[Gnote]

I'm interested to know the feelings of POFOers on the issue of internet censhorship. It's a pretty simple poll...couldn't think of too many options.

[Der Freiheitsucher]

I can't imagine who would vote that censorship should exist...?

[Gustav Fluffy]

...how? It would be impossible.

[Todd D.]

Completely uncensored.

[The American Lion]

Except for China. Since the Chinese government wants to control the internet.

[Wilhelm]

Since the Chinese government wants to control the internet.

No they don't. They just have a couple of American sites blocked off, that's all.

[Russkie]

The Internet is too complex to be undercontrol fully now....

The Internet I believe will probably degrade overtime because of the useless messages and advertisings that get more complex.

You cannot go on a site these without getting attacked by a trojan.

[Der Freiheitsucher]

The Internet I believe will probably degrade overtime

Ahaha, no it won't

[Russkie]

The Internet I believe will probably degrade overtime

Ahaha, no it won't

so the trillions of junkmail messages that are sent everyday will not do anything? and this is not a joke, the junk is numbered in the trillions.

[Der Freiheitsucher]

Heh, your opinions are not only extremely trivial, but you have no evidence whatsoever to back up your claims. You're fired.

[Cap]

I think it should only be censored to the extent that any civlized nation would shut down those responsible for distributing kiddie porn, etc and other legal matters.


Cap

[Garibaldi]

I believe their should be no government censorship, but private censorship by the owner of an internet outlet should be allowed to censor what they view and what is permissable to be viewed.

[Comrade Ogilvy]

Government censorship over any medium is never acceptable.

[Crazy Brown Guy]

The Internet I believe will probably degrade overtime

Ahaha, no it won't

so the trillions of junkmail messages that are sent everyday will not do anything? and this is not a joke, the junk is numbered in the trillions.

Countries are now adapting laws that would make spamming illegal, as these laws come into action it will massively improve the quality of the internet. To correct what you said, the internet would only appreciate in quality as is witnessed by it's usage of it during the Iraq war. I would have to say that internet is the ultimate form of free press, so I would have to say that censorship of the internet by the government is almost unthinkable.

[smashthestate]

I only have one thing to say about this:

[SomewhatOffTheWay]

I don't believe in censorship but I can understand the arguement that police would want to shut down child porn rings and their subsequent websites... That's not censorship, it's protection of children.

[Randomizer]

I don't think Internet should be censored per se, but individuals should be in some cases prosecuted for their actions while in the internet, like hacking, stealing, and selling child porn. However simple self-expression should not be restricted in any way.

[Jesse]

Since actual monitoring of the internet, given the technology available to the public, and the lack thereof to the police, seems impossible, we'd have to find a new way to control the volatile medium known as the internet. However, it will be necessary, as it is such an important form of communication - the shortwave radio of our day.

[Vivisekt]

Countries are now adapting laws that would make spamming illegal, as these laws come into action it will massively improve the quality of the internet.

I'm not so sure. Since early 2003 professional spammers have been, in large numbers, spoofing IPs to obfuscate their whereabouts - in addition to their normal e-mail spoofing tatics. The problem is only getting worse as time goes on, as spoofing and redirection techniques become more developed. For instance; no matter where you live, if you run a firewall - within hours you'll probally notice a massive amount of blocked messenger spam attempts on UDP ports 1026-1028, from all over the world.

It has gotten to the point where I wouldn't even advise connecting to the internet at all without a firewall and a proxy.


That being said, I don't like the idea of internet censorship.

[Gnote]

Countries are now adapting laws that would make spamming illegal, as these laws come into action it will massively improve the quality of the internet. To correct what you said, the internet would only appreciate in quality as is witnessed by it's usage of it during the Iraq war. I would have to say that internet is the ultimate form of free press, so I would have to say that censorship of the internet by the government is almost unthinkable.

I agree with you, but my worry is once these laws are put in place, such as anti-spam and anti-child porn, we'll become one step closer to more significant censorship. Don't get me wrong, I'll all for reducing spam and stopping Child Porn; I'm just worried what the spinoff affects might be.