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should we have govt controlled internet?
flashgordon1952
Posts: 3,799 Forum Member
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Offcourse we should not.
I gather the govt in china is doing just that,they are fearful of western culture getting into china at too fast a pace.
But now that chinese citizens are travelling abroad its only a matter of time that the govt there (communist) will fall.
many western govts are also fearful of the internet and even our own govt is trying to put the brakes on by saying one thing (we all get fast downloads) but actaully doing the reverse .
They are feartful that the power of the internet could even be a downfall of a western govt..
My view is simple "leave the internet alone" its has no boundarys and should not have any otherwise they will use it to control there citizens
I gather the govt in china is doing just that,they are fearful of western culture getting into china at too fast a pace.
But now that chinese citizens are travelling abroad its only a matter of time that the govt there (communist) will fall.
many western govts are also fearful of the internet and even our own govt is trying to put the brakes on by saying one thing (we all get fast downloads) but actaully doing the reverse .
They are feartful that the power of the internet could even be a downfall of a western govt..
My view is simple "leave the internet alone" its has no boundarys and should not have any otherwise they will use it to control there citizens
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You start a thread with a question then you answer your own question.
/thread
I agree that we should "leave the internet alone" - I wouldn't be able to survive without my snuff videos and piracy.
With this kind of question and discussion one of the things that does get over looked is while governemnts may have control and that has bad points it will also go a long way to clamping down on the extensive online porn which is like a plague that you can't escape from.
They will only control their citizens if they allow themselves to be controlled by it.
There are numerous local and national government sites that I don't bother going too.
If they did or I felt they were trying to control me via the internet I would just stop using the internet. That puts a stop to it immediately.
I don't have a problem with a more regulated internet if it changes and I don't like what it becomes, I'll stop using it..simple!
Wrong on so many counts.
The only sites that should even come close to being blocked are those involving such nasty things as child pornography. And they already are as pretty much all UK ISPs use the BT Cleanfeed system which was designed for exactly that purpose. It has been so successful that there are now official hardly any, if indeed there are now any, UK based sites that host CP. Unfortunately it has started to be hijacked, first by the copyright monopolies and there are calls for it to be used to block other sites. It has also been criticised for over blocking of perfectly legal sites, with no judicial oversight and very difficult procedures to get a blocked, legal site unblocked.
Why should any government monitor what perfectly law abiding citizens are up to?. Installing CCTV in every home, just in case people are sat at home smoking joints or doing other illegal activities wouldn't be considered unacceptable, so why is it OK to do basically the same online?. Would you be happy to allow government monitored CCTV into every room in your home?. No?. Why not?. After all, you believe that old rubbish about nothing to hide, nothing to fear, so what do you have to hide that you wouldn't accept it?.
As for court records, that's nonsense too. Proposals to extend the current levels of monitoring actually REMOVE the requirements for court orders. All that is to be needed is the agreement of a senior official, and the data collected is to be opened up to almost ANY government agency, including local councils, social services, the DWP, the DVLA, HMRC as well it is proposed, private companies who may have an interest in such data (such as insurance companies) as well as the police and security services. At present, to obtain access to the data already collected (which must be held for 12 months) there must be suspicion of a crime and the data is restricted to the police and security services, but the coming changes remove all of those requirements and massively extend the amount of information that must be collected as well as the length of time that it is held.
Maybe you are happy with such things, but many people most certainly are not. Why should a government treat all it's citizens as potential criminals, and behave like police states of old?. We have already seen how some people are treated, just because they happen to be members of a political party that some senior official in local government disagree with (the couple refused fostering because they were members of UKIP), now imagine that on a much, much larger scale. Anyone who believes that complete rubbish that if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear really need their heads examined.
Now imagine 20, or 30 years down the line. We have had all these laws passed, everyone is monitored and tracked. The government of the day know everyone's political affiliations, knows their religious affiliations, knows all their views on various subjects, knows their employment status, how much they earn, who their friends are, what their conversations are about, where they go on holiday in fact they know every single little facet of everyone's lives. You seriously do not think that information can be misused and wont be?. And what if something that is perfectly legal now becomes illegal in future, with the laws being made retrospective (as has sometimes happened in the past). They now have a lovely database of people who have, in the past accessed sites etc. that were perfectly legal at the time but are now illegal. Even if they have stopped visiting such sites it would be easy if the laws were to applied retrospectively, to round these people up and still prosecute them. What happens if a government comes to power in 10 or 20 years that is much more authoritative and cracks down on dissent, they be able to much easier with everyone monitored and spied on.
