by paulpach · · Score: 1

    Are you suggesting that big companies in general should be exempt from the law and obey it only as they see fit?

    Suppose I own a megaphone and you say something I don't agree with. I therefore decide not to lend you my megaphone. Am I violating your freedom of speech rights?

    No, I am under no obligation to help you spread your message. I have the right as owner of the megaphone to decide who I lend it to for whatever reason. You still can spread your message using other means, but you have no right to do it through my means.

    This is what is going on here. Google owns an enormous megaphone called youtube. Therefore, if google decides to block the video, they have the right to. The makers of the video retain their freedom of speech because they can publish the video in some other way.

    Freedom of speech is a restriction on governments, limiting their ability to prosecute you because of something you say. It in no way compels private entities to use their assets to publish other people's messages.

    Before you accuse me of anything: I think the violence is completely unjustified and is wrong. And I do believe the makers of the video have the right to distribute it.

  133. What you say... by phorm · · Score: 1

    but I have not heard one Catholic priest say that child abuse is right

    What you say and what you do are two different things. If you decry violence against women, but beat your wife (or support people who beat their wives) behind the scenes, then you're either a thug, a hypocrite, or both.

    No, they may not "say" that it's OK. But they knowingly covered it up many, many times, moving offenders around to abuse other children rather than having them face the law.

  134. "Life of Brian" was sucessfully censored by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The character Otto was (almost) completely removed from the film because it offended Zionists.

    1. Re:"Life of Brian" was sucessfully censored by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      They removed the a big part of the first scene with the Jewish suicide squad IIRC.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  135. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Remember, in the United States, you don't have a right NOT to be offended. The concept of Freedom of Speech means that someone may say something you find offensive... That's the price of freedom.

    The price however is that if you say something offensive, the consequence of that statement is that someone might want to kill you. Violence is a go-to for many people, not words.

  136. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by king+neckbeard · · Score: 1

    It is unethical to obey censorship laws, so ignoring those particular laws is the right thing to do.

    --
    This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
  137. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 1

    you are almost right: OBEDIENCE (ie, don't question me! just DO it, dammit!) is right there in the NAME of the religion.

    you can translate it many ways, but its basically 'do what I say. or else.'

    is it any wonder that when you are brought up in this concept, the whole of the free world seems like they are your enemies.

    islam is incompatible with the modern world. one of 2 things has to 'give'.

    --

    --
    "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
  138. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 1

    It's out and out racism, designed to incite a large population of people into reacting in an angry way,

    designed? do you know that for a fact?

    perhaps there is some wisdom here that people are not seeing. the sooner we call ATTENTION to the elephant in the room and find a place for him in the world, things won't improve.

    islam needed to have its nose rubbed into a pile of shit. its long overdue.

    now, the stew is boiling and they have to address it.

    it will be painful - as learning experiences sometimes are - but in the end, some growth might occur. some tolerance. some notion that 'hey, we should not go around killing simply because of spoken words'.

    this would be a HUGE benefit and a learning experience for islam.

    but the realist in me can't see this happening. entrenched, islam will fight and fight and fight. I do believe they will cause ww3 and perhaps even the end of humanity.

    unles they GROW THE FUCK UP and stoping trying to make everyone think like they do.

    good luck with that, world.

    --

    --
    "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
  139. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Have you ever heard of Piss Christ, and what the creator of that piece had to deal with?

    "Serrano received death threats and hate mail, and lost grants due to the controversy."

    "Some days later, one patron attempted to remove the work from the gallery wall, and two teenagers later attacked it with a hammer.[14] The director of the NGV cancelled the show, allegedly out of concern for a Rembrandt exhibition that was also on display at the time."

    "On April 17, 2011, a print of Piss Christ was vandalized "beyond repair" by Christian protesters while on display"

    And that's just one piece of art. If you were actually educated on the matter of religious violence, you'd know about this case and the fact that there are others. And that's without going into the matter of abortion doctors.

  140. Newsflash: Most Theories Are Wrong. by bussdriver · · Score: 1

    Most theories are wrong. So we shouldn't like theories because they are wrong most the time? Conspiracy theories are common, proven and every bit as legitimate as other theories - most of what the FBI does is investigate criminal conspiracies. Clearly they are not so poor as to devote a whole federal police task force to dealing with.

