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Monday, June 11, 2012

10 Failed Attempts by the Government to Control the Internet

http://tinyurl.com/6q5tp8b

June 9, 2012

10 Failed Attempts by the Government to Control the Internet

Christine Kane, Contributor
Activist Post

The topic that was dangling at the forefront of most American's minds at the end of 2011, and even seeping into the beginning of 2012, was the fate of the Internet.

The Stop Online Piracy Act, discussed further below, whipped citizens into a frenzy and led to the largest Internet-based protest to date.

In light of a slightly-reworked, renamed SOPA's emergence, it is worth reviewing ten failed attempts by the American government to control the Internet.

1. Communications Decency Act (1996) – The portions of the Communications Decency Act that were the most controversial were the ones that attempted to regulate internet pornography; a judiciary panel stated that the bill would infringe upon First Amendment rights and the bill was squashed.

2. Child Online Protection Act (1998) – Though the Child Online Protection Act was passed in 1998, a federal injunction claiming that the language was too broad caused the law to never take effect.

3. Internet School Filtering Act (1998) – While many of the Internet School Filtering Act's points were eventually enacted through other legislation that did pass, the original bill was struck down.

4. Deleting Online Predators Act (2006) – The Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006 would have prohibited the use of social networking sites on school or library computers; critics argued, however, that the bill would also limit access to educationally useful information, and as such the bill languished.

5. Intellectual Property Enforcement Act (2007) – Proposed during the 110th session of Congress in an attempt to shore up American intellectual property laws, the Intellectual Property Enforcement Act would have allowed the Department of Justice to press civil charges against those suspected of infringement.

6. Cybersecurity Act (2009) – Though reworded versions of the Cybersecurity Act have been reintroduced each year since the original bill was drafted, public outcry over the unprecedented level of control it would grant the government with has kept any of them from passing.

7. Protecting Cyberspace As a National Asset Act (2010) – Senator Joe Lieberman introduced the Protecting Cyberspace As a National Asset Act in 2010. He then promptly incurred the wrath of critics for citing China's similar policies in an attempt to portray the bill as standard government procedure.

8. Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (2010) – Activist organizations launched a full-scale attack on COICA, and Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden publicly announced his intention to block the bill. Though it did pass the Senate Judiciary Committee, it was killed off before it ever reached fruition.

9. PROTECT IP Act (2011) – The Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act, a re-write of the failed COICA introduced by Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, was one of the 2011 targets of internet activists. The protests launched by major internet players led to the postponement of the bill until the issues were resolved, granting Americans a temporary victory.

10. Stop Online Piracy Act (2011) – Arguably the biggest rallying point for activists in 2011 and early 2012, SOPA led to full and partial protests that shutdown major websites in January of 2012. The bill was postponed until "there is wider agreement on a solution."

Entertainment industry heavyweights have not given up on their crusade to end piracy; rather than changing their business model to adapt to the needs of a changing world, they've chosen to attack the civil liberties of law-abiding Americans. Combined with cybersecurity directives such as CISPA, and a rapidly developing cyberwar arms race, Internet freedom remains under continuous attack.

The above 10 initiatives have been defeated for now, but constant vigilance and activism will be necessary to thwart the latest round of freedom-smashing legislation being ushered in the name of anti-piracy and Internet security.

Christine Kane, regularly writes for http://www.internetserviceproviders.org/. She is a graduate in English literature and currently pursuing her masters in Online Journalism. She can be reached via email at: christine.kane19@gmail.com.

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Posted by Activist at 10:43 AM Labels: Activism, Christine Kane, civil liberties, Internet control, Internet free speech, tech news

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Moving Photos from the Vietnam War

New post on therightplanet.com

Moving Photos from the Vietnam War

by Sard

A U.S. crewman runs from a crashed CH-21 Shawnee troop helicopter near the village of Ca Mau in the southern tip of South Vietnam, Dec. 11, 1962. Two helicopters crashed without serious injuries during a government raid on the Viet Cong-infiltrated area. Both helicopters were destroyed to keep them out of enemy hands. (AP Photo/Horst Faas)

An American F-105 warplane is shot down and the pilot ejects and opens his parachute in this photo taken by North Vietnamese photograper Mai Nam on September 1966 near Vinh Phuc, north of Hanoi. This photo is one of the most recognized images taken by a North Vietnamese photographer during the war. The pilot of the aircraft was taken hostage and held in a Hanoi prison from 1966 to 1973. (AP Photo/Pioneer Newspaper/Mai Nam)

