Irish Politician Calls For Crackdown On Open Source Internet Browsers

An anonymous reader writes "An Irish politician has called for tougher controls on the use of open source internet browsers. He said, 'An online black market is operating which protects the users’ anonymity and operates across borders through the use of open source internet browsers and payments systems which allow users to remain anonymous. This effectively operates as an online supermarket for illegal goods such as drugs, weapons and pornography, where it is extremely difficult to trace the identity of the buyers. We need a national and international response to clamp down on this illicit trade.' The politician added that the U.S. had 'taken action' to address this, but he seemed surprised that their solution was only 'temporary.'"

Comments

Not interesting

[jbmartin6]

Call me when a bill to this effect has some chance of passing, otherwise I am not interested. There is no idea so dumb or ill-informed that there isn't going to be some politician, somewhere, proposing it. That doesn't mean anyone else in that legislature takes it seriously, possibly even the proposer isn't serious and is just mouthing off for political reasons. This just isn't worth anyone's time to read about.

Re:I think I speak for us all...

[Jane Q. Public]

"He starts by condeming browsers and proxies that help people browse the internet anonymously. Then he jumps to saying that anonymous browsing leads to trading drugs, weapons, and pornography. Then he commends the USA NSA for spying on Americans but is concerned that now that they have been caught Americans might do something about it."

Seems to me there was something else I heard about that was anonymous, and can be traded for all kinds of illegal things.

Oh, yeah. I remember now: cash.

Good luck with that, King Canute

[sandbagger]

Let us know how that works out.

I agree with the people above, it sounds like he's confusing Tor and Firefox. For my part, I'm a member of an on-line community and am dealing with their 64-year-old admin who refuses to let anyone post live links in the discussion forum because "it's a security risk" and won't allow any images, or media. She's wondering why this little web community is dying.

You sometimes need to keep old people away from the keyboard.

Re:Wow.

[Baloroth]

Did we learn nothing from the USSR and the Iron Curtain?

Yes. We learned how to do it better.

What more can one expect from total Assholes?

[The_Other_Kelly]

Just when you think that you have grown beyond caring, theses guys manage to poke beneath the shield and hit the "AAAAAARRRGGGHH" button !!
I am sorry for taking this seriously, but after the Bank Bailouts, the corruption, the incompetency, the cover-ups and the sheer fuck-wittery of the past
years, they attack OPEN SOURCE BROWSERS !!

What more can one expect from politicians that:
- kowtow-ed to the EU on the Maastricht Treaty re-Vote, (It puts the lotion in the basket, and votes again and again until the answer is YES)
- sold 3 generations of their own people out, in the form of a bank bailout for *private* non-system critical banks,
- have no concept of Justice whether social, civil or criminal
- have no concept of public probity, of duty or what to be a servant of the people actually means
- assume in blind arrogance that their own short-sighted, small-town, bigoted, religion-ridden, never questioned views are "NORMALITY"
    and those of everyone else, are simply illegal.

In short. Olympic level Assholes.

Winking and smiling and smirking, crapping out their "hokesy/folksy" catchphrases, with constant shit eating grins.

Concepts such as free speech, right to privacy, equal treatment before the law, due process,
womens' rights (especially reproductive rights), ... are considered amusing or just dismissed,
out of hand, by these troglodytes.

For example, the implicit assumption that *all pornography* is simply illegal!

The US and Britain have blanket surveilled every Irish citizen for generations, and this cringing *lackey*
assumes that *law enforcement* was the purpose.

Call me harsh, but I interpret the failure of elected representatives to protect .the rights of their citizens,
in the face of blatant intrusions, as more than incompetence, more than failure.
It is treachery.

Following the usual, endless cycle, whenever social unrest threatens, the Haves in Ireland,
push the Have-nots to emigrate. Since, conveniently, the non-resident cannot vote, there
was, is and will never be any pressure on the ruling elite to change any of their policies ... the opposition is simply disenfranchised.

And nothing changes.

I dream of another Ireland.
A country where an informed electorate hold their elected leaders to account, demand the
definition and enforcement of just laws which protect individual and public rights.
A truly Free Ireland.

Until then, I apologise to the world that we are represented by these fools and that
you have to listen to their blather.

Re:As wasted as that idiotic Irish luddite

[Patent Lover]

I thought only the U.S. produced these idiots. I'm slightly less embarrassed to be an U.S. citizen.