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Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on February 7, 2012 at 12:19pm

Unfortunately, a big chunk of the way to promote ignorance is to restrict information.  India, China, and some muslim countries show they can't stand up in the light of knowledge, so close the curtains and keep their people in the dark.  Kind of like Vampires....  where is the garlic?

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Permalink Reply by Pat on February 7, 2012 at 12:42pm

I hate to make the analogy, because it's so overused and oftentimes trite.  Nevertheless, here goes. Welcome to 1984  and the Thought Police.

I noticed the article said the complaint was brought by a muslim mufti. "The order follows a civil complaint filed by Mufti Aijaz Arshad Quasmi, an Indian activist who seeks the removal of videos and images that could be seen as offensive to Muslims, his lawyer Santosh Pandey said today."

So, a "representative" of 13% of the world's second largest population whines about his hurt feelings, and over a billion people are denied access to information. Information which could help improve the increase in education, local economies, health care, science, technology, music, art, literature, overall improvement in human lives and conditions, and the list goes on and on.

And theists of all stripes wonder why we often have such a visceral reaction against them and their "agendas."

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Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on February 7, 2012 at 12:46pm

It will be interesting to see whether Nexus is accessible in India after this.  I suspect not.

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Permalink Reply by Napoleon Bonaparte on February 7, 2012 at 12:58pm

There are influential people and companies all around the world who are slowly censoring the internet. Whether it be to protect Islam or US copyright law, someone somewhere may exercise powers to restrict information to or from us. If it keeps going this way the Internet will be a different model.

Today on the BBC news some British politician is saying the Internet should be censored to stop 'radicalisation' of people.

I'm sure that site owners in India will soon be paying bribes to keep themselves online and uncensored. A new criminal class will emerge and for lawyers a new field of work.

 

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Permalink Reply by Dee Neely on February 7, 2012 at 1:17pm

Does anyone else miss the old BBS method?

I see a return to a modern updated version unless things change.

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Permalink Reply by Napoleon Bonaparte on February 7, 2012 at 2:47pm

What is the old BBS method and the modern updated version ?

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Permalink Reply by Dee Neely on February 7, 2012 at 2:52pm

Way back in Ye Olde Dayes of the Computer there were these things called BBS. BBS stands for Bulletin Board System. You actually dialed in and connected to the computer you wanted to use.

I don't know what a modern version would look like, but it may be the only way to keep freedom alive in the intellectual property age.

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Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on February 7, 2012 at 3:16pm

I remember BBS's ... very well ... and I wonder if private networks would be viable as an alternative. The big question, of course, would be how to create such a thing, independent of the internet as it is today.

Barring that, using encryption to maintain privacy and the creation of members-only websites or other suchlike domains might provide some degree both of exclusivity and security. Getting past things like IP blocks would be much harder, but for what I understand, also doable.

I just hope it doesn't become necessary.

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Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on February 7, 2012 at 1:35pm

I would have given real money to see Google tell India, simply, "No ... we will not modify what we have available on our websites in order to placate someone's narrow-mindedness." Yeah, that would have lost them advertising dollars and market share, but for once, someone would have stood up to a bigoted point of view on principle ... and when is the last time that principle won out over the almighty dollar?

I note that Google.cn (China) is still up, and I wonder if that version of the search engine is still censoring content (my guess would be "yes."). So what happens next "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day?" Does India drop out Facebook like Pakistan did last time around? For that matter, how long will it be before someone in the US decides to be incensed at something Google or Bing or whatever happened to pull up on their screen? Once you've compromised your principles one time, what's to prevent a second or a third?

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Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on February 7, 2012 at 2:30pm

When I was in China a couple of years ago, I could not access AN or facebook.  I don't even recall that I did a google search.  The former utopian image of the Internet as the land of free exchange of ideas is becoming the orwellian internet where big brother and big sister determine what you can and cannot see.  Efforts in the US will probably head in that direction as well, but probably toward corporate big money more than theist/atheist.  My guess.

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Permalink Reply by Secular Forces 2013 on February 14, 2012 at 11:25am

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17024589

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Permalink Reply by Secular Forces 2013 on February 14, 2012 at 11:24am

funny they cut me off googplus for not sharing' real name. hey it's cyberlution 2012; why not an alias?
sheesh. fbook was ok w/it?! LOL sigh.. hello bs central. heard about the theocracy that ate their own much? daily here.

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