"Are we slaves to the Internet?" Today, this question really hits home for me

Hello ATS. I know there are countless threads already out there about the possibility of a "cyber overthrow", if you will. Aka, our government taking complete control of (or disabling) the general public's internet access in the event of an "emergency".

Now like many other people, I signed the petitions and worried about what would happen if such a law was passed, etc, etc, etc...but (just like most people), the next day or two I just completely forgot about it and went on with my daily life.

I came home from work today, sat down at my desk, only to find
this on my internet browser.

Of course, I IMMEDIATELY followed the on screen instructions. After I had completed each step TO THE TEE, I waited....and waited...and waited. My internet was never reactivated.

Feeling slightly worried, I decided to call customer support. Unfortunately, I had forgotten the number...I hadn't owned a phone book in years (I had relied on the internet!) Finally, I had received the number from my neighbor. After waiting on hold for about 25 minutes, the customer service agent manually reactivated my service.

Before hanging up, he gave me a very grave warning. Sternly, he told me "Sir, you realize that if we catch one more copyright infringement, we have the right to permanently terminate your service."

This got me thinking...Our reliance on the internet is dangerous. We are slowly shifting ALL forms of media and communication online. Skype, AIM, facebook, youtube, etc, etc. If all communication and media is in ONE place, then that ONE place can be terminated if you don't OBEY. Right now, this only applies to copyright infrigment...but I see a future where the internet is bounded to laws.

If more internet regulation laws are passed, where's the limit? I can just see it now; "One more parking violation, and I lose my internet access!"

Of course, that's just an exaggeration...but will it ever come to that? Will we ever let the government treat us like "grounded children", threatening to take away our candy if we are not good? I sure hope not, but what do YOU think?

Discuss

EDIT: I AM NOT ADVOCATING INTERNET PIRACY! Just to make that clear. I am only using that as an example of internet access control.

[edit on 29-12-2009 by mitman93]

reply to post by mitman93


The funny part is most ISP ToS's say they can terminate service if a sparrow farts. I have even seen one that said if the person was 'uncivil' on an internet forum they could/would terminate service.

In other words: They reserve the right to terminate but really don't want to. The service providers are shielded from lawsuits, they just contact end users to be polite to the IP holders. Though: Could be changing as torrents get more and more popular various cable-modems are seeing bandwidth plummet. Times, they could be a changin.

I think SOME people are. who was the guy/gal who got rid of their TV and promptly posted about it on ATS? lol.

Originally posted by Totalstranger
I think SOME people are. who was the guy/gal who got rid of their TV and promptly posted about it on ATS? lol.

Hahah! I remember that. I was just thinking too how hypocritical it really was of them. Advertisements exist more so on the internet than on TV.

People become way too dependent on all sorts of stupid things.

Libraries cant circulate books when their computers go down, fatty Arbuckle cant walk a block to the liquor store so he drives, cant deal with killing and butchering a live animal so you buy a pound of ground up miscellaneous from the supermarket and chow down, have never touched or fired a gun in your life so whenever you see one you freak out and piss your pants....

Every year we as a whole get a little softer, dumber, weaker and less capable of living a real life. Then they all pass the time mocking, demonizing and legislating against the few left who are still capable of living a real life.

You change your own oil, walk to the post office, ride a bike to work, hunt, butcher and grow your own food, own guns dont enjoy handing your day to day needs and responsibilities over to some collective authoritarian entity..... Christ, you must be some sort of psychopath.

We are not slaves to the internet....... WE ARE SLAVES TO TECHNOLOGY!

The most alarming thing about the human species in the 21st century is how so far removed we are from our natural world. The world that is responsible for giving us life and health. Personally I feel like the only way to live was how Native Americans and indigenous cultures all over the world lived. Native Americans despite all their savagery, and uncivilized aspects of their culture, we such an amazing people who were so reliant and tied to the Earth. I would love to have lived like a Native American untouched by the white man hundreds of years ago. What an amazing way of life. yes it was harsh, dangerous, painful..........but at the same time is was so invigorating, spiritual, and exciting.

