I fear that the government is going to kill AAR and lock-down the internet

[undeterred]

someday soon and block all sources of truthful information. Does anyone else worry about this? :shrug:

[wtmusic]

1. This topic surfaces from time to time

Many think it would be very difficult to block the internet. I disagree. I would be very surprised if there wasn't a fairly detailed plan in place for how to do it already.

[sendero]

If they want a real....

.... guns and knives and pitchfork revolution, then all they need to do is fuck with the net.

[blogbear]

14. That's the spirit! Fork 'em!

[bpilgrim]

3. they are very dependent on the WWW, too...

the economy and military are VERY addicted to it and besides, it needs to be there when the nukes are let loose... since thats what they were designed for.


http://images.globalfreepress.com

:scared:

peace

[wtmusic]

27. There is very little important military communication

done on the internet. Virtually all on private networks.

[bpilgrim]

36. why do you think south korea has much more bandwidth than we do?

some are some aren't, a lot traverses the backbone...

they are hooked, business, Intel, and the military (TCP/IP), on this tech and won't abandon it because, nothing can replace it.

imho, of course :hi:

peace

[ihelpu2see]

first great work with the Joe Lieberman art work!!

I am a liberal dem and live in CT and I think we need a good dem candidate to run against Joe. For those who don't know, Mr. Lieberman is CTs "Republican Lite" senator or in other words a very moderate Dem. He makes me wish that Lowell Wieker was in office, we need him, he held Nixon's feet to the fire I believe he would walk over to 1600 Penn. Ave and put * over his knee and wupp the tar out of the chimp... but I digress.

As far as "scary" thinks go, being a doctor, my concern is with the big push towards "electronic" medical records. I am a big believer in using technology, it has helped me grow my practice and it has helped in treatment and diagnosis but I do like to see things in my own writing and would not want it to be as easy as pushing a button if Medicare or Medicaid wanted to see your record!!! I don't know call me crazy but a 3" thick medical chart is a wealth of knowledge and not as easily "edited" as am E-file....

[wtmusic]

30. interesting

my sister was an internist who bailed on the medical profession and is now selling software to state health departments. She has voiced a lot of these same concerns.

[DrDebug]

40. The technology is being perfect in China

With cool stuff like able to post on messageboards and you get to see your own message, but for the rest of the world the message does not appear. So you are fooled to think that nobody read you.

[Inland]

2. Could it be because the government bemoans our knowing what it is doing?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1500239&mesg_id=1500239

[Cobalt Violet]

4. I worry about it because it is a threat to them.

[chalky]

5. I freak out everytime my Real Player cuts out while I'm streaming AAR...

Am I paranoid?

Well, yeah. But you know the old saying....

[FreedomAngel82]

21. Yep

I worry about that too. I think all they have to do though is cry "consperiacy theory" and have rightwing blogs they can resort to and own the media.

[undeterred]

6. Indirectly, the Internet will be the undoing of this administration

and perhaps it already is. Too many people now know about their crimes.

But in the meantime I expect them to try to shut down information intensive websites like this one for being treasonous.

[Doctor_J]

7. They could probably do it now and no one would raise a voice in opposition

we have no say in anything anymore, and the internet is really the only source of truth, so it won't be around for much longer.

[Mr_Spock]

8. Nah, if we didn't vent here there would be a lot more protests

This place makes people vent their anger before they leave the house. We would find other ways to get organized if we didn't have the internet and radio...

[undeterred]

10. And listening to the ranting and raving on AAR helps too!

Mike Malloy and Randi Rhodes- they rant so we don't have to!

[Mr_Spock]

12. I think it is good - helps to control the anger so we can think better

It is helpful for me - I'd be bummed without it for sure...

[bpilgrim]

11. not to mention the best monitoring tool EVER invented

to see inside our minds :evilgrin:

remember we turned protests on their head and brought them out, globally, BEFORE the war even started ;->


http://images.globalfreepress.com

it will be many times larger next time the world takes to its feet, thats fer sure.

peace

[FreedomAngel82]

23. Right

We can always do like the White Rose Society and other anti-Hitler groups and send out pamphlets. So either way there would still be information out. The internet just helps get it out faster and broader.

