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Tuesday July 08, 2008 15:03
by polly tix
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Comments (4 of 4)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4In the early days of radio, there were also sorts of people transmitting radio broadcasts and there was a lot of optimism about how this new media could be used to spread knowledge and generally advance learning. However governments quickly recognised the inherent threat to their monopoly on truth and introduced licenses for transmitting. This is primarily why today radio now simply transmits mostly music with not much airtime for other stuff.
The same is now true of the Internet. All governments want to control it and they are making a good go out it. If this law passes or ones like it, we would probably eventually see software such as the software running this site, Oscailt, banned from the Internet and any other similar software (i.e. Drupal) running open publishing sites like this.
It's difficult to see how these unaccountable people can actually be stopped. And they wonder why we voted No to the EU Treaty?
The language in this article seems very dangerous to me.
Internet users who have been "suspected of putting copyrighted works on file-sharing networks" may be banned. That means all you have to do is to have been suspected of using the internet for illicit purposes; you may not have to have been found guilty.
How far could this go one wonders? Would it mean that anyone who has posted more than two images on their bebo or myspace or facebook pages or (heaven forbid) indymedia.ie that they don't own the copyright for could, potentially, be 'banned' from the internet.
That actually sounds silly: being 'banned' from the internet - as if you couldn't use your work computer, internet café, friend's computer, etc. It's completely unworkable - and that's a good thing.
Mark.
If there was any doubt that the EU was better or different to the US, these laws which may be passed, prove otherwise.
Who asked for them? You? Me? Or the powerful and wealthy corporations who use their wealth to lobby the EU. If anything heralded the dangerous corporatisation of Europe its this and vindicates the fears about the democratic deficit that was expressed as part of the No vote in the Lisbon Treaty.
Self- regulation is surely the answer. Libertarian sites like Indymedia Ireland have thankfully gone some way towards ending much of the spurious trolling that infected independent publishing up until recently ,but there is still some way to go .
Until persistent abusers of the internet come to realise once and for all that there must be some limits and boundaries set ,and that it isn’t possible to construct a just freedom which is not a responsibility as well, it is inevitable that governments will come under pressure to take proactive measures to protect the public .