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The Shortest Internet Censorship Debate Ever
rysiek writes "When a politician starts talking about defending the innocence of children, there's bound to be a great policy initiative ahead. That's how British PM David Cameron introduced the British porn block. That's also how the Polish Minister of Justice started his remarks yesterday morning on how good an idea it is and that it should be introduced in Poland. This started the shortest Internet censorship debate ever, as in the evening of the same day the Polish Prime Minister and the Minister of Administration and Digitization denounced any such ideas: 'We shall not block access to legal content regardless of whether or not it appeases us aesthetically or ethically.'
There had been several full-blown Internet censorship debates in Poland during the last four years. Apparently the arguments against it were not lost on at least some of Polish politicians."
Hurrah for Po(rn)land!
A Pole just cockblocked a cocky cockblocker.
You can't handle the truth.
Lest someone not chase the links down, there's a useful 'HOWTO: EFFECTIVELY ARGUE AGAINST INTERNET CENSORSHIP IDEAS linked-to in the TFL at http://rys.io/en/94 "You forgot Poland" just might take on a new meaning.
And so do I. I used to listen to polish punk that had all the words bleeped out. Sometimes it has to get worse before it gets better...
Polish government are all traitors. They are occupying this country together with communists that ruled here before 1990. Don't get fooled Poland is a free country. It is not.
The discussion shouldn't be ironically short, implying that 'it's so absurd we shouldn't be discussing it'. This discussion should be had extensively and without prejudice. Without sentiments like 'will someone pleeease think of the children' and 'You leave my internet ALONE!'. The thing is, we are all in favor of some sort of censorship aren't we? I want child-porn blocked. For everyone. I want sites blocked telling people actively to be violent. The whole thing is, what are exactly the limits there, how do we establish those boundaries? And enforce them? What's left is a discussion on the periphery. Outright dismissing any sort of censorship is naive. Outright implementing censorship is stupid.
Common sense is not fully eradicated there yet. Plus they really remember what censorship really is http://www.examiner.com/article/polish-parliament-members-wear-anonymous-guy-fawkes-masks-opposition-to-acta
MY children would not take money to deinstall the censorship. they would ask for a cashier's check.
"If a boss demands loyalty, give him integrity. But if he demands integrity, give him loyalty." (John Boyd, 1927-1997)
... "We'll just make the content we don't like illegal"?
I hate to be on the government's side when it comes to arguments, but the government is right on this matter. Internet companies had years to get their acts together and offer a workable filtering solutions for the masses. What has the IT industry mainly been doing to address this real problem? Nothing really, but they have been stead-fast in finding ways to fatten their profit margins.
All the major search engines are guilty with this regard. Instead companies like Google pour millions in to silly things like Glass and ignore the real maturity issue facing the web. I believe the government has been more than accomodated and permitted these companies to flourish, but enough is enough. If the IT industry isn't going to take responsibility for the torrent of information they've exposed children to, then it the government's duty to do something about it.
Only cowards use censorship
I've invented the best, most effective and cost effective internet content filter ever devised. Concerned as any parent is about what my son could be doing on the internet I set about thinking of a system where I could prevent him from getting interested in Midget porn or gaining the skills to build a meth lab in my basement. After many weeks of planning and development I finally implemented my system and it has worked flawlessly ever since. How does my flawless system work? I placed the computer in the living room and then faced the monitor towards the open room. Amazingly, he seems reluctant to go to sites that I'd disapprove of now. It's great what actual parenting can do...
If such filters were very accurate, it would be great.
Only if it was opt-in of course.
Filter all articles and sites related to [Microsoft|Linux|Apple]
Filter content of [repidlicans|democrats], [gristians|atheists|muslims|Buddhists|other].
Internet would entirely consist of unicorns and kittens!
Privacy is terrorism.
Nobody is forcing you to look at child porn or so called hate speech - If something offends you, you are free to avoid or ignore it. But forcing everyone else to follow your standards is strictly undemocratic.
I want to make a commercial about censorship and it sould go like this: There is a debate between two people arguing about censorship. The first is arguing for censorship about saving children blah blah. When its time for the detractor, he says one word and gets his mic cable audibly removed. You see him talking, but no words. Thin in a large caption "It will Happen" across the screen before a fade out. Done.
Bye!
I have children, and IMNSHO David Cameron is a technologically challenged idiot. If he wants us to "think of the children", maybe we should remember that one day they'll grow up, and will then be living living in a society being brainwashed into thinking censorship is OK. If *that* is not "corrupting the minds of our children", I don't know what is.
