Written by Thom Holwerda on Thu 9th Jun 2011 18:51 UTC
Internet & Networking It's official now. The signs had been there for a while now. While the west bangs on about the importance of freedom and democracy, they don't actually want anyone to have too much of it. The US, France, and the UK have jointly pretty much declared war on freedom on the web.
Ars Technica has an article up which takes a peek inside the plan, jointly developed by the US, France, and the UK, to start 'civilising' and 'policing' the web. It would seem that for all the talk from these countries about spreading freedom and democracy, they don't actually want their own peoples to have too much of it.

Of course, they wrap it up in a whole string of 'think of the children'-arguments, focussing on things like child pornography, IP infringement, and more of these things. They are planning on setting up virtual borders around countries that are not willing to cooperate in the massive censorship plans of the US, France, and the UK. ISPs are supposed to become the virtual border patrol, blocking all traffic from and to countries not part of this coalition of the willing.

The real issue, of course, is that the web poses a major threat to the establishment. The web is a breeding ground for new and sometimes radical ideas, it's a place where people with different, dissenting - but not illegal - ideas can get together and organise themselves. It's a place where everyone can get his voice heard, it's a place where money and power are irrelevant. It's a new world, a world our current governments are not part of.

The 'old' media are policed and controlled, they're consolidated and established; starting your own TV network or newspaper is costly and difficult. Before the internet, your ability to get organised and pose a threat to the establishment was limited. The internet has changed all this: internet access in the west is cheap and easy to come by, a webpage is set up in minutes, or a little longer for more sophisticated sites, and there are various ways to get your voice heard.

The internet also poses a threat in that it has no secrets, and it tolerates no secrets. Governments the world over rely on misinformation and back-room deals, and the web - with WikiLeaks being the most famous, but certainly not the only example - threatens this way of doing business.

The web is the wet dream of people who believe governments should be transparent and held accountable - much to the chagrin of these same governments, obviously. Take Obama - his popularity came in a large part due to the web. If he can do it, so can someone else - someone not from the two established parties in the US. This is a major threat to their position, and as such, the call to censor the web and limit freedom on the web is a bi-partisan thing. Both left and right in the US feel threatened.

The same has happened here in The Netherlands over the past 10 years. New figures have risen to prominence thanks to the web. Pim Fortuyn is a border-case, but Geert Wilders certainly owes most of his popularity to the web. However, much like Obama, Wilders was already an established figure, and thus, part of the 'old world'. But again - if he can do it, so can someone else. Someone new. Someone who doesn't have his or her roots in the establishment. That's why I was so surprised net neutrality was codified here in The Netherlands, as we reported yesterday.

I have made it very clear in my stint here at OSNews that I firmly believe that governments should keep their filthy paws off the web. The internet is single-handedly shifting the balance of power from governments back to the people, where it belongs. While the internet is certainly not the cause of what we in The Netherlands are calling the 'Arab Spring', it most certainly facilitated it a great, great deal. If this can happen in countries with relatively limited internet access, just imagine what the internet can do in countries with near-100% internet penetration.

This is what our governments are so afraid of. They know full well that if they don't take away our freedom on the web now, the transfer of power to the people will only accelerate, up to a point where governments will become what they are supposed to be: the employees of the people, near-100% transparent, fully accountable for their actions, and wholly disposable. A saying I'm very fond of says that 'laws exist to serve the people; not the other way around', and right now, the people are serving the laws.

The web is changing all that.

It's not just governments that fear the web. The internet has led to an insane amount of creativity, as it gives people from all walks of life the opportunity to express themselves; whether it's cat videos or a brilliant author self-publishing a great book, the internet is the death knell for the traditional content model. No longer are artists dependent on large media companies to promote their works to interested people, and as the years go by, the power of the content industry is fading.

It's not just the media industry that feels the sting of the web. The web makes it possible for consumers to compare and contrast products from not just one shop in their home town, but from shops all over the world. This has had an incredibly positive effect on competition.

The theme here is the same: thanks to the web, the balance of power is shifting from companies to the people. This doesn't just cover the products themselves; just as the web forces openness and transparency upon governments, it also forces them on companies. Misconduct can no longer be hidden for long periods of time - the internet does not tolerate secrets. It will find out.

As such, it's no secret that governments and companies alike want to curb the freedom of the web, and the recent plans from the US, France, and the UK are only the beginning. More and more of our freedoms will be taken away, but the web is already fighting back. Anonymous struck back hard against companies and organisations messing with WikiLeaks, and the more aggressive governments and companies get in this war, the better organised and more vicious the web's responses will become.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: there is a war brewing. At stake are not resources, or land, or prestige - no, at stake is the very freedom so many of our ancestors have fought for. In fact, people all over the world are still fighting for the kind of freedoms the US, France, and the UK want to take away from us.

It's the freedom to express yourself, in whatever way, shape, or form. Whether you want to post a cute video of a kitten, write a scathing critique of local government policy in a small town in Connecticut, or instigate an uprising to overthrow an oppressive regime - the internet is what makes it possible. Without the internet, or with a curbed and censored internet, the world is simply a hell of a lot less free.

We must not allow this to happen. The fact that The Netherlands, as the first traditionally western country (big props to Chile for being the first, but I don't count it as part of the west), has turned net neutrality into law is a step in the right direction, and a big slap in the face of the US, France, and the UK. The Netherlands is often seen as somewhat of a guiding light when it comes to matters that touch the very core of freedom and human rights (same-sex marriage, euthanasia, and so on), and I am hoping that like with those matters, other countries will soon follow in our footsteps.

So, no matter where you live, use your voice. Use your vote. Read the programmes of your political parties. Look at their internet chapters. We can't all be protesters or hackers, but we do all have a vote. As insignificant as a single vote may be, the outcome here in The Netherlands shows that it is possible.