I personally am no fan of 21st century life. We are all slaves to our jobs, our mortgages, our technology. There was NONE of that in an Indian's life. You needed food you went out and hunted for it or grew it. You needed more transportation you bred more horses. You needed more shelter you built it. I think the destruction of the Native Americans on North America was the twilight of the human species. That is my opinion as some much of life and culture nowadays disgusts me.

Human beings are no less savage to each other than we were back then. The only difference is nowadays we can kill people with the flip of a switch instead of walking up to them and clubbing them over the head or shooting an arrow through them.

reply to post by lordtyp0


Exactly...and it's not just torrents either. Laws passed stating that "sensitive information" can not be shared. If a NWO does happen, the internet will be the first victim.

Your privacy is a principle/value way more important than copyright.

And they violated it. No matter what was put in the contract you signed or what copyright infrigement laws says.

Seek your rights. Talk to a lawyer.

Anyway your topic is very interesting.

You see, Google these days is becoming more and more powerful: we have Google Search, Google Mail, Google Videos (and Youtube), Google Maps, Google Docs, Google Books, Picasa, Orkut, Google Public DNS and on and on...

Seems they are pushing our computer experience to became an online experience.

At least Google apparently don't show our records, even when the state requests it, but It's something to wonder, doesn't it?

But we are living a vouyer age, people like to talk about themselves, put their photos (fotologs, flickr, etc...) and say what they are doing (twitter), voluntarily giving information for anyone.

[edit on 29-12-2009 by infobrazil]

reply to post by infobrazil


Yes, that was what concerned me the most. The copyright in itself was not a big deal, but the fact that they had searched my computer to find copyrighted material...well, it's a little unsettling

As I said earlier, it starts at copyright laws but where will it END?

We need some sort of internet "Bill of Rights"

[edit on 29-12-2009 by mitman93]

I think it is time for the general public to understand how proxies and tunnels works

Many ways of getting access to the internet, many ways of avoiding ISP surveillance. Right now, I am 100% anonymous on the Internet.

My advice to people afraid of ISPs seeing what is on their computer, is to move all their data to a computer that does not have a network card; an offline PC.

[edit on 29/12/2009 by the_denv]

reply to post by Zosynspiracy


I always find it funny when people think everything was hunky dory and spiritual.

We don't want simpler past times, we want simpler modern times.

But me personally, I like:

anesthesia
pain killers
not having to wear wool in summer
washing machines
electricity
a hot shower
anti biotics
and birth control
to just name a few.


by the way, people were just as savage if not more. They still had the same crime and heinous acts. It is just not in your face everyday by tv.

Go read a newspaper,and you will find the same acts of atrocity.

There are a lot of things that have come along way.

When I lived in Phoenix, I visited a gold town recreation. they showed us in the mine a drill they called the widow maker because anyone who used it made more money but because of the debris filling the lungs, they had a 3 year lifespan.

There were no labor laws.

There is a tree where names are carved in it for all the people hung from the tree, from doing something like stealing a horse.

You really think people should be hung for stealing a horse?

Or the industrial movement where immigrant children were forced to work in factories for 60 hours of hard labor a week starting at the age of 9.

[edit on 29-12-2009 by nixie_nox]

[edit on 29-12-2009 by nixie_nox]

Originally posted by mitman93
reply to post by infobrazil

 

Yes, that was what concerned me the most. The copyright in itself was not a big deal, but the fact that they had searched my computer to find copyrighted material...well, it's a little unsettling

As I said earlier, it starts at copyright laws but where will it END?

We need some sort of internet "Bill of Rights"

[edit on 29-12-2009 by mitman93]

You americans don't need another Bill. Only to use the current one properly.

It all boils down to principles. They are timeless. Laws aren't..

Internet is just a media, no-one gets away that easy.