    The problem is with people who cling onto a theory and make up new theories to keep the old one going -- more like creative writing or brainstorming. The conspiracy theory can be totally reasonable but like any theory it can be lumped together with a whole lot of unreasonable theories. This is when the theory becomes a belief and a religious like defensive behavior invokes imaginative thinking. In this society we have somehow decided that conspiracy theories are automatically a lower class of theory. They are not and there is no logical reason why they should be. you prove they are lesser theories as you believe they are.

    Politically related theories always involve MULTIPLE PEOPLE and therefore they are almost all going to be conspiracy theories. Politics brings in a lot of emotions and religious defensiveness. Look at global warming and how a really strong non-political theory is attacked by politics. Luckily, being a scientific theory there are no experts willing to risk their reputation by making up crazy defenses (or feeling they need to do so) but instead the opposition is making up the crazy stories to attack it even going so far as to try strawman attacks by lumping made up claims onto the science - like how the head of GM claims incorrectly that scientists claimed we'd be under water by now. I don't know of any such claims; he must have wanted to misunderstand 100 years to be 10 years or something like that.

  141. You have as much free speech as the mall allows by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Build a better communal platform If you want real 'free speech'

    https://archive.org/details/JacobAppelbaumDmitryKleiner-ResistingTheSurveillanceStateAndIts

  142. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Mike+Buddha · · Score: 1

    You speak as if "Freedom of Speech" should protect the speaker from the consequences of their speech. This is an incorrect assumption. Just because one has the right to speak their mind doesn't indemnify them from the reactions of the audience. All it means is that they won't be stopped by the government, and they won't be arrested. That's all.

    --
    by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
  143. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Mike+Buddha · · Score: 1

    You were offended by the scene where Brian is on the hill next to Jesus while he's saying the sermon on the mount? Are you sure you actually saw Life of Brian? It's about Brian, not Jesus.

    --
    by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
  144. so brave by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 1

    Google believes in freedom of speech unless there's a slight hint of it having an effect on their profits. So basically freedom of speech only has PR value to them. So that makes them just like any other corporation. No real surprise there.

    1. Re:so brave by toriver · · Score: 1

      Google does not need to believe in freedom of speech, they are a private corporation, not Congress.

  145. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Mike+Buddha · · Score: 1

    The word is god, not g-o-d.

    The name, a proper noun, is God, not god. Thor is a god. God is the judeo-christian god.

    --
    by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
  146. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by butchersong · · Score: 1

    Google can host or not host anything it wants but if I had a vote then I'd answer "YES" to each of those questions. I'm sure you can search youtube right now and locate videos of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or someone calling for the extermination of Isreal. I'm equally sure that you can find neo nazi propoganda on youtube as well if you look for it. As I said google is a private entity and can censor what they want but yes I find acts of censorship for all of the above to be objectionable and given a choice I would be a member of a video sharing community that allowed the distribution of all of the above.

  147. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by justforgetme · · Score: 1

    No, I don't. I didn't say anything about the author. How did you conceive of that one?

    --
    -- no sig today
  148. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by craigminah · · Score: 1

    Wow...obviously you're blinded by beliefs or have an agenda. How many examples of violence by Christians can you cite? I'm not talking about a person who was a Christian and did something bad, I'm referring to people who do bad things in the name of Christianity. Not very many...Muslims on the other hand, kill in the name of Allah all the time and yet nobody cares. Trying to turn the tables without any facts is not going to get you very far on /.

    Obviously they weren't protesting because of the movie, it was a pre-coordinated attack on September 11th. How many (non-Muslim) people bring an RPG to a protest anyways?

  149. Video is a False Flag by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wrote this on Facebook and G+ last week, and figured I'd share. The down side of the Google block is that it makes it harder for Muslims that are offended to verify information like below.

    The anti Muslim movie trailer currently causing and uproar is a fraud, and was created and intended for that purpose. Here is what you should consider and share with friends, especially those who are Muslim.

    The alleged producer is labeled "Sam Bacile". This name has been used for a long time as a pseudonym for "imbecile". In American English, say the name of the producer as a single word, then the word imbecile and you will immediately see the resemblance. Several people have tried to locate "Sam Bacile" since the movie trailer first made appearance, and there is no such person to be found.

    The way the pseudonym works in English, is not that the producer is an "imbecile" mind you, but rather you are an imbecile for believing the hoax.

    If you watch the trailer you will see that it is extremely poor quality. The whole trailer is filmed in a green screen with a few props. The film is cheap and chintzy almost to the point of being comical, if not for defaming a Religion.

