[plug] Internet oppression - watch your backs!

[Christian]

alex polglaze wrote:
> 
> Rob Hall wrote:
> 
> > You say that they might find Linux objectionable... can I stop laughing
> > now...  I think common-sense tells us that this is not the spirit of the
> > legislation nor what will happen.

I'm not opposed, in general, to governments providing protection for
it's citizens.  What I am opposed to is a government doing the thinking
for its citizens.  When the government says "We're going to ban
objectionable material on the Internet" a lot of people think "Great!"
because they think of all the things they find objectionable and they
think "That's good, all that stuff won't be there anymore and neither I
nor anyone else will have to put up with running into it from time to
time."  Of course this is a naive point of view because what one person
finds "objectionable" another may find perfectly acceptable.

When the government classifies and rates films, that's ok.  They are
placing that film on a scale however the scale they use is an interval
scale, that is, with an abitrary zero point.  The result is that I can
look at a film's rating and decide whether I'm likely to find that film
acceptable by corresponding that point on their scale with my own
sensitivities.  Even though the government has classified it, I still
make the decision.

When the government however says they are going to censor something,
then I object.  When they tell me that I'm not able to make that
decision for myself as to whether I will find it acceptable, *that* I
don't accept.  I'm an adult and no different from the censor who watches
the banned film - why should he tell me I'm unable to deal with that
film?

The same principle applies to the Internet.  If I don't want to see
something that I find objectionable, then I won't *choose* to go and see
that.  But when the government says that it's going to make that
decision for me, then I have to say that I don't accept that.

Of course, it is unlikely that the government would say, for example,
that Linux was objectionable.  It's probably extremely unlikely... even
under a Liberal government...(*grin*)  However the principle is the same
- it should be up to each adult individual to decide what is acceptable
for them and what is not.

Of course, with children there is an extra issue involved - but
seriously, if a parent wants to protect their child from certain things
that exist in the world, it is their responsibility to make sure this
happens.

Regards,

Christian.


-- 
========================================================================
I'm not trying to give users what they want, I'm trying to give them
freedom, which they can then accept or reject. If people don't want
freedom, they may be out of luck with me, but I won't allow them to 
define for me what is right, what is worth spending my life for.
                                                    - Richard Stallman