Korean Job Discussion Forums

[RufusW]

Let's be clear Casper. You think a government shouldn't focrefully shutdown child-porn distribution websites - they have the right to host anything they want? Correct? Only the production is illegal, sharing any file is constitutionally protected?

Fox, you argue it may become more lucrative. That isn't the question. It's whether a government has the right/obligation to stop (to the extent of its ability) the distribution and consumption of child porn. It may produce adverse effects, but the law should attempt to stop illegal behaviour. Furthermore, it may be a 'wedge issue' but that doesn't at all reduce the fact that limitation in the distribution of illegal substances is ethically correct.

[Fox]

[RufusW]

fox, I know you're pragmatic, and you're basically arguing the ends justifies the means. Legalise some child porn and the total will be reduced. Surely if something is deemed illegal the government should attempt to stop it, regardless of the consequences - these are effects that should be dealt with afterwards - but it is the obligation of a government to stop illegal activity, regardless of how a market reacts.

[Fox]

[RufusW]

But isn't allowing an activity to continue - when it could be stopped (if you accept this doesn't affect freedom of speech) - implicitly legalising it?

[bacasper]

I think their attempts cause more harm than good, and can even be counterproductive, as Prof Adler demonstrates.

[RufusW]

Well I quoted both of these earlier...

[Fox]

[bacasper]

This article on the German law outlines well the potential dangers:

The coming age of internet censorship

From Wikileaks
June 17, 2009

Today, Germany's lower house passed the first Western national internet censorship law. As every news organization, political newsletter and discussion between friends relocates onto the internet, censorship systems are being rolled out to interpose themselves between every communicator and their audience.

By Claire Ulrich (translated from the French, Les censeurs du net)

In Internet history, 1994-2004 was the era of the pioneers. 2004-2007 was the era of the merchants. Now we�re entering the era of the bullies. Everywhere in the world, sites are going dark, arrests are increasing, more people are going to prison. The Web just celebrated its 20th birthday. Nobody used to take it seriously, but those days are gone.

Italy is right up there with Beijing and Shanghai, where cybercaf�s are required by law to check the IDs of every single client. In Kazakhstan at the moment, people are strongly advised not to publish the words �economic crisis� online. The president doesn�t want them to. This is quaint compared to the tests going on in Australia to purge the domestic Web of �pedo-pornographic content.� All governments are anxious about the Hydra that is the Internet, but they all act on their concerns according to their culture. Great Britain is preparing to monitor and archive all electronic communications in the name of the War on Terror. In France, the battle between the government and Internet users is over the downloading of copyrighted material. When the dust settles on the legal battlefields, there remains an unequal power relationship: governments and Internet service providers (ISP) now have the technological means to detect and block access to sites they find objectionable on a countrywide scale. When this happens, it�s called Web �filtering.�

ERROR 404 � PAGE NOT FOUND

Web filtering is most often indicated by the �Page Not Found� message familiar to all Internet users, free or monitored.

In Oman, in Bahrain, in Dubai, the 404 page works overtime: you are redirected to a message informing you, in English and Arabic, that the site you are looking for is not authorized in the kingdom. In China, the 404 page doesn�t come with an explanation. There�s no point; the sites are censored. American soldiers in Iraq see it when they try to access YouTube while on base, which is prohibited by the US Army. They don�t have that problem in cybercaf�s in Baghdad. In Algeria and Egypt, it indicates an actual technical problem. The Web isn�t filtered there, though it is closely monitored. You get it in Syria if you try to go to a site that ends in .il, the top-level domain for Israel. But you�ll have no trouble getting to a porn site. And in Tunisia, the 404 page is just fake.

FIRST STOP, TUNISIA

On our cruise through Censorland, we must stop over in Tunisia, the first African country to have access to the Internet, that shining gateway to a computerized citizenry and new technologies. Praised by Bill Gates (�I am amazed by Tunisia�), this country is at the forefront of cybercensorship. Back in 2000, when the blogosphere was still deserted, the country led the charge by censoring the forum Takriz.org (�fed up�.org) within its borders. That same year, its first cyber-dissident, Zouhair Yahyaoui, was arrested in a cybercaf� and condemned to 18 months in prison for having published on his site, Tunezine, a survey that asked, �Is Tunisia a kingdom, a republic, a zoo, a prison?�

The 10-year marriage of the latest cyber-surveillance technologies and a police state has declined into a sad routine � imprisonment of cyber-dissidents and automatic suppression of foreign press sites if even a paragraph is deemed undesirable. Lofti, a Tunisian who lives in Europe, recalls that he was never able to connect to the site Voila.fr when he was in the country. Why? Because of the AFP dispatches published on the portal? Photos that were too sexy? Asking questions is also frowned upon. Interestingly, the ATI has always, from the beginning, been run by a woman. Khadija Ghariani, an engineer, Ecole nationale sup�rieure des telecommunications, Paris, class of �84; Feriel B�ji, who has a doctorate in artificial intelligence; and Lamia Cheffai Sghaier, an electrical engineer, each took turns running the agency. Among dissidents, they�re called Ben Ali�s Angels, a local show with the tagline, �We�re here to make you hate the Internet!� Tunisia is also a master of cyber-humor.

�WRITE �JI/AN/G ZE/MIN��

The other old soldier of cybercensorship is China.

Please follow link and read this excellent article in full

[RufusW]

Casper - try synthesising things... and answering other people's points - that's called discussion.

Fox - government controls everything. whether implicitly or explicitly. There's no middle ground. If a government decides not to regulate something it is - by default - considered legal.

[bacasper]

[RufusW]

[bacasper]

[RufusW]

[Fox]