Censorship is In Our Future
Censorship is about to come home to roost here in the USA. Our Congresswoman in District 7 of sleepy old Tennessee has introduced HR 96, the "Internet Freedom Act."
It would more properly be called the "Corporate Takeover and Privatization of the Internet Act," because the net effect of the bill is to turn over the people's Internet to corporate giants such as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon to carve up as they wish for profit.
Blackburn is the point person for the campaign to "keep the government's hands off the Internet." Her bill states that the Federal Communication Commission, which has regulated mass communications in the public interest since 1934, is to have no oversight and no role whatsoever regarding the Internet. She has publicly stated that "Congress should control the Internet" to keep it free. But isn't Congress the government...? Hmmm.
In George Orwell's book, ???1984,??? things were called the opposite to misdirect the masses and to help those in power slide their sleaze past the people. For example, the Ministry of Truth and the Ministry of Love were anything but.
Currently, the Internet is protected by our First Amendment freedom of speech rights. By removing these protections from the web, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) such as Comcast, AT&T and Verizon (all big campaign contributors to Blackburn), will be able to CENSOR, BLOCK, or DENY SERVICE to any web site, organization or individual they do not agree with, for any reason at all, including political position or opposition, religious affiliation, content or opinion.
The ISPs would control the Internet. And they could control what you are "allowed" to view or post.
Not coincidentally, the current president of the U.S. won the vote largely through a grass-roots web-based campaign. I wonder... why would the G.O.P. want to limit free access to the Internet in, say, 2012...?
As the power-wielders in "1984" knew, if you're going to lie - lie BIG. If you're going to steal freedom away from the public, label it the OPPOSITE of what you intend to do, and promote it in LOUDLY and in PLAIN SIGHT, (i.e. Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, etc.) People will line up in lockstep around the lie without bothering to question the details.
The new software referenced in this article is great. But if the ISPs end up controlling what we can and cannot download or view on the Internet, the point is moot.
