Kiss Your Internet Goodbye!

Don't get me wrong the Bush administration scares the flirking shnit out of me but...we do live in a supposed system of checks and balances. As we get closer and closer to november tense memories of the previous election/mini-scandal and the current situation in Iraq I feel confident in saying that first the terrorist's couldn't really do anything that would constitute shutting down the internet and of course the fact that there would be outcry from the house and the left.

It just wouldn't happen, the democrats and moderate republicans would never allow it.

Maybe if Martial Law was declared, but again I think if Bush attempts any grab at power no matter what the reason before November it'll end in massive outcry from the left followed by debate, getting the snot kicked out of him in the press and of course I don't think it's too far fetched to say there would be violent demonstrations and possibly riots.

It's just not worth the risk for Bush to try and take away our right to talk about ufos and download porn.

then again I could be wrong but I doubt it.

Spiderj

Originally posted by Ambient Sound
Some of you may not realize this, but once, there wasn't an Internet. Know what? Humanity survived anyway.

LIAR!!!

WITCH! WITCH! WITCH!

Nah

Its all about communication, we'd be taking a step backwards.

Originally posted by Jalengrma
Right now the Internet is being kept from a portion of the people. There are certain web sites that you cannot access based on your zip code.

Huh????

I don't think so.

Do you have anything to back this up?

Think again, Spiderj.

The supposed terrorists who will be blamed for the shut down won't be the terrorists you think. They'll be gov. operatives working clandestinely. The AyeRabs will get the blame.

The US government certainly does have the power to pull a China-type deal on us. It's naive to think they don't - and even more naive to think they wouldn't.

I find this interesting, because 4-5 years ago it 'came' to me that there would be another 'Internet'... a second version.. but I didn't realize it'd be for gov't/university types... hmmm...

It is pretty creepy to think a 'free' form of communication could be curtailed. "They" had already talked about shutting down know terrorist websites.. but decided to utilize them for 'chatter' purposes..

There is no end to the creepy, immoral and illegal shiZZit this administration will pull. Don't put ANYTHING past them.

The supposed terrorists who will be blamed for the shut down won't be the terrorists you think. They'll be gov. operatives working clandestinely. The AyeRabs will get the blame

I understand where your coming from Eastcoast. The government posing as terrorists doesn't change my opinion.

I certainly don't mind being labeled naive, ignorance is bliss after all and I'm due for some bliss but...I really don't think it's gonna happen.

The holy roman emire was very good at entertaining the masses, that's all the internet and tv are, entertainment for the masses. We are not a threat to the us government and again, without martial law they wouldn't stand a chance, and I don't think society at large would allow them to declare martial law.

I think there are lots of major concerns regarding this adminsitration and I think there are lots of things to worry about I just don't think this is one of them.

The administration is not all powerful, tensions are high, the smart ones in the adminsitration can smell upheaval and anarchy, trust me they wont take away the internet.

Spiderj

Understand, I'm not PROMISING its gonna happen, just speculating. Based on what I do know, I can tell you the US government is more powerful than most of us can even imagine. That oughtta scare everyone, b/c we are all just numbers to the powers that be.

I think they would at least try and pull something off along these lines. The eventual outcome would probably be a second Revolutionary war.

Understand, I'm not PROMISING its gonna happen, just speculating. Based on what I do know, I can tell you the US government is more powerful than most of us can even imagine. That oughtta scare everyone, b/c we are all just numbers to the powers that be.

Don't get me wrong I completely agree about the governments power and took that into consideration, but it wasn't the only thing I took into consideration.

I also don't disagree with you about the possibility of them at least trying it they could be stupid enough to try, but again even if they did they wouldn't get away with it.

They've already learned their lesson about non issues like gay marriage. Please let's not start posting our opinion of gay marriage but during this election and this time in our history there are bigger things to worry about.

The internet is essentially a non-issue. It's not worth it. Should Bush win in november (oh dear god let's hope not) then all sorts of crazy things could happen such as massive ammendments to the constitution that'll run the spectrum of civil liberty abuses and power grabs.

But the internet will always be there, they won't be able to take it away, computer crack is here to stay, hey I'm rhyming!

Let us just both agree that we agree that the government:

A) Sucks.
B) Scares the snot out of most people.
C) Are capable of trying anything.

But we disagree on the internet as an issue.

Fair?

Spiderj

Spiderj: They've already learned their lesson about non issues like gay marriage. Please let's not start posting our opinion of gay marriage but during this election and this time in our history there are bigger things to worry about.

Here's something to worry about... If Bush gets re-elected, at least half of those who visit ATS will be off at BASIC training and on their way to one of our various wars. They won't be able to use the internet anyway. How's that for a not-so-pleasant thought?

I think the threat to the internet could be very real...the internet is the one source of information right now that our government has almost NO control over. Practically everything in this country is regulated by the government, but the internet is a pool of free speech and ideas, lots of them critical of the guys in power. It isn't uncommon to hear of people being arrested for having "terrorist" websites that simply speak out against the government. I think Sherman Austin and raisethefist.com comes to mind...I really don't think the government will take away the internet, as people would be completely outraged. We could possibly see a lot more regulations though in the near future, especially if people like Ashcroft get their way...