The war has barely begun. Obama, Sarkozy, and Cameron have no idea how large the hornet's nest they're poking really is.
http://www.osnews.com/story/24837/US_France_UK_Declare_War_on_Freedom_of_the_Web

I thought this was interesting.

if it cuts out the nigerian scammers I'm all for it

Those who would give up liberty for security inevitably lose both.

Amen to that Heavenlyboy!

Freedom of the web is a cause I would join, and I don't join causes.

I'm going to get started setting up my own server.

I do not agree

I don't really think I have lost any liberties because I live in an environment that is safe. If anything that increases my liberty because I can go about my business free of harrassment by scammers

BTW - Nigeria is known for it's huge large scale internet scam machine whereby photos are frequent;y stolen and fake profile made of american servicemen, businessmen - be mindful when the profile sounds like it's come out of a translator - it has

Nigeria has been busted and rooms with nothing but computer cubicles filled w/ young male nigerian scammers creating these scams and talking to the unsuspecting public exists

and Nigeria was not the only African country involved there were others but I believe it was on the largest scale there -one dating site I used to be on won't even allow African nationals - or mail from Africa - it is such a widespread issue there

it does need legal oversight

Yes you have lost your liberty if you lose access to the Internet.

Or anything else you give up for a feeling of being safe.

Why do you think "fear" is used in advertising? To scare you into buying their product.

Your freedoms are slipping just a little at a time bit by bit. So slowly you don't even notice it.

One day, in the future, maybe our children will have to have permission to walk the streets, or call out of the country, etc.

One day they may have all the power.

The Internet gives the power to the people so they can communicate.

What they need are expert hackers who can out hack those guys.
What we don't need is wide sweeping crack down on all of our Internet activities or to give them the power to do so.

People just need to be a little smarter and less greedy when it comes to scams.

This. There's a line from the movie Hotel Rwanda, that sums things up pretty well here, it goes like this:

"In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me —
and by that time no one was left to speak up."

Once you let them in a little bit to regulate one thing, inevitably they'll want to regulate something else, and then something else after that, and another thing even after that. Pretty soon they'll be regulating everything, including things you care about. If we don't speak out now about injustices like this, by the time they get to us, it will be too late to speak up. We must act before it reaches that point, or we all will suffer for it.

Everybody talks about liberties and freedoms, but these scammers don't give two ***** about your liberties and freedoms. They want to take everything you have and don't care if it ruins your life.

Some Americans (not to disregard other countries) don't have the intelligence to protect themselves properly online, opening themselves up to phishing scams and what have you. Now if you end up friends with them on facebook that simple connection can link your information out to these scammers and so on and so forth. You talk about liberties slowly being stripped bit by bit, but it applies to just about everything.

As with anything, rules are put into place to protect the ignorant. Seat belt laws are in place because some idiots aren't smart enough to protect themselves. DUI laws are in place because some people lack the common sense to let them know they have had too much to drink and shouldn't drive a car. Laws on controlled substances are in place because they are controlled for the safety of the public. I'm in no way saying that I want every inch of my web browsing monitored and controlled, I'm just saying that there is nothing wrong with governments putting safeguards in place to prevent people who lack the intelligence to surf responsibly from hurting themselves and/or other people. With every great technological advance comes a need to put safeguards on it so it is not used irresponsibly.

I know there is going to be an irrate amount of responses to my opinion, but really, everybody has a right to their opinion, and I protect that right everyday...

I can give my response to that in two words, PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY.

Some people don't know what those two words mean, nor do they want to. If everybody could assume personal responsibility (rationally) then we would have no need of an overseeing government. Not that I am saying our government does everything right, but the fundamental goal of a governing system is still required none-the-less. Unfortunately, there are more and more idiots being born daily.

Idiocracy - great movie, too bad people don't take it seriously...

There's another message there too you know, and that's if we aren't careful we will live in a controlled police state. We're closer and closer to that by the day anymore.

You know why people don't take it seriously though? Because it's a movie, it's not real to them, just entertainment. That's the beauty of the whole thing, you can expose all your plans out there for all to see, and no one will know the wiser, cause it's "just a movie" or "just a TV show", it's genius really.

I have a remark towards the correction of that problem, but of course this is not the right community to talk about the problems with the US educational system...

That's a whole other issue, which BTW they don't intend to fix.......

Thank-you. People should practice their own due diligence. If one is so stupid that they fall for a scam, it should be chalked up to a learning experience. There is nobody to sue. It shouldn't be the job of a government to think for you. It is the job of a government to set forth penalties against people that prey upon other people by way of majority rule.

And from the 'expert hackers' results, severe penalties that don't just amount to some sort of fine/ fee.
'Breaking' the 'law' is part of the money machine. What is part of the penalty for many 'crimes'? A fine. AKA revenue.
Take a peek at why the majority of inmates are in a jail and it will be that they can't pay their way out. It's less than an ideal way to live but they have a roof over their heads and 3 squares a day. There are groups that make sure inmates don't suffer too severly. The system has to be fixed so that punishment is feared. It will give morons something to second guess before doing something stupid.

Two things here, firstly on government thinking for us, one of the huge things with that, is that once you give them that power to dictate what you can do or can't, they will inevitably take full advantage of that and try and dictate everything. There's a phrase to that end, that being that a government that has the power to give you everything you need, also has the power to take it away. We'd be wise to remember this.

Second, you hit the nail right on the head about the laws. Most of them aren't for our protection at all (as the case was made for above), but for control and for money, such as seatbelt and helmet laws. Any way they can find a way to make money and more easily control us, they will do it.

Furthermore, why should everyone be punished for the sins of a few anyway? If someone screws up, it should be on them and them only, not others who were totally innocent and are responsible. It's completely unfair.