[Cleita]

9. They won't be able to do that until they centralize the government.

Look for them meddling in state governments. Watch for the moves to replace governors with ones that are Republican and in lockstep, like what happened in California. They might attempt to shut down Congress to by limiting the number of times a year Congress meets and other tactics to centralize the government into a dictatorship. Then they will pass laws outlawing free speech outlets like the internet and AAR.

Fortunately, no dictatorship has ever been able to shut down all sources of truthful information. People always find a way and other free people help them. I would put money on the Canadians broadcasting news to us like Radio America did during the cold war to the Soviet bloc nations.

[CanSocDem]

13. Aren't they now building a BETTER system...

...with ALL the toys, all the speed and at almost no cost; albeit with high-tech, immovable spy-ware. Thought I read about this a few months ago....

[newyawker99]

43. Hi CanSocDem!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[NV Whino]

15. They may well lock down the Internet(s)

But they cannot cut off the communication among like minds that the Internet has established. DU itself is a 70,000 strong community. Shut down the Internet--we're still here. And we know how to communicate even without the Internet.

[AndyTiedye]

24. We Have Lots of Communications Technology, But Could We Find Each Other?

The obvious solution is more meet-ups (LOTS more).

[NV Whino]

34. Absolutely

I think this is one thing DU and other blogs and groups need to do--create community groups/meet ups. (I hate that term, by the way--meet ups.) But even at this stage, among the 70,000 DUers, there is someone who knows someone personally, who knows someone personally etc. The "web" is in place.

[AndyTiedye]

16. They'll Just Buy All The Stations Out From Under AAR

They've already started. The former AAR station in Youngstown OH
is now doing full-time religious programming. :puke:

[ovidsen]

17. It'll never happen.

Containing the Web would be like...

Eliminating nuclear weapons and all WMDs
Banning abortion
Prohibiting alcohol, pot, and (your favorite mind altering substance here)
Forbidding guns
Eradicating gambling
or my favorite... banning books.

The genie is out of the bottle. The genie has left the building. Long live the genie. Long live the free exchange of ideas.:toast:

[Triana]

18. YEP - they WILL go after the internet...

...it's the only democratic and free news medium left.

[Bouncy Ball]

19. I'm not worried about it.

Here's a little bit of the script from a movie called "Norma Rae" that demonstrates why I'm not worried about this.

The pastor tells Norma Rae they can't use the church for a union meeting. Norma Rae says she doesn't feel she can attend that church anymore.

Pastor: Well, we're gonna miss your voice in the choir, Norma Rae.

Norma Rae: You're gonna hear it raised up somewhere else.

In other words, if the government cuts off my source of information from AAR and the internet, they are going to hear MY voice and the voices of thousands rising up all over, because that WOULD be a radical enough move to really fire people up.

And they do NOT want that.

[Crunchy Frog]

20. We'll just do what they did in the Soviet Union.

Samizdat worked pretty well, and we still have the technology to do it far more effectively than they ever did.

I don't think it will happen, but if it does, maybe it's what needs to happen to finally get people off their duffs.

[LightningFlash]

22. The problem is you can't.....And the fever pitch is rising to shatterstar

level....You can't shut down the internet or censor billions of voices....It isn't even possible....We have indeed created a monster...One that will likely save our own selves from the same fall.

:toast:

[FreedomAngel82]

25. Don't forget rightwingers use the internet too

So it's just too hard to do I think. It's not easy like controlling the media or something. You have people all over the world using it.

[undeterred]

42. I don't really think they'll shut down the internet- just the websites

that are considered a threat to their version of reality.

[Catherine Vincent]

26. It will happen eventually.

They gave it to us, they can take it away.

[Tux]

28. Never.

That would be the fastest way to lose votes in 2006 and 2008. AOLusers would be mad since they couldn't check their email before they get spyware. Families couldn't communicate with military members. Freepers wouldn't have access to their favorite forum.

That and if they do shutdown the US backbone, we can still access it elsewhere since no one owns the Net anyways. http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/2002/WhoOwnstheInternet.asp

[lonestarnot]

29. Yes, I bought a megaphone and I'm building a crows nest on the roof

just in case. Think I'll put one on my car too!