Imagine what it would be like if we had not had the net through the Iraqi misadnventure. It would've likely been years before the Abu Ghraib prison abuse story broke.

I've had my misgivings about the internet in the past, but have come to realize it is the most potent weapon the American people have ever had. Big brother knows it too.

Originally posted by Shoktek
It isn't uncommon to hear of people being arrested for having "terrorist" websites that simply speak out against the government. I think Sherman Austin and raisethefist.com comes to mind.

It is not that common at all.

There is a big difference between free speech and Sherman Austin.

Based on the First amendment, do I have the right to shout �FIRE� in a crowded theater when there is no fire?

It is one thing to go on about how you hate the government, but it is quite another thing entirely to encourage people to make Molotov cocktails.

With the right to free speech also comes the responsibility to speak judiciously.

I believe in freedom of speech and the second amendment. I would encourage people of liberal and/or open minds, especially if they don't have kids to seriously consider taking advantage of your second amendment rights. If we don't defend freedom of speech, there are any number of forces who will happily take it from us.

The internet is the ONLY place in America where one gets the truth that one doesn't get on TV or Radio.

Wouldn't it be refreshing if someone started blowing away the vampires on 'K' street in Washington?

Originally posted by slank
I believe in freedom of speech and the second amendment. I would encourage people of liberal and/or open minds, especially if they don't have kids to seriously consider taking advantage of your second amendment rights.

Ditto on that. If not for anything other than protection when lawlessness breaks out.

If we don't defend freedom of speech, there are any number of forces who will happily take it from us.

Dontcha just love those who flame people for simply speaking their minds? They wrap themselves up in the flag (that won't get them to heaven anymore) and accuse 1st ammendment lovers of being unpatriotic. It's a bizarre parallel universe they live in.

The internet is the ONLY place in America where one gets the truth that one doesn't get on TV or Radio.

Americans should boycott tv "news." It's killing the minds of millions.

Wouldn't it be refreshing if someone started blowing away the vampires on 'K' street in Washington?

Uh, no comment.

Originally posted by HowardRoark
It is one thing to go on about how you hate the government, but it is quite another thing entirely to encourage people to make Molotov cocktails.

Someone had submitted one "protest guide" to his website that contained a section on explosives...this is the kind of thing you can find all over the internet if you want to, yet he goes to federal prison for an entire year?

Alot of companys would have to do alot of refunding. I wonder if the internet providers have a disclaimer for these kinds of threats. Thinking more about it I dont know if the could just cut it off. There would be ton of income lost.

If 9-11 taught us anything, it taught us that anything can happen and to be ready for the unimaginable. I hate to sound so negative or like I'm afraid, because I'm not, just aware; but we probably havn't seen the half of it yet. Especially if BushCo. and the powers behind it realize they're not gonna get their way. The beast will be known and felt on a massive scale.

10 years ago this didn't seem possible:

Protecting America from Foreign Writers

Prominent foreign writers were stopped at U.S. borders, even imprisoned, and then deported because of the Homeland Security and Patriot Acts.
By Frederick Sweet

Foreign journalists and novelists have been turned away from U.S. borders by an increasingly repressive American government bureaucracy. Since January 2001, and particularly since the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S., our ideologically driven president, George W. Bush, has led his attorney general John Ashcroft and a too-willing Republican-dominated Congress to deny members of the foreign press freedom of entry into America.

Indeed, the word has gotten around �old� and �new� Europe that America is no longer the land of the free. In the practical sense, Bush and his accomplices achieved what Al Qaeda�s terrorists, Osama bin Laden, and yes, even that overblown bogeyman, Saddam Hussein, could never have dreamt of: sucking the freedom out of America. Bush has accomplished this by spreading fear and passing one law after another restricting personal freedom in the false promise of increasing the security of America�s homeland.

For example, one week before I left Budapest to visit Rome, two Hungarian college-aged youths told me they�d be afraid to visit America. In the 1970s, their parents had jumped at the chance to leave from behind the Iron Curtain to visit �America.� But things have changed. The youths didn�t like the idea of having to be �fingerprinted, photographed and documented like criminals� by the U.S. State Department. Bush�s U.S. has come to be regarded as a police state.

Now, all over Rome there are anti-Bush posters and stickers on walls and kiosks. Also, draped from windows in rich and poor neighborhoods alike are colorful flags emblazoned with the simple, one-word message �Pace [Peace],� to protest Bush�s war on Iraq. The United States has replaced the warlike Soviet Union as the nation to be most feared.
www.interventionmag.com... d&name=News&file=article&sid=807

the terrorist can not attack us through our computers so i see no need to shut down the internet. we vastly outnumber the terrorists as far as internet activity, we can spread important information much faster we have the upper hand. the terrorist we are all so afraid of probably use camels to deliver letters. yeah i know there are select few who run pro-terrorism sites, but really how many muslums use the internet?! even if they did use it they probably dont have such a cool discussion board like this one. mabye if the flow of information through this little digital world becomes to violent and hateful of the american government then yes i do see it being shut down.

[edit on 21-7-2004 by kogigaiden]