    Voices have been over dubbed on top of movie actors lines. This is extremely apparent through out the trailer. Offensive lines are read without anyone being in screen on several occasions, or actors lips are not moving at all. Match the lines with the actor's and actress's lips, and you will begin see that this is a ruse.

    Consider that you and a friend were at a coffee shop discussing the food, while a third person video taped the conversation. Then they took the tape home, and every time someone said a sentence they recorded their own voice over the original audio defaming a Religion. This appears to be exactly what we have in this trailer.

    According to information with the release of the trailer, the "Sam Bacile" alleged that "hundreds of rich Jews" paid for the movie. What a better way to anger people and generate a reaction right? Not one person is named as funding the movie. This makes it more apparent that the movie trailer is a hoax intended to simply increase tensions between people of different Religions.

    I understand that it is against Muslim beliefs to depict or view images of Muhammad. I take no issue with that belief but will ask that if given my scenario above with friends in a diner, is that really Muhammad because someone dubs words over the real voices and says the name? If not, perhaps more Muslims can view the trailer for themselves and determine the same as I. That this is a hoax created with the intent of harming people in both Muslim and Jewish faith. If you see that I am correct, then perhaps we can focus on finding and punishing the people that generate these scams instead of harming each other.

    People that generate hoaxes, like this one, are the most despicable people on Earth. I have my suspicions on who is behind it, as you probably will also. We can't find or prosecute them if we are to busy fighting each other, and I'm sure that they take glee in that fact.

  150. what's the point of blocking it? by ffflala · · Score: 1

    It's not as if the protesters actually need to watch the clip to know how offensive they find it, or why.

    So far the full movie has only had one poorly-attended screening in Hollywood. It's not online. The YouTube clip is a short preview, and it doesn't appear that the violent protesters even had to watch *that*. Someone they trusted told them they...I mean their prophet... had been insulted, and that was enough.

  151. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by aevan · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well could always do:

    The following video is intended for mature audiences.
    Please select the century your culture has entered: [ 13th ] century.

  152. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  153. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Shotgun · · Score: 1

    How about Monty Python's "History of the World"?

    --
    Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
    Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
  154. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I just knew someone would nitpick on that point.. God or god, the point is it is not spelt g-o-d.

  155. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Shotgun · · Score: 1

    So under freedom of speech, should they be allowed to publish neo-Nazi material too?

    Not just allowed...encouraged.

    That way, we know who they are and can avoid them, or round them up for questioning if a temple is bombed.

    --
    Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
    Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
  156. New country != Old country, waah! by zooblethorpe · · Score: 1

    Muslims are fleeing muslim controlled countries, then trying to convert their new country to be run the same way.

    you've never met a Muslim who's actually fled their home country have you? hell i'd bet 50/50 you've never had a real conversation with one of Islamic faith. everyone i know certainly does not want to turn this country into something like where they came from (hint: there's a reason they fled.) generally those with enough power who's anti-west statements you hear did not need to flee their home country, and those on the streets inciting violence are just lapping up what they say (and like do not know what their hometowns are like)

    It is interesting to note, however, that complaining about how one's new country is not like one's old country is a common staple in *any* immigrant community. I spent years living in Japan, and one sliver of the gaijin community there loved to complain that Japan wasn't the UK/US/Australia etc, and go on and on about how XYZ thing about Japan should be just like it is in the UK/US/Australia etc, and then everything would be so much better.

    So there's a certain amount of what the GP says here that rings true. But with their blinders so firmly in place, they probably haven't noticed that this is something that all humans do, to some extent, when transplanted to a new country and culture.

    Cheers,

    --
    "What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
    "A four-foot prune."
    1. Re:New country != Old country, waah! by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      There's a subtle difference between sitting in Fergal O'Fuckery's with a Guinness or eight reciting your latest anecdote about what a bunch of filthy idle wankers the Belgians are and crashing an airliner into the Atomium.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  157. Cat crucified by Muslims in Nigeria by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Speaking of animals, here is a picture about Nigerian Muslims protesting the movie by crucifying a CAT
    http://news2.onlinenigeria.com/news/top-stories/195435-muslim-youths-in-nigeria-crucify-a-cat-on-the-cross-to-protest-anti-islam-film.html
    You stay classy, Mohammedans!

