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House Panel Backs 'Internet Freedom' Legislation
GovTechGuy writes "The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed legislation on Wednesday once again affirming the current management structure of the Web. In doing so, the lawmakers made one thing clear: the only government that should have its hands on the underpinnings of the Internet is the U.S. ' It affirms the importance of an Internet free from censorship and government control and codifies the existing management structure of the Internet. ... Notably, however, lawmakers dropped from the legislation the phrase “free from government control,” which had threatened to derail the April 11 markup by the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. ... [Democrats argued] it could undermine the U.S. government’s ability to enforce existing — or future — laws online.'"
nothing about freedom from corporate control or censorship. Interesting.
I'm going to assume that house republicans snuck provisions into the bill that take money from the poor, distribute it to the wealthy and rape both our country and our future unless proven otherwise.
Seriously - give me one example of a bill passed by the Republican controlled house which doesn't enthusiastically the GOP's dick in our national punch-bowl.
Just one.
You can't name one, because they can't stop ruining the country at every opportunity.
And they say Americans dont get irony.
Can come up with its own protocols, build a network and tell the U.S. government where to go, and what to do upon arrival. .uh. . .
Such an effort is hindered by. .
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
The power to control the internet rests with whomever has either control over the hardware, or control over those who have control over the hardware. They can blow all the hot air they want about an internet 'free from censorship and government control' - but in the end, a lot of that internet runs on hardware that isn't located in the US. If China, or Iran, or Saudi Arabia, or Pakistan, or Turkey, or any other country with a government that decides the internet needs to be censored of 'harmful' political or social content, then there is nothing the US government can do about it.
Sorry, Democrats. Even your congenital desire to hold up cardboard with "Commerce Clause" on it the way a rainbow-haired guy holds up John 3:16 isn't enough to override the First Amendment.
Strange bedfellows -- what do you and the John 3:16 AKA religious folk have in common? 500 word paper due to tomorrow, turn in to Madison and Monroe.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
free from government control
free from control by anyone with an IQ less than 140 and that hasn't had a minimum of 20 years of computer / networking related experience (management experience does not count)...
There, that ought to clear things right up and protect the internet from the fucktards in office today and for most of the rest of eternity...
The US goverment is the least corrupt so we let them have the net...
Our corruption isn't crazy either like religious nuts or nothin. Nope. We're just flat out for the money.
I propose we change our motto from land of the free and all that bullshit... To... "Fuck you pay me!"
It fits us here in the usa much better.
I'm waiting for the rest of the world to wise up and cut off the US from the Internet. Our "we control da wurld" attitude needs a serious slap down.
The only thing worse than a Democrat is a Republican.
Which means if China decides it wants to create it's own Internet, there's nothing we can do about it.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Sometimes I do wonder if the US having all the control is such a good idea - Megaupload was shut down last January, without judicial due process. However I am pretty damn sure that I don't want countries like China to control my Internet...
I'm still stuck with AT&T DSL at 1.5mbit because South Carolina passed a law giving them a legal monopoly on fiber services in the State.
Fuck AT&T. Fuck the US Government. Anyone who thinks the government does anything with the best interest of "we the people" in mind is a fucking blithering idiot.
I'm a big fan of the U.N., but something like this absolutely is not a good idea.
Take a look at the recent ITU meetings/conferences and how they are run. Yeah, that's exactly what a U.N. controlled Internet would look like. Not a pretty sight.
For now, the U.S. is the best combination of large-enough-to-matter, and free-enough-to-be-mostly-nonevil there is. There's certainly no other country with the combination of economic/technical power that also has quite as much of a open society mindset. I'd love it if the Swedes or Norwegians or Dutch could handle it (maybe even the Finns), but they simply aren't Big League enough. And the E.U. as a whole is completely broken right now, so that's right out.
Fact is, the USA is the least-worst option. Which isn't a ringing endorsement, but sometimes, Perfect is the enemy of Good Enough.
What makes you think the Chinese private internet 'wants' to work with the real internet?
Trying to regulate any major international infrastructure with a single country in charge of almost everything is always going to be troublesome, but if I had to pick an alternative to the US, I can think of a few credible choices.
Switzerland, maybe? Their position on neutrality in international matters is promising.
Germany? They are successful economically, but also for obvious reasons very conscious of individual freedom and the dangers of centralising too much power.
The trouble I have with the US is that it tends to appoint itself the world's policeman, but primarily when doing so serves US interests. Similarly, what most of the world calls things like "human rights" that apply to all, the US tends to value as "Constitutional rights" that protect primarily US citizens. While these things are perfectly understandable and of little concern if you're actually from the US, most people on the Internet aren't, and that's always going to make for awkward relationships.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
They have opened the door. From TFA: Notably, however, lawmakers dropped from the legislation the phrase “free from government control”
Which is to say: They have deliberately opened the door for further regulation by the FCC and whatever other federal agencies care to stick their noses in.
Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
I hate it when people talk about the internet as if it's a single entity. It is a machine with many well-oiled parts.
Half is software, half is hardware. China could make their own intranet, but there's no way they could ever achieve a global parallel.
End rant.
Every other country can agree to blackhole the US and take control pretty easily.
It is exactly how the internet was designed. It is based on trust between peers. (which has been abused several times in the past)
If trust falters, so will the internet as we know it.
It is already at an uneasy point in its life where the US have been abusing their powers and the rest of the world is getting annoyed at it now.
The so-called Country of Freedom is no more, and it will likely only be a matter of time before other countries just say "fuck you" and disconnect the lines.
The American economy will tank if such a thing happens. So much of exporting is based on the internet and through media deliveries on boat and plane.
To disconnect all of those avenues would be catastrophic for the US.
In fact, it would likely drive the higher up morons in to full-out war, that is how pathetic it is.
I'll see you on the illegal global links, /.
This wasn't "Internet Freedom", it's "US Control of the Internet".
DMCA? USA's fault.SOPA/PIPA? USA. And trying VERY hard to export it.
How about Abu Hamsa? How free is his speech?
No, the USA is only concerned about its interests, fuck everyone else if they get in the way.
The Internet is not the world wide web. The Internet is not the world wide web. Its much bigger than that.
'Freedom' and 'Legislation' are two mutually exclusive terms as far as I am concerned. It seems to me that if the US govt were really concerned with internet freedom they would NOT be passing laws, as the nature of a law is to forcibly limit freedoms that would otherwise exist naturally.