One of the main ideas within “The Trap” was the idea that all of these freedoms we hold dear are somewhat of an illusion. They keep us happy and content, for now, but similar to the creation of the nanny state which was shown in the documentary, those who are in control of this power do have the option to restrict our freedoms with it. I suppose the most obvious example would be the internet. We know the internet as this great resource for everything from commerce to education to entertainment, but not everywhere is so lucky. We don’t all get the same internet. In China there are strict censorship rules for the internet which arose in response to anti pollution and anti corruption protests. They carefully monitor web content in an almost 1984esque manner, removing any posts or pages which could stir up controversy or attack the government. In fact, they have a special internet police force of over 30,000 to deal with these issues, and apparently they are so effective they remove criminal postings usually within minutes. They are denied access to outlets such as the BBC, Yahoo! Hong Kong, any site containing unregulated political commentary or anything deemed obscene.
It is hard to imagine something like this in America. For us the internet is an invaluable tool. I mean, i know i start to get the shakes if i am cut off from internet access too long. The internet is engrained into our daily lives, but we don’t see it for what it really is, a privilaige. We only have these freedoms because those who are in control of this media allow us to. In the blink of an eye our use could be restricted and the internet could cease to be the open forumn for free thoguht and expression that we know it to be.
4 Comments
how much have you heard about Internet 2?
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/february2006/060206internetdoomsday.htm
Heard of it, but no specifics. Along with that article Time Warner has been doing tests in i believe Texas where they are starting to tier their internet and charge for additional bandwidth, making a sort of pay-to-play/ pay per any additional GB over your limit. http://apple.slashdot.org/apple/08/02/05/1322213.shtml
If this ever happens i will be relinquishing technology forever and moving to a cave somewhere. ridiculous.
theres actually an internet 2 meeting mid-october in new orleans.
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[...] In his post, Dan discussed the types of restrictions placed on the internet in other countries. I think this is the perfect time to discuss the importance of Net Neutrality. Network Neutrality is the principle that Internet users should be able to access any web content they choose and use any applications they choose, without restrictions or limitations imposed by their Internet service provider. The most important law regarding Net Neutrality is probably the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008. The aim of this act is: To establish broadband policy and direct the Federal Communications Commission to conduct a proceeding and public broadband summits to assess competition, consumer protection, and consumer choice issues relating to broadband Internet access services, and for other purposes. [...]