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UK Conservatives Pledge To Create Government-Controlled Internet (independent.co.uk)
Martin S. writes: Theresa May, the leader of the UK Conservative Party has pledged to create new internet that would be controlled and regulated by government on re-election. An early lead in the polls appears to be slipping but not slowly enough to change the result. Social Media has rapidly become an intense political battlefield. Known as #Mayhem in some circles, but seemingly able to command significant support from new and old media. Also, applying new social media analytics. According to the manifesto, the plans will allow Britain to become "the global leader in the regulation of the use of personal data and the internet." It states, "Some people say that it is not for government to regulate when it comes to technology and the internet... We disagree."
They passed the Snooper's Charter. They could very well pass this too.
AC comments get piped to
please wake me up
descending into totalitarianism slowly but surely.
No need for anything additional. I got it all in on the subject.
Small wonder that UK users are flooding all the VPN vendors.
the Interlink.
This is why we need viable leftist opposition parties that actually care about things like free speech, labor rights, and illegal immigration. If you spit in the voting public's face long enough, they will flock to the lesser evil that doesn't completely disregard their interests.
UK never cease to amaze me.
They have tons of CCTV cameras literally everywhere, they want the U.K. to be truly isolated from the rest of the world, Brexit...and of course, now - total control and obedience of all their citizens.
What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
The thing to remember is that this is pretty much all a reaction to the BREXIT vote.
As was pretty clear to anyone not jerking their knee, that vote turned into a 'do what the government/financial organisations tell you' versus 'dont do what they tell you', as we know where that ended up.
Now, the government, naturally, was horrified - people actually exercised their rights, against what they were told to do, even though they were told it would cost the people in power actual money!
So, what is the governments reaction? To do their very best to make sure that can never happen again. They want total control, which means both controlling the flow of information, and knowing everything about everyone, so they can keep the population nice and compliant. In other words, those in control are escalating, rather than learning from their mistake - they are doubling down on their losses.
The only sane solution for the general population is to double down on telling them no. Not through such ridiculous means as protest or debate, and of course not through any form of violence - that is just giving more control to those in power as they make the majority think they need more protection.
The solution is to keep doing exactly what they don't want you to - and that is voting AGAINST them, removing career politicians from office whenever and where ever possible. Unfortunately that is going to mean voting for some idiots - but the important thing to do is to vote for idiots that wont be able to hold on to power - ones who talk too much, dont have lots of friends in high places, etc.
Very sad, but thats what democracy has degenerated to - mostly because of a lack of limitations in place to stop politicians continuously growing their power.
Those in control need to know that the majority wont support their carefully crafted 'you need us, give us more power over you' story.
And how do they plan to convince the rest of the world to give them control over the internet? Oh right, they aren't planning to control the internet, they are planning to cut England off of it. But that doesn't sound as catchy I guess.
We have a government-controlled internet in the US, too. It's just not controlled by our government.
You are welcome on my lawn.
In further comments, the Prime Minister stated, "We've long known that the internet is just a series of tubes and so we've decided that we are just going to go around and turn off all those little valves that lead outside the country. Once we've determined that our internet tubes are not leaking, we are going to add more tubes and those tubes are going to route everything into a big tank of internets. We plan to make a tank big enough to hold ALL the internets. It will be a much better paradigm than, for example, big trucks dumping things onto the internet. Instead, all the tubes will lead to the tank and the government will make sure the tank is full of clean, healthy internets."
Will shitheads please stop conflating things that aren't related to each other? "Right wingers" often care about free speech, especially in regards to refuting government control! It's fuckers like you from both artificial "sides" of politics, that conflate shit to make politics into a fucking football match, that stop "Lefists" and "Right wingers" from banding together to stop this sort of dystopian, rights-squandering, stupid government overreach from happening. When it gets through, it will be because people like YOU won't agree on this issue because you are too busy pigeonholing people you disagree with on other issues as the dreaded Other!
and if it moves her nation towards totalitarianism, she probably Will.