We need to Polish our laws.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
What a wonderful world it could be policy proposals were made honestly. Pornography censorship is a smokescreen for restricting dissent.
Good spin job!
Besides not being 100% reliable I don't think the government should be filtering any media (books, Internet, radio, TV). I don't want an elected body to force their morals on me and my family. Every household should be able to enforce their own standards. I would have no problem if the government forced the ISPs to provide a filter that people could opt in to which allowed them to customize exactly the content that was prevented from being shown. It would have to be completely open and transparent. So if someone clicked on the option to prevent sexually explicit material then they would be able to see a list of sites that would be forbidden and a list of keywords that would cause pages from downloading. Maybe even going so far as to allowing each household (user?) to white list sites and keywords.
That being said I do believe that some material should not be available but I think the best way to stop it is have people report it to the police when it is found. Then have the authorities target the creators and distributors of such content.
The danger to free speech is too great by placing filters in place.
The world is a dangerous place. You must protect your own children from those dangers while preparing them to deal with them as they attain independence. Don't expect us to do your parenting for you.
Have gnu, will travel.
There are not shades of grey with freedom, despite what the filthy shills claim here and in other places.
Take 'Freedom of Conscience'- one of the key freedoms in English-speaking nations, but a freedom almost entirely disguised from understanding by the sheeple as a result of propaganda from organised religion sources. How many times, for instance, have you read FAUX outrage on Slashdot about Census questions on people's religious beliefs, claiming honesty in answering is a LEGAL requirement. The owners of Slashdot, as with mainstream media in general, constantly ensure their naive readers are unfamiliar with the what 'Freedom of Conscience' actually means.
Freedom of Conscience means your religious/spiritual beliefs are YOURS, and require no justification of any form. You cannot lie about your spiritual beliefs, for you are entitled to formulate and change them however you so desire. It is CONCEPTUALLY impossible in an English speaking nation to compel a person to reveal their current spiritual position.
No, I *am* addressing the issue of Poland's action in defence of Internet freedom. They are seeking to ensure Internet freedom has the same conceptual power as 'Freedom of Conscience' (which, ironically, Poland lacks, being a slave state of the Church of Rome). Poland's current bosses are STATING that it doesn't matter what person X thinks about the mental activities of person Y. Law, and law alone designates certain activities illegal- and then only activities that represent DIRECT harm against others.
Tony Blair is introducing Sharia Law into the UK. While racists think this is a Muslim thing, it is actually the ultimate desire of ALL the powerful organised religions in Britain, especially the Church of England. For instance, activism by the Church of England meant that ALL (no matter how vanilla) 'hard-core' pornography was highly illegal in the UK until the rise of the Internet made such control hopeless. It is the stated goal of the Church of England to return Britain to a hard-core porn free situation.
But, as the Polish leaders stated, this has NOTHING to do with porn. Anti-porn activists (mostly extreme perverts with close association to child molesters- see Stuart Hall and Jimmy Savile for examples- these two monsters were favourites with all the main churches and children's charities in the UK) provide evil politicians like David Cameron with apparent popular support. Banning porn then becomes the usual 'thin end of the wedge' tactic.
But Tony Blair is looking to use Britain as an example for the rest of the world. Blair wants his legions of dictators to use his example as justification to their people as to why the Internet MUST be effectively closed down to ALL non-state approved activity. If Blair had been in politics during the late 18th/early 19th Century, slavery would still be legal today. Britain's principled stand against slavery doomed the practice. Blair, on the other hand, would have ensured the whole world heard that Britain KNEW slavery was correct in principle. This is the consequence of sufficient influence.
Poland's current leaders (before Blair and his mates invite them to take another plane ride) know the world is staring into an abyss. They know the ultimate enemy of evil is freedom- real freedom experienced by people that monsters like Blair and Murdoch can otherwise so easily convert into sheeple. Poland still has some in politics that remember the 'recent' history of Europe, East and West, and want to respect and preserve the remarkable changes that occurred after the horrors of WW2.
They will lose. Blair is all powerful and his influence grows daily. His people head Britain's three main political parties, allowing Blair himself to operate on the world's stage as the ultimate manipulator. Censorship in Russia has exploded again, allowing Blair's No.1 ally, Putin, to operate targeted take-down operations against any internal enemy. Poland's good people don't stand a chance. Sure, they don't have to comply today. But in two years time, when Blair's termination of Internet freedoms in in full swing, they will have no choice.
So you are basically telling that the USA has laws that prohibit the broadcast of music or other media that are legal to buy, sell or play otherwise? How curiously unconstitutional, if you put it that way.
