Can a government "censor" internet content ?

[MazeRat7]

Well of course not. But those Luddites in China are trying.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/0,,SB112777213097452525-zRQZ3S8IZkZDPMZNay0R6RUfXOw_20060926,00.html?mod=blogs

However, for the non-techie crowd out there, rest assured; this will never happen. When I say the net is "organic", I am not trying to make dramatic statements but rather being accurate based on observations about our need to "communicate" since ARPANet (early US DoD version of todays Internet) came into existence. Over the past 25+ years I have seen corporations and governments alike try to filter content, embed monitoring tools, and devise various encryption schemes that are all in "their" interest and not that of the general population. To date they have failed and we have managed to find some kind of work-around that addresses each one.

This "experiment" in China will also go badly since there are plenty of folks around the world willing to help the residents of China access information in a free and unrestricted manner. Which brings me to the point of this post.

That being, "truth will out itself". As bad as things are here in the states, relative to the corporate media, we still manage to find the facts as they relate to our country and others around the globe. Sure, it could be made harder by actions like those of the Chinese government, but in the end it will be to no avail. Communication between humans, via language, is "organic" and is the crowning event in our history that separates us from the animals. That communication, whether it be spoken, on parchment, or in the digital domain can not be impeded.

So next time you post a diatribe about our leaders or bitch that news stories are not being aired by the MSM, remember... you could find yourself in the position of having to break laws just to gather information and communicate with like minds.

MZr7

[rwheeler31]

1. Thank you for trying.

I wish it would have happend sooner. money has halted our speech.

[Silverhair]

2. North Korea does a very effective job of such censorship. NT

[valerief]

3. Doesn't the gummint own the internet?

They can pull the plug whenever they want, right? Of course, that would affect purchases and online banking and all kinds of stuff.

[Solo_in_MD]

4. No they do not

Its a (large) group of private networks that agree to work together. ARguably under some obscure law the Feds could seize control of some of the major routers and the root server, but even then, much of the net would continue to work. Remember that a tenet of the basic design was to survive loss of sections due to nuclear war.

For all its faults the current private enterprise model has worked fairly well. The UN is making some noise about trying to internationalize government control. I am of the opinion that its doing quite well on its own without such intervention.

[valerief]

6. Thanks for clarifying!

[Mairead]

5. The government can't control the net? Pretty to think so.

But in fact they can. The backbone (the high-speed lines to which your local isp connects) is owned by these few companies:
AGIS
ANS
ATMnet
BBNplanet
Compuserve
CRL
CWIX
DataXchange
DIGEX
Epoch
GetNet
GlobalCenter
GoodNet
GridNet
IBM
Interconnect
InternetMCI
iSTAR
MCIWorldcom 2000 (current pdf)
NapNet
Netrail
NFS
PsiNet
Savvis
Sprint
UUNET

http://www.nthelp.com/maps.htm

Send a few SD or FBI into each one of them to take control, give local isps the list of sites that are to get poor service (slow connects, drops, etc)--or if they're willing to be overt, no service at all-- and Bob's your uncle.

(I find it fascinating, btw, that InternetMCI's (now Cable & Wireless's) backbone's highest-speed segment is between Cobb County Georgia and DC. Neither MCI nor C&W have their HQs there, so why is Cobb County so important? Hyperconservative-religious-loonie Cobb Country? What's going on?)

[morgan2]

7. of course they can

they can't hide information from those who know what their doing, but thats always going to be a small percentage of people.