Friday, June 08, 2007

Spread it loud, spread it proud - Censorship Update!

Amnesty International's report on the state of the internet is quite disturbing. As more governments setup filtering of the web content from their citizens, the idea of free speech disappears.

It's really sad that more people don't realize that Freedom of Speech is the single most important freedom humans have. It is the foundation on which all other freedoms rest. Governments don't impose restrictions on Free Speech to protect their citizens, they do it to protect themselves. To ensure that they stay in power.

Government censorship has always failed in the past to achieve its goal, because human communication always seems to find a way, but we can't assume that this will be true. We must be vigilant and demand our freedom. It's certainly not going to be protected by those people who get the advantage with it's restriction.

Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are complicit in this and should be held accountable. In order to preserve their large rivers of cash, they have chosen to cozy up to these governments. History shows us that when sleep with the snakes, they do eventually bite you. I hope they have some secret plan, easter egg, or backdoor that can't be fixed to let the words flow. If not, hang your head low and enjoy the company you keep. The will kill you. I've linked to the companies stated values. Let's hold them to it. We are all in this together.

If you give up your rights for security, in the end you will have neither.

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