Well there is a lot of "What, when, why, if" above, All speculation. I have stated my opinion, any one who disagrees has the right to do so. I just think it would be so much easier for crime. Also I might add that I believe everyone should have there DNA recorded at birth. Crimes could be solved in seconds.
Well most people have something to hide from others, Im on about serious things.
So you do not believe in one being able to live their life without government interference?.
The ONLY time the state should take such an interest in someone is if they suspect someone of committing a crime.
You still haven't answered the question.
We could solve a lot of crimes with CCTv in everyone's homes and with government employees following everyone around.
So, would YOU be happy with CCTV in your home monitored 24 hours a day by government officials?. If not, why not?. You have nothing to hide do you?.
Would you be happy with government officials following you around all day, every day, noting down everything about your life, who you meet, what you talk about, where you go and all the other little details?. If not, why not?. You have nothing to hide do you?.
The current proposals are basically the online equivalents of that.
But you are happy to leave it up to some faceless government official to decide what is serious?.
You don't see the irony in that statement?.
That's all I have to say on it.
So true.
I've got so much to hide, I don't even know where to start.
And our morals, if the DM and some MPs get their way.
Ban everything, and ban anyone who disagrees with me.
And when I seize power I shall have all these laws to back me up.
It really wouldn't bother me as my life is really dull. They will have basically hour upon hour of nothing of value. Me sat watching tv, on the pc playing games or on DS, cooking dinner, showering, going to the loo. If they want to watch that 24/7 then fine go for it
The often camera in every room argument is a ridiculous argument as it won't happen because of the logistics and the economics involved. How many cameras are they going to need to put a camera in every room in every home in the country? How much will that cost? it does't matter they do it, fair enough, now what?
They now need someone watching each property 24/7 365 days a year, how many people will that take? Yippeee that creates jobs...oh bugger they will need to be paid... more expense.
Of course they could record it all, but then who is going to sit and watch all the recordings? People...oh yeah that's expensive.
The key word is potential. Every person potentially is a criminal. Even if it turns out that only 15% actualy are criminals it doesn't mean that the other 85% weren't potentailly criminals too.
Why because they aren't paranoid so need to be taught to be paranoid?
I'll be 68 and still not worth watching or 78 more likely dead by then so still not bothered.
We already are via GPS on our mobiles, chip and pin, loyalty cards etc. It's not mking me lose sleep yet.
The turn out at general elections is going down each time so will it really matter. i may say I'm labour but it still doesn't mean I'll be arsed to go and vote.
See above. I've been baptised but the only time I go to church is for funerals. Don't believe all that god cobblers but happy to put C of E, Atheist, Muslim or whatever they want me to put.
If you don't want people knowing that don't use forums, twitter and facebook..problem solved.
A problem because?
I pitty the poor sods that has to listen to all the chavs and young people's conversations. I would need a translator.
Does it matter? Most people now are on such low income the answer is no holiday or holiday camp via the collect tokens in the newspapers.
Keyword there is can. It doesn't mean will, it just can.possibly happen. I have no reason to believe that they 100% definately will do it anymore than I have reason to believe 100% they definately won't do it.
Being followed by government officials is a new one and probably the funniest one so far. How many officals are there going to be? You're going to need tens of thousands of them.
Now lets move on to the actual following. The fact they are following where you are going means they are not restricting you from going anywhere you to choose to go. If you want to go to the shops you go. If you want to go to the pub you go. You want to go to strip club and are over 18 you go.
I have no problem with them following me around. I'll even talk to them and buy them a cup of tea when i'm out.
I can't think of one person in my life who I would go and meet and have a conversation about drug smuggling, gun running or how the plans for the bank job are going. It's going to ne the family, the kids, hows the new job going, Grey's Anatomy and Eastenders. The latter two the government official is more than welcome to come and join in the chat if they wish.