    1. Re:Cat crucified by Muslims in Nigeria by toriver · · Score: 1

      Better than a Christian shooting up a cinema because he has seen Batman...

  158. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by wienerschnizzel · · Score: 1

    I know where *I* would draw the line. It's the International Declaration of Human Rights. If there is a law that violates it or an order given to you by your commander that violates it, you should intentionally fight against it.

    Any other laws should be generally respected - especially by an outsider such as Google is in Indonesia. If bad laws shall be broken then by somebody from the society that has written the law.

    So if you are looking for *evil* companies that don't care about human rights, Google is probably the wrong one to criticize. There are worthier targets.

  159. Innocence of Christans and Jews by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All those dajjali peoples supporting anti-islamic movie are the one from the family of people who killed our prophet jesus p.b.u.h, and those people never get any learning from the prophet jesus of peace and respecting others. Christians say they are not terror, but actually they are big terror in world making films against muslims to heart them, killing innocent peoples in libya, afghanistan, iraq, phalastin, and scared that muslims are increasing each day so why not to do those things, remember those things will not gona finish muslims but will make muslims a one in the world....BTW your poor pop is not giving you the good lesson that is shameful he is actually a big terror.

  160. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Lemmy+Caution · · Score: 1

    No, but since when does Indian or Malaysian law apply to a US company?

    When they opened offices to do business in those countries. As long as they're interested in selling ads from Indian and Malaysian companies to Indian and Malaysian markets, and getting paid in Indian and Malaysian currency, they'll abide by Indian and Malaysian laws.

  161. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Hythlodaeus · · Score: 3, Interesting

    We need to carpetbomb all these countries with flyers showing every blasphemous depiction of Muhammed anyone can think of, daily, until they realize its been a few centuries since racking up a body count made anyone respect Muhammed.

    --
    For great justice.
  162. Treating them like Children is a solution? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Censorship is one of the most dangerous things in the world. Period.

    We censor the world "for the children" to protect them from words and ideas that some people think people are not mature enough to handle. A monstrous idea promoted in the US by people who are to lazy to do the job of parents and raise their children themselves and other people who use it for their own gain. So can someone tell me how Google treating these countries like little kids helps in any way? How will they learn that there is a whole world out there that is different then them that they will have to learn to live with? How will they learn tolerance and understanding?

    Most everybody has seen the terrible damage over sheltering an individual has had on someone, especially once they have to survive in the real world. Now an American company helps perpetuate this on a national scale? This sets a precedent that should strike fear into the hearts of anyone who uses the internet as there are no laws that regulate or stop such a thing from happening.

  163. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Z1NG · · Score: 1

    Wow...obviously you're blinded by beliefs or have an agenda. How many examples of violence by Christians can you cite? I'm not talking about a person who was a Christian and did something bad, I'm referring to people who do bad things in the name of Christianity. Not very many

    That is absurd. What about the Crusades? The Inquisition? Or if you want more recent examples just look at attacks on doctors and family planning clinics.

  164. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by toriver · · Score: 1

    Hey, ask the U.S. Senate about freedom of speech regarding the WikiLeaks... leaks. From the diplomatic corps. Which caused their friends some embarrassment.

  165. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by toriver · · Score: 1

    ... and since limiting freedom of speech was such a nice instrument of power, the Nazis expanded on the already established trend...

  166. stop confusing the issue by kenorland · · Score: 1

    Just because the Catholic church is a mess (and it's gotten much better), doesn't mean Christianity is bad.

    What does "Christianity is good/bad" even mean? According to traditional Catholic doctrine, if you aren't a Catholic, you aren't really a Christian and you'll go to hell. Luther, on the other hand, thought that the Pope was the anti-Christ.

    Many Christians have committed heinous crimes, in the name of Christianity, with the blessing of recognized Christian churches and authorities. Catholicism in particular claims doctrinal, spiritual, moral, and economic continuity with its entire past and claims to derive its authority from that. So, if you call yourself a Catholic, that means that you take responsibility for, and approve of, the historical actions of the Catholic church: its support of totalitarian leaders, its corruption, its torture, its oppression of minorities, its destruction of entire cultures and peoples. And others are justified in judging you by your choice.

    And it's the same when you call yourself a Muslim: either you accept and take responsibility of what mainstream Islam has done in the world since the time of Mohammed, what its preachers and holy books say and teach, or you shouldn't call yourself a Muslim.

