EU Commissioner: We Cannot Allow ISP Disconnects 106
Fluffeh writes "The EU Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, has been making some interesting comments about privacy, copyright and many aspects of the digital age. Going so far as to quote the Free Software Foundation and Yochai Benkler, she says: 'Openness is also complex because sometimes it's unclear what it means. ... In the Arab Spring, many brave activists successfully used the open Internet to coordinate peaceful protests. In response, despotic governments sought to control or close down Internet access; and also used ICT tools as a tool of surveillance and repression. We cannot allow democratic voices to be silenced in that way. And I am committed to ensuring "No Disconnect" in countries that struggle for democracy. We must help such activists get around arbitrary disruptions to their basic freedoms.'"
Re:So when it comes to 3 strikes.... (Score:5, Insightful)
No no, she said no disconnects for countries struggling for democracy. Once a country has something that resembles democracy you knock those fuckin' pirates right off the Internet.
Re:So when it comes to 3 strikes.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously.. has democracy been redefined to mean "corporate state"?
What would happen if a "democracy" decides to ignore patents for the good of the people like some of the AIDS ravaged countries have done? Are they no longer a democracy?
The worst thing about living in the 21st century is the 1984-like twisting of words by governments to mean anything the heck they want them to me.
Re:Overthrowing a government is fine ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Apparently, using the Internet to overthrow a government is allowed
Only if it's a Western-unfriendly government. Try even protesting around a G8/G20 meeting and see how much cell reception you get.
Erh.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Yeah, yeah, nice that you vow you won't accept a disconnect policy in countries that struggle to get a democracy.
How about countries that are allegedly already democratic? Like, say, Greece, Spain, Italy, Ireland...
Re:So when it comes to 3 strikes.... (Score:4, Insightful)
It's ridiculous that things are getting so extreme that pretty soon the only way to escape these burgeoning corporate-controlled police states is to eschew first-world life completely.
Is it possible to live in a first-world manner without the government watching every fucking move you make and violating civil liberties left and right 'for the common good'? Or was that always a pipe dream?
I'm seriously asking myself questions like these every single day, because I don't see how we're going to pull ourselves out of this nightmare. Civil liberties get violated, which leads to civil unrest, which leads to more civil liberties being violated, which leads to more civil unrest...when does it all end? When a bunch of protesters end up on slabs in the morgue? When the only people allowed to communicate on the internet are those with state approval?
It's funny, growing up, I'd always been one of those people that were against the widespread proliferation of guns in the U.S., but believe me, my opinion has changed in recent years. Those privately owned guns are really the only thing preventing the government from steamrolling right over the people of this country, and now I realize the wisdom of that right and how it enables the people to be a real check on the power of their government when the shit hits the fan.
I'm no Kacynski-esque government-fearing anarchist by any stretch, but this kind of nonsense makes me understand their fears in a way I never could before.
Re:So when it comes to 3 strikes.... (Score:5, Insightful)
It's OK to shut down access to the outside world if you are a bastion of "freedom" and "democracy" just like it's OK to torture, to imprison without trial, and kill without judicial oversight!
USA, USA, USA!
Re:So when it comes to 3 strikes.... (Score:5, Insightful)
They have a lot more guns than you.
and bigger guns.
If you have a gun, it just gives them an excuse to kill you right now.