…and they did

Eurocrats in Brussels approved the law that essentially, depending on the way you interpret it, forces ISPs to enforce copyright laws…

The disputed text, which some are claiming is deliberately concealed within impenetrable legalese, states that national regulators - such as the UK’s Ofcom - must promote “cooperation” between access providers and those “interested in the protection and promotion of lawful content”.

• The Register

Euro-idiots about to vote on removal of internet connections

As Boing Boing puts it…

[Accessing the Internet] would last only so long as they avoided three unsubstantiated accusations of downloading music or video or software without permission.

This implies that ISPs do not have to prove you are illegally downloading and will cut off your access if they suspect you are an illegal downloader, whether you are or not.

What is worse is that the idiots sitting in Brussels are voting on this on Monday in a Telecoms package which has had this internet removal clause added by stealth. Is there any wonder why those people who get to vote on any EU constitution (or whatever they dress it up as) are voting it down; is there any wonder why citizens of the EU are so fed up and disollusioned by the whole beurocratic non-sense when ’secret’ clauses are inserted into laws that are only present because of lobbying by corporate interest groups.

Whilst I agree that copyrights should be protected, I do not agree that there is guilt without evidence which is essentially what this clause amounts to. What is more, this is yet another nail in the coffin of what the internet once was.

• Open Right Group
• Boing Boing

I forgot to add, lobby your MEP to ensure this doesn’t happen (if they can be bothered to turn up and vote); hmmm, does my faith in the democratic process seem somewhat dented.

The totalitarian state

Yes, its a bit extreme to add the words ‘totalitarian’ and ‘UK’ into the same sentence, but it looks like “New Labour” has managed to get somewhat close to applying this moniker to a country that fought hard (and has only just paid off) to halt the advances of the fascist menace that wielded its sword across Europe during the middle of the 20th century.

Why is it now that this same country is the envy of all totalitarian countries with its network of spy cameras, its listening devices, its telephone taps, its spy in the skies, its gentle progression towards ever more central control, its gradual erosion of freedoms that took centuries to develop and still it maintains the outward impression of being a more liberal democracy.

Make: Secret Compartment

Since I can’t embed blip.tv content, and compared to YouTube blip.tv content appears to be far superior quality, I will have to improvise. Click the image to jump to the video of how to create your own secret book thing, for hiding stuff, things, etc.

A bad case of self-rightousness

There are, supposedly, a number of internet sites that are increasingly turning to desparate measures to alienate users who decide to visit their websites. They are banning, outright, the use of FireFox. Why? Simply because of a plugin called Adblock plus. What Adblock does is removes adverts from webpages, essentially making the whole web page experience a damn site better. Now this does not seem to happen if you visit, for example, Google. Google Ads are still there regardless of where you are. However, these self-righteous idiots who decide to employ a wholesale ban on the use if FireFox users seem to miss the point.

Zensur

Zensur

I am getting to the point that I no longer want to have anything to do with Yahoo! and Yahoo! associated website simply because they appear to be joining the disturbingly expanding group that opposes freedoms of speech and expression.

Boing Boing has more