  167. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by toriver · · Score: 1

    World wide? Four countries? Here in "Eurabia" as the funny Americans like to say, there have largely just been annoyance.

  168. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by toriver · · Score: 1

    Well, it was also banned. In at least two countries: Norway and South Africa. Then it was allowed onto Norwegian cinema screens as long as it omitted subtitles in the parts where our theocratic overlords felt were too close for comfort.

  169. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by toriver · · Score: 1

    All religions are incompatible, but we have pulled the claws out of most of the Christians who held the Western world in its grasp for centuries. So it can sit there in its corner and sulk. Islam seems to be important to have as an enemy: If the Muslims went away tomorrow, would you go back to Jew-bashing?

  170. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by toriver · · Score: 1

    Can't you tell when U.S. centrism is being mocked? You are no fun at parties.

  171. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A visit from Mr. Levity to lighten the mood:

    Possible replies to
    Keep your knickers calm (para.2 above)

    a) My knickers are *always* calm under any circumstances...

    b) My knickers are in a constant state of turmoil...

    c) Knickers? What knickers?

    d) Knickers to you too, mate!

    e) My knickers are so twisted, man!

    "Knickers" is one of those words that seems weirder every time you read/say it.

    Sorry, it was the
    Keep your knickers calm
    that cracked me up. (And the vodka & skunk).

  172. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by toriver · · Score: 1

    ... or if you say something offensive often enough, people start to believe it, and soon enough hundreds of thousands of Tutsi and moderate Hutu have been murdered. Can Rwanda happen again? Yes, that is why we have the concept of hate speech.

  173. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by craigminah · · Score: 1

    Yeah, I omitted all the legacy acts (e.g. crusades) due to irrelevance. Are the perpetrators of the attacks on doctors and family planning clinics attacking in the name of God or are they just religious people who do bad things? After the attacks, does the Christian community commend them or at least not stand against them? I see the Muslim community either applaud crimes committed in the name of Allah or they're silent (due to fear of reprisal if they speak against the perpetrators). Again, Christian crimes aren't widespread and lauded by the Christian community while Muslim crimes are plus the Muslim crimes are committed in the name of Allah and are typically much more heinous (e.g. beheadings and rapes) although there've been plenty of Catholic priests molesting children which is equally as heinous (thought you'd mention that point). I respect the Muslim religion but I wish they were help to the same standard as other religions...

    Sorry to ramble and repeat myself but I wanted to stress what I feel are the important differences, neither religion is blameless but Muslims (at this point in history) are much more violent yet get a pass.

  174. Google blocks porn, but not this? by internet-redstar · · Score: 1
    I don't get it... if a naked breast is visible, Google blocks it. But if millions of people find it 'offensive', then they don't?

    Google gets stuck in a 'do no evil'-mantra, but don't get that is understood differently by different people/cultures.

    I think religion is stupid, but ignoring hundreds of million of people is even more so...

  175. Who cares by Vince6791 · · Score: 1

    Islam has become more of a political machine than a religion just like when the Catholic Church used Christianity to get their way with the world, well especially with Europe, they still do today to some degree. Religion should be about having a personal relationship with their creator not turn it into a political ideology orgy where a few use it to control the masses and wielding it against the non-believers. This is why it's good to have here, in the U.S, separation between church and state and in place we have common, Statutory, and Constitutional Law . But who am I kidding, look at how Bush, Obama, democrats, republicans, supreme court, all have twisted, misinterpreted, raped our laws for the governments own benefit or their corporate masters.

    People need to stfu, not be so thin-skinned, and just try to live their lives as best as they could instead of getting upset of what others think of their religion, country, or as a people. You have only 1 life so don't waste it so carelessly.

  176. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Doctor_Jest · · Score: 1

    No it's not. Hate speech (as the statists would have it) is a nice blanket term for "stuff that's not PC" or "stuff that offends us". It's not about saving anything, but suppressing YOUR speech and mine.

    --
    It's the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
  177. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Doctor_Jest · · Score: 1

    And yet, there are laws that protect that here in the United States. I am sad to say they're not exported. Violence is the last bastion of cowards anyway.

    --
    It's the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
  178. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

    So under freedom of speech, should they be allowed to publish neo-Nazi material too?

    Yes, of course. Are you one of those crazy people who think that "Mein Kampf" should be banned?

    Post up a video calling for the extermination of all the Jews and see how long it takes before it gets pulled.