'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
You just handed the election to anyone that says "we're doing the brexit thing, but not cutting the internet off".
China, North Korea, Iran...
China, Iran, Russia and Turkey for this kind of innovations. It would be sad and ironic if UK will join this elite club.
Marketing and Propaganda are JOBS just like being a lawyer. Some people are free to choose for whom they work and apply whatever morality they have.... this guy clearly does not care or he hates freedom or he doesn't care what other countries do to themselves.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
I remember when the Independent was a politically neutral dull and worthy newspaper. Now it has become an anti-government clickbait site.
While it's true that the Tories have a lot of stupid ideas about regulating the internet,the idea that they'll create a "government controlled internet" is ridiculous, except insofar as it's already government controlled. I.e. do something illegal online, and you'll be arrested.
90% of the article is wild speculation, trying to make concrete conclusions from vague manifesto promises.
There's a lot to criticise in the manifesto. Please don't use the Independent as a source if you do so. It has no credibility and you lose credibility by referencing it.
Anything that is larger than an intranet, that connects intranets is, well, an internet. Not the capital I Internet, but a small i internet. The US government has several, for different levels of classification and different agencies. NIPRnet is their unclassified network and can be argued to be part of the Internet, but in kind of the same way I2 is in that while it connects to it at points it has its own infrastructure. SIPRnet is for stuff classified at Secret and is a separate internet, that you can't get to (or at least hopefully you can't) from the public Internet.
We got the stupid president, you got the stupid laws. If this keeps up, we'll both have both.
Table-ized A.I.
Nice work Airstrip One.
Thank you Dave Raggett
Orwell was prophesizing when he adscribed Britain to the Oceania block (including the American territories) rather than the Eurasia one.
I usually sell good advice. Actually, that's my job. This one is just for you, and it's free: Don't even try.
In the end, what you will get if you actually go through with your plan is heaps of cost, very little gain and lots and lots of pissed off people who break any law you try to make in this area with impunity. And, to make matters worse, you create a society that doesn't take you or your state serious anymore when it comes to its ability to pass sensible laws.
What you're heading for is essentially what fell the East Bloc: That the people you are trying to govern do not believe in your ability to govern anymore. Now, in a truly democratic society, this problem can be solved: You'll be voted out and someone who the people believe in gets voted in. Sadly, this option is not really a viable one anymore since whoever would get voted in would only continue to abuse the system you are trying to create just as much as you do.
What people do in such a case is to simply create a society outside yours. A parallel society that lives with your laws, but basically ignore them. And such societies rarely stop at ignoring those laws that they (rightfully) identified as evil, useless and detrimental. The problem with such parallel societies is that once they start breaking laws, they cannot rely on your legal system and executive anymore to protect them against breaking other laws.
Mrs. May, don't make the same mistake the East Bloc made. You still have a working country, despite your government, don't squander that.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Theresa May was previously the Minister for the Home Office and therefore responsible for the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the failure of IT governance in that made the NHS vulnerable to attack last week.
The conservatives also passed the Digital Economy Act 2017 Described as 'unacceptable', 'unaffordable', and 'infeasible' by the UK Open Right Group which an erosion of consumer Digital Rights and considered by many to be quid pro quo to old media barons for their support.
Sounds like something, fans of "Net Neutrality" would say...
At least, UK may create a new "government controlled Internet" (or so the write-up says). America's Progressives wish to take over the existing network, impose "Title II" on the ISPs, ban the sites they don't like and otherwise sensor "haters".
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
With hookers and blackjack!
She's right: the UK will be the world leader not only in the surveillance of their subjects, but also in repressive control of the information they are allowed to see and their communications with others. It's another sad step toward the Brave New World.
North Korea already have their own government controlled and regulated internet...
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
Amusing pair of Slashdot stories today.
Sometimes the jokes just write themselves.
There's no time like the present. Well, the past used to be.
Seriously people, if one is trying to "civilize" the world, shouldn't one be civilized first?