What control does the US Senate have over the internet?

dj_stick

Read the news article here before postign a reply please.

i don't see how any member of any government can ban protocols on the internet. The US government, nor any government, has any control over the internet whatsoever, apart from servers that lie within their borders.

Nacht

ahh it's just another person attempting to create legislation for something he/she doesnt understand. it happens all of the time, and it wont get through. nothing to worry about

dj_stick

but what i don't understand is the amount of times they try this

Warpy

Perhaps he is trying to set a "goodie two shoes" attitude towards his audiance. He probably doesn't even know what P2P is... If anything he probably has his finger in the pie along with the Bin Laden family... Would't surprise me if he is as corrupt as your current President.

After all it's about power isnt it, and I'm sure the Saudi's would love to be in on his plans to decieve the nation.

Bush is a dip stick and lets hope they count the numbers this year for all voters!

Falstaff

The chinese are extremely successful throttling any anti government web traffic, and they got help from Cisco, we take the internet for granted but like driving an automobile, it is a privelege, not a right and it can be taken away.

me.myself.&.ATi

Jeff....i have the utmost respect for you & your artwork but what you just said crosses the line....
since when has driving a car been/become a privilige??

This is exactly the kind of (MISLEADING) thoughts that the upper class imposes on the lower class
just to have us under their thumbs!!!!!

I mean c'mon Bro'.......when will it become a privilige to be ALIVE then???!!!!!

Honestly.....they should try to reward the few people for the things they do right, put that in the spotlight &
maybe then more will follow....

instead of inducing FEAR & TERROR with such medieval thoughts.....

I hope you see what my point is .....

Plz do excuse me for the harsh tone....as right now i'm a very ill (Lyme-disease) but just could not resist to comment on this.

Remember....."As long as personal interest is of matter, No cause is a good cause!"

May all the Gods's watch over us .....

Truly Yours,

Me.Myself.&.ATi

LeanWolf

um.. don't be peeved now but jeff's right, driving is a privelege. Like it or not, your gov decides what you can and cannot do (ie what's legal)! Look at canabis vs alcohol for one example.

caqde

The computers come and the politicians go insane. Senator Hatch is just following the wave of stupidity going around. Wonder what the next bright idea is going to be??? Hopefully one day they will learn to go forwards instead of backwards. But for now it looks like DMCA 2.0 is on their minds. But at least some representatives are against it. To bad they're the minority at the moment as it seems.

Nacht

jeff has a valid point. while we will never have to undergo the filtering of websites and ban of protocols, we dont realize how lucky we have it. driving, like voting is a priviledge. if you screw up, it can and will be taken away.

Falstaff

I worked for the intelligence community and my family has for quite a few years, whether we admit it or not, the government prefers we openly communicate behind fragile firewalls and protocols and continue to use our cell phones with wanton abandon. The NSA and similiar organizations have the power and routinely exercise the right to monitor and record all electronic traffic in the Continental United States and Europe, encrypted or not, information is gathered, collated, deciphered or transcribed for the benefit of intelligence. You and I are not secruity threats,but they know who are, and they would rather follow the fox back to the den, than catch him in the hen house. I am not decieved by the claims of total security and 100% firewalled servers, etc etc..The government has and will continue to remain vigilient, and let simple folks like us enjoy ourselves. Read the fine print in the Patriot Act, it was there to legitimize the activity that is already being performed or conducted to gather information. Some people call it the mark of the beast, and Bill Gates is the Anti Christ...whatever, but I never forget, the more dependent on electronic communication, and gullably pretend it is totally secure, the easier it is to assume we are beyond the reach of the NSA and their brother and sister entities worldwide...I cannot speak for the soviets,. and know little else about the chinese, but our governments and tech companies actually assist them. The "free" internet is not entirely without peril, no matter how hard we believe it is safe. I do not bear false witness, for I have lived within the bubble and know what we are capable of. Within two years, we will see dramatic changes in which our government pursues and prosecutes threats, what better way than to detect, and eliminate the threats without raising eyebrows.

digerati

It says in my States driving booklets.