    There is a big difference between calling for extermination of someone, and mocking someone (even in a very offensive way). The first is incitement to violence. The second is just being an asshole.

  179. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

    "Hate speech" is nothing but an emotional label for "speech that I don't like". There's no human right to not be offended.

  180. Frankly, if those people are so easy to wind up by tlambert · · Score: 1

    We should pick someone we hate, and wind them up and point them in that direction.

    Seriously, those idiots are not storming a US embassy because they are upset about a Youtube video, they are storming it because it's a US embassy, and 9/11 was a convenient excuse to celebrate by storming an embassy.

    According to Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/13/us-usa-libya-attack-idUSBRE88B1C620120913 and the Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444517304577653680320732176.html?mod=googlenews_wsj, the Libya attack was planned in advance.

  181. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by hazah · · Score: 1

    Aw.

  182. Cigar Store Indians by ChiefHuntingBear · · Score: 1

    We indigenous Terrapin tribespeople of so-called 'North America' don't riot over you depicting us as stupid, lazy, drunken Indians, denying the existence of Chief Black Hawk and claiming that the mass-murderer Abraham Lincoln who waged 'Total Warfare' against us was 'The Great Emancipator' but schizophrenic, mental-retard, hate-criminal Arabs actually believe that they can torture, rape and murder a U.S. Ambassador in retaliation for a movie called 'Innocence Of Moslems' because it mocks their fortune-teller Mohammed. Screw their inferior asses.

  183. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by okmijnuhb · · Score: 1

    They don't have to suck it up, if they don't like it, then why watch it? Turn it off Muslims! There are plenty of jackasses spouting jackassery, you are not required to view it all.

  184. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You don't joke and mock about the most sacred thing for about a billion people just for fun. In UK you cannot mock the queen, in the USA you cannot mock TSA while at the airport, and in the Muslin world you don't mock their most sacred and divine belief. Unless you want to incite an entire fraction of the world, you make jokes that are funny, and not offensive.

    By the way, I started to receiving spam emails about how the most sacred founders of Islam were in turn something I won't reproduce here. I am sorry, but there is a part of society that is trying to create serious conflict for unknown reasons. I hope that that everyone will show respect for others beliefs.

  185. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They can learn not to act like animals. Fuck them. And stop being such a pussy. You make me want to puke..

  186. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hey, I've got something to share with you. You are obviously smart enough to have finally realized the shocking truth that jews are nazis who have a religious book which states that they should kill unbelievers. That's pretty terrifying, huh? Even worse, there are jews in most countries!

    However, I have a wonderful solution to tell you about. If you are christian, there is this wonderful paradise called Egypt, where you can go and openly practicice christianity, without fear of ever meeting a jew (thanks to the arab spring), and if you like islam, iraq is very mixed with all sorts of tolerant strains of islam, so you can feast upon the variety. And now that the western militaries are being kicked out of both places, they can finally become tolerant utopias. Don't wait any longer in this dangerous western world, with jews everywhere! You are really missing out, by not emigrating to the peaceful and tolerant utopias of egypt and iraq.

  187. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by justforgetme · · Score: 1

    Well, when has the US senate or any other form of government ever been correlated with honesty?

    --
    -- no sig today
  188. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > That should be used only in extreme cases
    > (aka Oskar Schindler)

    Oy see what you yid there already.

  189. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by flyneye · · Score: 1

    Actually the Crusades were Christians vs. Muslims round 1.
    The movie ,however cheesey and low budget,contained nothing I hadn't read about in the past.
    I'm sure the movie is born from fear that Islam will spread and we will be up to our necks in Sharia (?) law and camel crap.
    The local cultures of the Islamic, usually dependent on which country and how "sandbilly" the Muslim is, like female castration, stoning, amputation and distain and insult to every other religion on earth , turns the fear to hate. Hate always comes from a fear.
          Here we have religious hate groups and we monitor them and keep their violence from spreading. Christian Identity, Westboro Baptist,even Manson Family. The worlds main problem with Islam is that No representing Islam singles out the Taliban for punishment and castigation. That would be a bit like jailing the Pope. So in the name of ignorant tolerance we allow the weeds to spread with the garden aided by enemies of humanity like Hillbillary Clinton and France.(ok humor, eh)
    While some of the film may be bullshit, even a stopped clock is right twice a day. i.e. even Hitler brought the world the Volkswagen. (holy shades of Godwin, Batman). I call the film food for thought, just as I did of "Last Temptation" and just about any controversial issue I come upon.
              Frankly, judging by the behaviour the the Islamic in the far East and Europe over the last decade, I wouldn't be personally surprised if the film is dead on.
    Frankly the more things like this are ignored, rather than confronted makes Islam look as guilty as Michael Jackson buying his victims off to drop charges.

