Sunday, December 12, 2010

Forbidding the internet

Our governments had problems with the internet since the 90s I remember. Latest campaign in Germany is the possible upcoming rule that you have to declare the suitable age of your intended audience and block out younger ones. Nobody knows how to do it precisly (especially judging the content), rendering all German websites potentially illegal. Particular blogs are worried about it: http://www.vzlog.de/2010/11/in-eigener-sache-wir-schliesen-am-31-dezember-2010/
The green party and the Linkspartei failed both to vote off that new rule.

But how about Canada forbidding hyperlinking:
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/12/07/hyperlink-supreme-court-defamation-libel.html

Even if its not a real crack down, someone wrote at Slashdot:
"You simple make something very common illegal and then you don't enforce the law.
This way you make a lot of people criminals and you can cherry pick whoever you want to go after.
It is a very common way to get rid of the whole inconvient equal to the law thingy.."

And in Germany we have the instrument of 'Abmahnung'

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