"Remember, driving is a privelage, not a right."

Which is why you can get your license suspended or revoked for drunk driving.

Guidoo

Actually voting is a right...a felony can result in suspension or revocation of said right, much as other rights are stripped away for criminal acts. Six states (Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Virginia) take away vote for life. Others have various waiting periods, dependencies on crime commited etc etc. Unlike a privilege you do not have to pass a test (ie
drivers exam). As long as you are a citizen of legal age you have the right to vote.
Quote from the 26th amendment of the US Constitution Guido

ToshiroOC

There are no rights not given to us by the power of the majority, and no privilege given to us except by the power of the majority. If the majority of America decided that you should not drive a car, no amount of exclaiming that it is your right to drive a car will prevent you from stopping them. If the majority of America decided that you should not live, no amount of exclaiming that it is your right to live will prevent you from stopping them. Rights are not absolutes, they are protections that we have built into our own society for our own sake.

But as far as the car issue goes, would you argue that a drunken man should have the right to drive a car on public roads wherever he wishes? Is it somehow the upper class imposing an illegitimate will to keep that man from possibly hitting a pedestrian?

insurrection

^ somehow i dont think thats what he meant...
i cant believe im reading this crap. especially the thing about journalists. thats ridiculous.

Nacht

it doesnt matter what he meant, it shows he didnt think through the entire thing.

insurrection

true enough. but thats not what you asked

Necrosis

Echelon...

insurrection

yeah...

ToshiroOC

Yeah, but it will never be used against a citizen in a court of law, so I feel safe.

Mostly.

Besides, to address the original subject, there is nothing aside from the Constitution that limits the US Senate's power over the internet, so if they decide to legislate this, then it can become law. Not to say the courts won't strike the law down, and not to say that they're capable of enforcing it, but there's no legal barrier to keep them from trying off the bat.

Falstaff

I would love to see someone get involved with the internet and impose laws, then people would be more careful. Americans dont appreciate a damn thing unless they have to fight for it or protect it. Americans are getting really really soft and damn lazy. A good swift kick in the ass should shake things up a little.

Dexsal

its just a matter of time! ..Before governments start to take full control ... look what Punk buster are doing now!...in the future i bet ppl will be fined..........Big Brother is watching..........hehehehe

Nacht

what? punkbuster? are you suggesting that the senate has been bought out by evenbalance!?!?!?

are we all going to be hardware banned from the grocery store!?!?

AHHHHH!

pr0digal jenius

organ transplants would be the equivalent of getting a new GUID....

Falstaff

I think the people that are most appalled by the notion that government will monitor, regulate and restict the internet are like deer in the headlights, guess what, your internet and some intranet activity are being monitored even as you type. Look at the theme of the Patriot Act, look at the wire tapping of the 30s the 40s and even now, if you can transmit it, it can be monitored, pure and simple. Everything we do that is connected to the web can be audited, collected and evaluated. I was stationed in Japan for three years and all internet activity was monitored period!
We all have to grow up if necessary and see the potentiol threats around us from the freedoms we enjoy, unless we protect those freedoms and manage those privileges we allow people to enjoy or it can get out of hand.
1. I am for government monitoring.(it catches badguys)
2. I am for government regulation. ( without rules there is anarchy)
3. I am for testing the strength of our resources to evaluate our weaknesses.
4. I am after the pediphiles, the criminals, the pornographers, the human flesh merchants and the drug dealers, all of them use the internet to perpetuate illicet industry.
5. You want Spam to go away....lets all start paying for the internet, bag advertising altogether and become our own policeman.

I was never more concerned about the internet when my own daugher told me about a stalker and sexual offender that used campus email addresses at her college to solicit young men and women for sex. What some people think is harmless and self limited is actually a growing trend among sexual offenders and drug dealers accross the nation. You might not like the Orwelian theme of this but it is becoming evident to me. Someone has to be the policeman..