“First they came for the chat rooms and I did not speak out because I did not use chat rooms. Then they came for the bulletin boards and I did not speak out because I did not use bulletin boards.“First they came for the chat rooms and I did not speak out because I did not use chat rooms. Then they came for the bulletin boards and I did not speak out because I did not use bulletin boards. Then they came for the websites and I did not speak out because I did not surf those websites. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.” – Fillmore Slim, 2003
It’s happening. The Internet as we know it is changing. The free flow of ideas and information that the technologically elite have subsisted on for the last decade is coming to an end. The World Wide Web is transforming into an increasingly regulated place where privacy and community take a backseat to so-called security and the increased segregation of the Internet.
Of course, this digital crackdown mirrors events in the real world. Western governments are shifting to the right to fight the growing tide of resistance, rejection and all-out culture jamming brought on by the increased globalization of business in the world. The security-industrial complex is growing at an unprecedented rate, and the ‘Net that we all know and love just might become a casualty of the war on “those who would hurt us”.
9/11 was a tragedy of monumental scale. Yet, it also served as a lightning rod for the fear-mongers and control freaks in our society to argue for increased government control and interference within our daily lives. The power play has worked, and these opportunists have been exploiting fear and control for profit ever since.
That control was demonstrated in late September when Microsoft became the first company to effectively end the service that brought most people online in the first place… the chat room. Oh sure, Microsoft says some chat rooms will continue to operate, but to use them you need to be linked to a membership and user name (hint… credit card), which means your identity and actions in chat rooms will be monitored and traced. In other words, anonymity has been completely eradicated from the service.
Convenient that Microsoft chose to shut down the chat service under the guise of “protecting the children.” This is the same mantra the Justice Department uses to pursue legitimate adult entertainment companies that produce legal material between consenting adults.
By dropping the chat rooms, Microsoft has given a big middle finger to the millions of adults who willingly use them to anonymously communicate and distribute information.
No doubt there are nefarious types using chat rooms for predatory purposes, but shouldn’t the use of a computer by children be monitored by parents anyway? AOL and Yahoo don’t think it’s necessary to dump the chat rooms, so how come Gates et. al. feel the need?
By obfuscating the true goals – censorship of the communication of ideas and information flow that isn’t congruent with the regime in power – Microsoft gets to curry favor with the current administration and appear to be fighting pedophilia at the same time. A win-win situation. Especially at a time when MS needs good press after months of virii and worm attacks.
Speaking of those attacks, does anyone find it convenient that the majority of recent attacks on Microsoft-based operating systems came after the company signed a five-year deal to become the “official technology provider” for the Department of Homeland Security?
Did anyone actually read the End-User License Agreements that came with all those recently released patches? Nope… everyone just blindly installed them. Millions of individuals and businesses around the country updated their systems because Microsoft, a company with close ties to the government, told us to do so. Abbie Hoffman is doing Orwellian spins in his grave.
Quick, someone end this madness and send Tom Ridge a copy of Red Hat. National security is at stake!
For more on this story, check out…
– Microsoft’s Rivals Won’t Shut Chat Rooms
– Net censorship hits ‘all time high’
– Microsoft Awarded Homeland Security Contract
– U.S. Names New Cybersecurity Team and Czar
– Don’t Rely On Microsoft, Trade Group Urges Homeland Security
– Microsoft dominance threatens U.S. security, group warns
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