    --
    *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
  190. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Print n. : exaggerated word for a cheap poster usually slang from anxious art queens.

  191. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by fifedrum · · Score: 1

    Lybia (though that one is a lie), Egypt, Yemen, Lebanon, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia and Bangkok more than 20 nations saw violent demonstrations. using the movie as an excuse to call for world-wide bans on insulting one dead guy.

    Even an annoyance should never happen. The logical response to a movie insulting your favorite person isn't to burn something, it's to watch the movie and counter it with more free speech.

    I hope more movies like this are made, maybe after the 10,000th movie, they would get sick of protesting and grow some tollerance.

  192. Muzzy by tepples · · Score: 1

    Hello, we're talking MUZZIES here. They go nuts over books, cartoons, TV shows - just about anything.

    I thought Muzzy was a British animated TV show, which was dubbed into several languages for teaching second languages to children.

  193. Ancient Hebrew apprenticeships by tepples · · Score: 1

    Slavery was defended by Christians based on scripture as well (remember all the laws regarding slaves in the Old Testament).

    But people who call themselves Christians (Matthew 7:21) can twist scripture to make it say something that clearly wasn't intended. For one thing, slavery in the pre-1860s United States wasn't the same thing as the sort of slavery regulated by the Mosaic law. An ancient Hebrew manservant was more like an apprentice, to be set free as a free agent after six years (Exodus 21:2). For another thing, Christians haven't been under the Mosaic law since 50 CE.

  194. Why all the proselytism by tepples · · Score: 1

    But if Christians are so sure of themselves, what is it with all the proselytism?

    Jesus commanded Christians to give everyone a chance to hear the good news (Mark 16:15), to warn them of what was coming (Matthew 24) so that the sins of the people they could have warned won't be charged against them (Ezekiel 33:8-9). This is why certain Christian groups go door to door (Acts 5:42) and teach people about YHWH God and his Son Jesus Christ.

  195. Why e.g. Jehovah's Witnesses knock by tepples · · Score: 1

    Also, if this god is so special, why the need to sell it/him/her/whatever? [Ding-Dong], "Yes?" "Hello, have you thought about letting the Lord Jesus Christ in your life?"

    Answered here.

  196. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by king+neckbeard · · Score: 1

    My experience seems to be that the situation is quite different. Europeans seem to be more often concerned that that Arabs are 'taking over', while from an American perspective, it's such a laughably small minority that we are amused that you even noticed them.

    --
    This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
  197. That's beside the point. by zooblethorpe · · Score: 1

    There's a subtle difference between sitting in Fergal O'Fuckery's with a Guinness or eight reciting your latest anecdote about what a bunch of filthy idle wankers the Belgians are and crashing an airliner into the Atomium.

    1. I was responding to the previous poster's complaint that Muslims are "trying to convert their new country to be run the same way" as the country they emigrated from, which is ultimately something that all immigrants do to a certain extent.
    2. I don't know what the Atomium is, but assuming that this is a reference to 9/11, your argument here is unrelated to my previous post about immigrants, as the 9/11 attackers explicitly did not have the goal of making the US similar to their originating country of Saudi Arabia.

    Cheers,

    --
    "What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
    "A four-foot prune."
  198. Ordered lists too much for Slashdot? by zooblethorpe · · Score: 1

    I formatted my post above using generic <ol> and <li> tags, but it appears that Slashdot's code is so broken that these don't format correctly -- using Chrome on Win 7, I see no numbers; the two blocks of text are slightly indented and separated as if by a <br/> tag.

    C'mon, guys. CSS shouldn't be that difficult.

    --
    "What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
    "A four-foot prune."
  199. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by jrumney · · Score: 1

    Defending the video on the pretense of "free speech" is also granting power to extremist groups. There are many reasons this video needs to be taken down. From the exploition of the cast, to the attempt to incite violence against Jews and Israel by falsely claiming it was made by a Jewish Israeli director, when in fact it was made by a motley bunch of right-wing neo-nazi and Egyption Christian nutjobs.