If one uses phishing scam to get another's bank account, It's just the same crime as the one in real life.

If someone insult another on a blog or forum, etc, same stuff... And on and on.

PS.: There's the flip side of the coin: the Internet can be very empowering for us. No time in history normal dudes could make their own channels and say what they wanted without censorship. Also It's very pratical to buy things and search for stuff, etc... Technology is moraly neutral! We are powerful!

[edit on 29-12-2009 by infobrazil]

Originally posted by nixie_nox
reply to post by Zosynspiracy

 

by the way, people were just as savage if not more. They still had the same crime and heinous acts. It is just not in your face everyday by tv.

Go read a newspaper,and you will find the same acts of atrocity.

I have an optimistic perpective. We are way more altruist and humanistic than before. Think dark ages.

Isolated cases probably may continue to exist, but those are the extremes and those are the ones that media monetizes.

But... eyes see what they want to see.

[edit on 29-12-2009 by infobrazil]

reply to post by Zosynspiracy




Here, just read this bit of history in my thread.No, not a shameless thread pimp. *smiles*

www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by mitman93

I don't think they were ever in your computer. (there's no need, and that'd most probably be illegal - a worst crime IMO, than copyright infringement)

They most probably spotted your IP uploading Fallout3 via a torrent. Your IP was reported, along with the file you were uploading (seeding) to your Internet service provider. I take it your service provider assigns you a static IP so it was simple for them to track you down.

My point is, that you service provider didn't "search your computer to find copyrighted material".

And whether you upload/download public domain material or not, you should always use the encryption function, as it's simply no one's business what you are sharing.


[edit on 29/12/09 by ConspiracyNut23]

reply to post by ConspiracyNut23


Of course! I'm not a computer idiot (I did build my own after all)

Also, my ISP gives Dynamic IPs, not static. However, once Bethesda (or their lawyers) contacted Cox, Cox needed to know which individual files they wanted deleted. To do that, they DID run a search on my local hard drive. The guy on the phone even admit to it.

As long as your ISP has a valid reason for doing so, they are legally allowed to search you all they want. THAT is what scares me.

reply to post by mitman93

Oh my. That is scary.

I had no idea.

Thank you.

Any idea how they are able to do that? (remotely scan your HD)

Does it matter what OS you use?

reply to post by ConspiracyNut23


The guy on the phone didn't get into much detail. When I first told him "I erased everything" He told me "Are you sure you got everything? According to this reloaded.exe also leaves files in the AppData folder". I told him that, yes I had erased EVERYTHING...but then I realized "Hey! How did he know that reloaded applications do that?!" So I asked him, and that's when he told me that in the ToS it states Cox is legally allowed to scan for ANY illegal files.

I'm currently trying to find exactly where it says that in the ToS.

www.cox.com...

Originally posted by mitman93

I came home from work today, sat down at my desk, only to find
this on my internet browser.

Of course, I IMMEDIATELY followed the on screen instructions. After I had completed each step TO THE TEE, I waited....and waited...and waited. My internet was never reactivated.


[edit on 29-12-2009 by mitman93]

My question is what did you steal and USE from the internet that it was enough to get your server to turn you off?? I am a photographer, and I have had to use PPA to get infringements stopped(I only go after those using my images for financial gain, and only after they will not stop) and do you have any idea how difficult it is to do this?

A huge problem with the internet is people believe if it is on there, it is free for them to use AND profit from. I am a member of two artist groups who protect one another from people doing such things.

If you got your ISP on you, someone had a darn good case against you and you ignored warnings. Coming from the other side, honestly, I am glad to see that ISP *will* do something about it.

I really have a hard time believing they scanned your hard drive, more like they scanned what was posted to your account online, which is where the complaint was aimed at them.

reply to post by the_denv
It's comments like yours that make me feel like I should have picked a different major in college... Computer Science, or such. *sigh*



[edit on 29-12-2009 by LadySkadi]