[Jose Diablo]

31. Don't think they can

commercial interests also use the internet. Shut down the internet and there goes a lot of sales.

Of course, I here China has done some things, but again there is some serious money flowing across the net.

[AndyTiedye]

32. They Would Lock Down the Net if They Could Do it W/O Wrecking the Economy

but they can't.

Their propaganda only works on those who watch it.
It is a matter of great concern to them.
There has been a great deal of polling lately to try to
correlate such things as one's political views and one's
sources of news, and the Internet always shows up as one
of the choices, so they know what is happening.

If they attempt to impose content filtering, people will just encrypt
their traffic, and they can't block SSL without bringing ecommerce to
a standstill.

The FEC may well attempt to regulate political websites if they can
benefit the Repubican cause by doing so.
Though as long as they allow 527's to operate under the current rules,
it would seem that the worst the FEC could do is to force sites such as
this one to operate as 527's, which would mean some paperwork and some
limits on how much one person could contribute, but wouldn't cramp our
style significantly unless Skinner is carrying a lot more of the load
than he should have to.

[chalky]

33. They don't have to shut down the internet--

They can just make it a helluva lot harder to gain access.
And once you do get access, they can track your every move.

"Biometric technologies will soon be the common way to gain access into your personal computer system."
http://et.wcu.edu/aidc/BioWebPages/Biometrics_Future.html

Just link it to "homeland security" and away we go.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

35. I don't think they'd kill the Internet, but

they may start imitating the Chinese government and shutting down or blocking sites they disapprove of.

After all, it really IS the World Wide Web these days when travelers can send e-mail from Tibet.

[seabeyond]

37. when they do, we wont be voting anymore either n/t

[lala_rawraw]

38. Well, what I think is more likely

Is the following:

1). Energy prices will force most people offline.
2). New Google "employee" will scrub "cache" files and watch for "signs of" something or other.

The Internet as a whole, however, cannot be shut down per se. It can be very controlled, however.

As for ARA, you are correct on that. They are too popular, making too much of a difference, and speaking truth to power. We cannot have something like that in Amerika.

[earth mom]

39. I wouldn't put it past them...

I've thought about it now and again and in a way have been kinda sorta kinda expecting the internet to crash big time. Because that's when * & Co will be able implement the entirety of their evil plans and when all hell breaks loose...

But...then again, I'm also a believer in the idea that everything happens for a reason. I got my first computer and went on line in 1999. * was elected the next year and despite all his dirty little tricks, I and millions of others know what he is REALLY up to thanks to the net. Can you imagine if * had been elected 10 years earlier? It would have been much easier for him to destroy the net and control information then. Now, as hard as he and his fellow evildoers try, they can't control the truth getting out and that has truly been the saving grace for all of us. The net is here for a reason-to help the good guys-US-expose the evil * regime.

It gives me hope.

[thecai]

41. I've Been Expecting It Since 9/11

So I utilize as much time as possible raising awareness to the malfeasance and injustice that dominates the U.S...

IMPEACH BUSH NOW
REPEAL The P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Acts
DEFEND The Constitution

[SheepyMcSheepster]

44. if they break the internet more than just "us" will be pissed.

that would wake up many sheeple.
it's not going to happen imo.
it's too dangerous, i am convinced that the "power elite" want us to have the illusion that we are free, it is too resource intensive and risky to try to implement/maintain facism/dicatorship.

[eridani]

45. Deadline for FEC testimony is June 3rd

http://fec.cdt.org/educate.html

The following is a small set of questions we are asking to help gain knowlege from the Internet community in order to better educate the FEC about how people use the Internet for political activity. Our comments to the FEC will be much stronger if we can provide concrete examples of how individuals have used the Internet for political speech and activities.

The first set of questions is targeted for all Internet users, and the second set is focused on blog, website or e-mail administrators. Please feel free to answer any or all of these questions. Please provide as much detail as you can, and tell us whether we have permission to identify specific web sites or blogs in our comments to the FEC. We will not disclose your e-mail address without your permission. Required fields are marked by an asterisk (*).