49% Say Government Should Regulate Internet - Page 2

saltwn · #11 (**permalink**) 09-01-2008, 04:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhkad

I would. I know some things that are being investigated which took place online. There are some things that take place online that the average person is unaware of. And some of these things go on routinely.

An internet police force could be a good thing as long as the laws were not insidious or oppressive.

You mean like a clip on Youtube every now and then that looks strangely like evidence of a crime? Cause I would think things like that would be easier to track down from the internet.
But, no. We don't need to go the China route and dictate what our people can do in cyber space. There are already child porn laws and murder laws that cover
those crimes on and off the web.
And we can control what our kids do there if we care enough to pay attention.
And believe me there are people monitoring the web any way. Some CIA agents spend their careers just watching ONE television channel, so I'm sure the web is under surveillance already.

cnredd · #12 (**permalink**) 09-01-2008, 04:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saltwn

Some CIA agents spend their careers just watching ONE television channel

Disney?...

bhkad · #13 (**permalink**) 09-01-2008, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saltwn

You mean like a clip on Youtube every now and then that looks strangely like evidence of a crime? Cause I would think things like that would be easier to track down from the internet.
But, no. We don't need to go the China route and dictate what our people can do in cyber space. There are already child porn laws and murder laws that cover
those crimes on and off the web.
And we can control what our kids do there if we care enough to pay attention.
And believe me there are people monitoring the web any way. Some CIA agents spend their careers just watching ONE television channel, so I'm sure the web is under surveillance already.

Quote:

Anarchy on the Internet
by Thomas Sowell (August 31, 2008)

The Internet provides vast amounts of information but it can also spread vast amounts of misinformation, or even deliberately misleading disinformation.

For more than two weeks, scarcely a day has gone by without e-mails pouring in to me, asking about columns that someone has written and brazenly spread around the Internet with my name on them.

Most of these e-mails have come from regular readers who are savvy enough to recognize columns that have a different style and substance from my own columns.

We usually think of "identity theft" as involving using someone else's name for economic fraud. But identity theft can be used for political fraud as well-- as in this case.

Creators Syndicate, the authorized distributor of my column, is investigating this situation, and it has been like trying to unravel a mystery in a detective story.

First of all, they discovered that there was a blogger on the Internet making unauthorized distributions of not only my column, but also of columns from the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Universal Press Syndicate and the Washington Post. But there was no way to contact that blogger directly.

Since the blogger who posted the recent phony column uses the facilities of Google, an e-mail was sent to Google, which brought a response from people identified only as "The Blogger Team," who declared: "We strongly believe in freedom of expression, even if a blog contains unappealing or distasteful content or presents unpopular viewpoints."

We are all against censorship but the right of free speech does not cover libel, threats or identity theft.

Creators Syndicate's attorney-- Charles Adamek of Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP in Los Angeles-- pointed out in a formal reply that Google has itself created rules for people who set up blogs, and that not enforcing those rules means accepting "this blogger's activity in misappropriating Dr. Sowell's identity and passing off writings as if they were Dr. Sowell's when they are not."

That message brought another e-mail reply from the same anonymous Blogger Team, essentially repeating what had been said before: "We strongly believe in freedom of expression, even if a blog contains unappealing or distasteful content or presents unpopular viewpoints."

Finally, this situation came to the attention of Editor & Publisher magazine, the leading trade publication of the newspaper industry.

On August 15th Dave Astor of Editor & Publisher posted an account of what had happened under the title, "Blogger's 'Impersonation' of Columnist Leads to Creators-Google Tussle."

This account also said, "Aug. 13 and Aug. 14 e-mails from 'The Blogger Team' at Google indicated that the company may finally be looking into the problem. But the piece attributed to Sowell remains on the blog as of this afternoon-- Aug. 15th."

This was more than two weeks after the phony column was posted and more than ten days after Google was notified by the attorney for Creators Syndicate.

Finally, on August 18th, Dave Astor of Editor & Publisher posted another account with the headline, "Blog No Longer Posting Wrongly Attributed Sowell Piece."

What is surprising to me is that the bogus column sent out with my name on it has been spread around the Internet in a chain letter, which means that people are passing on something to others when they have no way of knowing whether it is for real or a hoax, much less whether they might get drawn into a lawsuit.

The implications of this episode reach well beyond the newspaper industry. Everyone should be concerned about Internet anarchy in which anybody can pretend to be anybody else, unless something is done to stop it.

If hoaxes like this go unchecked, who can believe anything they see on the Internet? What good would the Internet be then?

If the people who control Internet web sites do not do anything, is that not an open invitation for government to step in? And does anybody want politicians to control what can go on the Internet?

Anarchy on the Internet by Thomas Sowell -- Capitalism Magazine

saltwn · #14 (**permalink**) 09-01-2008, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhkad

Anarchy on the Internet by Thomas Sowell -- Capitalism Magazine

Looks like they handled the problem and a little word to snopes might be in order!
I agree with Google.

bhkad · #15 (**permalink**) 09-01-2008, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Is Barack Obama an “empty suit”?

Frank Rich Calls White Americans Who Won’t Follow Barry “Doltish” »

Obama bloggers using Obama’s campaign website to send email spam

Posted on August 17, 2008

I just received this message from barackobama.com just last night. The writer says I‘m a pathetic smear merchant, but isn’t this a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black?

Quote:

Subject: A book of lies — your action urgently needed

Cao-

You’re a pathetic smear merchant. Anyone can send emails to anyone else from barackobama.com . Just surf on over: Fight the Smears | Unfit for Publication and see how easy it is for yourself.

See, this message is from Larry. Want me to make it from you, or maybe Hillary?

BTW, I went ahead and signed you up for some Obama email list thing. Thought you would be interested in keeping up with the latest news.

Love,

Larry

———
A user has sent this message from BarackObama.com. The sender’s name, email address, subject and message have not been verified.

The difference between the Obama bloggers and just about everyone else on the planet is - most people wouldn’t want to threaten people or pose as someone else to harass people.

Notice how they’re hysterical over Jerome Corsi’s book, the Obama Nation. And notice how they’re promoting it!

As Kender has always said…”controversy=cash” - any publicity is good publicity.

These people don’t seem to be bright enough to realize that.

Obama bloggers using Obama’s campaign website to send email spam : Stop The ACLU

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