I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
Disproves all of those claims about how we can't do something.
If you REALLY want to filter YOUR computers internet connection there is a very simple and totally effective approach.
A white list.
Blocking content you don't like on the internet is a never ending task but you CAN produce a SHORT list of approved sites for you or those who can't yet escape your clutches to visit. Because I have found that those kids who grew up in censored households were the ones to go most off the rails when they finally moved out. No greater slut then the preachers daughter.
I am reminded of stories of kids being banned from watching Star Trek because it had a black woman on it. These kinds of people are the ones who want filters and how the fuck are you going to filter everything that upsets them. Only white list disney.com? Doesn't disney have gay days in its park? BAN!
There ARE no safe sites that please EVERYONE. Hell even something as simple as searching for a picture of a new monitor stand from newstar with safesearch ON on googles image search... do NOT do this if you are worried about what might appear on your screen. http://www.newstar.nl/home/ products is what I was after, their search catalog sucks so I hoped to use image search to find a triple monitor stand. That is not what I found.
So what site can you allow? You can't censor the net effectively, you could only create a white listed version and then the list would be a handful of sites. weather.com and kittenwars... oh you are a dog lover.
But I did say there is a real effective filter didn't I?
There is. UNPLUG your computer. If you can't handle the internet, maybe you shouldn't be on it. And now if you excuse me, I will await a knock on the door for my google search of today.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Dear Sirs,
Poland is a roman catholic land consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. If the poles forget this fact and wander into the ways of immorality and fornication, they will not be protected from above and their country will again be split into three parts, dived amongst the Russian, German and the Habsburg tyrants. Polish people wishing not to lose independence and fall into serfdom again shall remain pious and meek in character and avoid desires of the flesh when it is not related to the duty of multiplication.
Polish people shall look for a negative example in their brotherly country Hungary, which is also a central european nation consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Regrettably the hungarians choose to become wicked and to set themselves up as a pornography-producing and orgy clubbing powerhouse and consequently lost their heavenly protection and guidance. Today their country is a laughing matter amongst the European Union politicians, bankers and populace: hungarians are financially broken, chin deep in debt and one delusional populist leader replaces the other, without the slightest choice of things actually becoming better, even though new taxes are invented bi-weekly. Maygar youngs have sex 150 times a year and party and couples swing in the clubs like there is no tomorrow, but one must search with an arc-light to find a white woman under 30 with at least one kid (while the low IQ, coloured gipsy race multiply like rabbits, but they are only good for criminality).
In contrast, Poland is still strong economically, militarily and enjoys the support of anglo-saxon countries. It would be a waste to throw off the heavenly helping hand just because some cabinet ministers are pervs with a strong addiction to smut! Those who want a future shall preserve the pure soul of children in the first place and cleanse the land of the wicked ones. Jesus said those, who are unlike the children in their souls will never enter the Gates of Heaven. Feed porn to the little ones and the whole polish nation will go to Hell!
Blessed John Paul II, Pope of the Virgin Mary, please pray for the pious Poland!
the constitutional rights of the people is couched in "for the children"
Every internet censorship act that is designed to help the government monitor/control the population or help politicians manipulate the public, or help big media companies wring more money out of the public will be sold as an "anti-porn" act (most politicians want to be on-the-record as being opposed to porn and do not want the record to say "bought by big entertainment companies")
Every act to let government control when you travel, where you travel, where and how you bank or communicate, etc will be positioned as an anti-terror act (with the implication that we're protecting "innocent women and children")
Any government that pretends things are "for the children" should be examined to see how well it is educating those children, and should be required to prove that the actions will actually benefit those children. The U.S. government that pretends everything bad is being done "for the children" is doing such a bad job educating children that it claims we need to import millions of high-tech workers to do the tech work our own kids are not qualified to do when they graduate.
Child porn is a problem, so lets block all porn.
Meth is a problem, so lets put Pseudoephedrine behind the counter.
Irresponsible people with pit bulls are a problem, so lets ban all "dangerous" breeds.
Evil people killing others with guns is a problem, so lets ban all guns.
Over-consumption of energy drinks is a problem, so lets ban energy drinks.
none of the above "solutions" actually solves the problem, it just infringes on the rights of the people.
Thanks to file sharing, I purchase more CDs
Thanks to the RIAA, I buy them used...
Every year thousands of children are killed or injured in or by vehicles! Ban all vehicles! Think of the children!
"Only cowards censor."
Three words. FTFY.