U.S. Air Force bombs create a curtain of flying shrapnel and debris barely 200 feet beyond the perimeter of South Vietnamese ranger positions defending Khe Sanh during the siege of the U.S. Marine base, March 1968. The photographer, a South Vietnamese officer, was badly injured when bombs fell even closer on a subsequent pass by U.S. planes. (AP Photo/ARVN, Maj. Nguyen Ngoc Hanh)

Unaware of incoming enemy round, a South Vietnamese photographer made this picture of a South Vietnamese trooper dug in at Hai Van, South of Hue, Nov. 20, 1972. The camera caught the subsequent explosion before the soldier had time to react. The incident occurred during one of many continuing small scale fire fights in South Vietnam, despite talk of a forthcoming ceasefire. (AP Photo)

SEE THE REST AT DENVERPOST.COM

Sard | June 10, 2012 at 1:13 pm | Categories: Conservatism, History, House of Representatives, In Memoriam, Legal/Judicial, Main-Stream Media, National Defense, National Security, Sacrifice, U.S. Constitution, U.S. Military, Vietnam War, War | URL: http://wp.me/p1SHGG-5Sa

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Zombie Bullets in High-Demand Following Cannibal Attacks

New post on therightplanet.com

Zombie Bullets in High-Demand Following Cannibal Attacks

by Sard

Zombie Bullets In High Demand Following Flesh-Eating Attacks

DETROIT (WWJ) – Worried about a zombie attack? Buy zombie bullets.

Talk about zombies and a possible zombie apocalypse has increased due to recent gory accounts of drug-induced, flesh-eating attacks in the news.

Stores across the U.S., including in Metro Detroit, are getting in on the undead action by selling Zombie Bullets, made by Hornady Manufacturing.

In promoting the product on their website, Hornady suggests, "Be PREPARED – supply yourself for the Zombie Apocalypse with Zombie Max ammunition from Hornady! Loaded with PROVEN Z-Max bullets… MAKE DEAD PERMANENT!"

So, will this ammunition actually defend against the things that go bump in the night?

WWJ Newsradio 950?s Zahra Huber spoke with company spokesman, Everett Deger, who said, while the bullets are real, they're only meant to be used on targets and not on people (or zombies).

[...]

Roommates

Copied from Propublica today.

"John, I don't think we pick who we room with here."

Former Pa. House Speaker Bill DeWeese, a Democrat, to former Pa. House
Speaker John Perzel, a Republican, inside a state prison. The
legislative rivals became cellmates after both were convicted on
corruption charges. DeWeese's other option was his chief of staff who
testified against him.
# posted June 05, 2012

The Ron and Rand Paul dog-and-pony Show

New post on Fellowship of the Minds

The Ron and Rand Paul dog-and-pony Show

by Dr. Eowyn

Attention, all Ron Paul supporters.

Did you get the news?

On Wednesday, June 6, Congressman Ron Paul gave up the race when he admitted he could not be the GOP presidential nominee given his delegate count. A day later, late Thursday night, Ron Paul's son, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), endorsed Mitt Romney for president!

Rand (l) and Ron (r) Paul

Anthony Migchels of HenryMakow.com, June 10, 2012, calls it "The Ron & Rand Paul Betrayal". Here are excerpts:

Rand Paul endorses Mitt Romney last Friday, just days after Romney was anointed at the Bilderberg Conference, elitists who started financing Ron Paul with millions a few months ago.

The backlash among the libertarian community is intense.

Libertarian leaders all over the place are denouncing him. Adam Kokesh is clearly hurting badly here. On Prison Planet, arguably the most influential pro Paul outlet, the headlines are all about Rand Paul's betrayal. Mike Adams still cannot believe it and wonders if Paul Jr. is getting in to demolish the system from the inside. This YouTube video asks its viewers to vote to show how they feel and 90% dislike the news. Rand Paul's Facebook page is being inundated with messages of thousands of disgruntled supporters.

It's so bad one wonders whether the Pauls have miscalculated. And let there be no doubt, they have been calculating. Even to an outsider like myself, who never cared for either one, it looks like the most cynical, blatant and utterly ruthless sell out ever.

Consider this.

In March Time Magazine quoted a Ron Paul adviser as saying, 'If you're talking about putting Rand on the ticket, of course that would be worth delivering our people to Romney'. (go to 3:40 for the quote).

Lew Rockwell has declared that the whole Paul campaign was never about winning. I wonder what millions of his followers (and donors) think about that?

According to Rockwell, it was all about educating people on the wonders of Austrian Economics, not about winning elections. This probably explains why Paul Sr. never ran as an independent, but preferred losing primaries.

After working for years on Paul's campaign, Rockwell is now saying one shouldn't vote and shouldn't be involved in partisan politics. Now, how disingenuous is that?

Read the rest of Migchels' essay, here.

~Eowyn