  200. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by jrumney · · Score: 1

    Where do you think "religion of peace" came from? It came from ordinary muslims around the world standing up after 9/11 and saying "that's not my religion". And now it seems to get thrown back in their face every time a tiny minority does something like this, so I don't imagine they're all that keen on going through that again.

  201. Pakistan Most Effective Filter by LordDfg · · Score: 1

    Youtube is banned in Pakistan because people here are too retarded, cancel that, because the Government here is too retarded. I mean Google banned the video anyway, why the hell did you ban effing Youtube. For Thor sake, it's just stupid. If you don't like the video, DON'T WATCH IT, if you can get easily trolled then don't use the Internet. I am just pissed off, they always do this shit. If one party doesn't take something down, they will ban the complete range, fucking terrorists.

    --
    Follow me: http://www.twitter.com/dfg
  202. Google's home country centrism by tepples · · Score: 1

    OK then: The founding fathers of the country where Google is headquartered.

    1. Re:Google's home country centrism by hazah · · Score: 1

      Keep in mind... I'm not in/from the US. So I may be more fun at parties than you think. :)

  203. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by craigminah · · Score: 1

    I remember muslims celebrating in the streets on 9/11 and don't remember any speaking out against the attacks. I remember them trying to build a mosque at ground zero with no muslims saying it would be disrespectful to do so. I've seen too many muslims protesting with their RPGs holding flags with AK-47s and fists on them without anyone in the community saying anything. I read about a community in Michigan (I think) that wanted to enact sharia law in the USA and US citizens were told not to protest at the courthouse because it might incite the muslims to violence.

    "Religion of peace" is just marketing. I understand 99% of muslims are peaceful but where are the Islamic leaders who are speaking out publicly against the violence? If they don't denounce the violence they are complicit.

  204. It was Anti-Muslim???? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I thought it was anti-acting! Horrible! Those "actors" should be tarred and feathered for their acting alone!

    Muslims should be laughing at such a feeble attempt to mock their religion and prophet.

    If a faith is strong, no amount of ridicule will weaken it or its followers.
    If a god is strong, nothing a mortal could do would insult or anger him.

  205. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by flyneye · · Score: 1

    It would be a free speech issue, if it were here in the states. The world doesn't enjoy the right to free speech as we do.
    Therefore, Google complied with the countries requests to cut off access in those countries suffering deaths from protests. Humanitarian, yes. Free speech and censorship, Not there.
    It's alright, you youngsters just regurgitate whatever works you up without thinking about it. Usually some activist needs to be a "thinktivist" instead.

    --
    *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
  206. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Unknown? No we are perfectly aware of the jihads, fatwahs and social clubs like Hezbollah and glee clubs like the Taliban. We only mock because that is the only thing left to do, we are subject to the Repubmocrats "politically correct" treatment of those THEY do business with. If left to the world and not the business greedy, we would've nuked the mideast into a sea of glass and been done with ISLAM and it's hateful followers, it's stupid followers and those who followed and did nothing about the two former followers. We are the world and Islam is an itchy part on our ass.

  207. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by flyneye · · Score: 1

    Lenny Bruce originally had the idea to use racial epithets "Nigger, Kike,Mick, etc" without regard and with daily common use until the words meant nothing anymore. Got him ovations at the time he presented it..... to a mixed race audience.

    --
    *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
  208. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

    Nobody has a right to restrict speech, regardless of what the 'law' says. Censorship needs to be made impossible. I don't care how.. Cultural and local issues should not be allowed to get in the way. They are free to tune it out. Speech doesn't cause violence. All of you are barking up the wrong tree with that BS.

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  209. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by flyneye · · Score: 1

    Funny, but there's a world out there that has reserved the right to restrict speech more tightly than the U.S.
    So I guess your're wrong.
    Of course censorship is wrong and bad, but there are a world full of people who tolerate and even support it either through fear or ignorance. Tell ya what, you can write Santa Claus and wish real hard and maybe the world will have free speech for Pissmass.

    --
    *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
  210. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by Mike+Buddha · · Score: 1

    You reap what you sow... :)

    --
    by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
  211. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

    This is why a technical means is necessary to render the censors powerless. I don't care how it's done, just that it be done.

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  212. Re:What happened to freedom of speech by flyneye · · Score: 1

    Well , give it a shot!
    Schwein haben mit das!
    Let me know how that all turns out.

    --
    *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!