home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
TNA-GOLD 1
/
TNA-GOLD - Volume 1.iso
/
24hours
/
index1.txt
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1996-03-11
|
7KB
|
137 lines
[ First | Prev | Next | Index | Wander ] [Image] Ron Romano CT,
USA
Cyberty!
When Free Speech is Outlawed,
only Outlaws will have Free Speech!
Hey... the Second Amendment is dead, the Fourth is on the ropes and
the Tenth is under attackùwhy leave the First running around loose
to cause trouble...?
As Americans, we're witnessing nothing less than the dismantling of
our Constitution. But, since most of us don't even know what it
says, that hasn't been much of a challenge.
At least not until Cyberspace became accessible to We the People.
Cyberspace provides anyone with a "public broadcasting" channel of
their very own and easy, direct access to the text of laws,
proposed laws, and the Constitution itself all with a mouse-click.
Cyberspace has become "the great leveler".
So, like the gun-control-junkies and the militia-control-junkies
before them, the spin-control-junkies have magnified .01% of
Cyberspace in order to judge, and ultimately subjugate, the other
99.99%. It happened on February 8th, 1996.
We should get something straight up front here:
* Before the CDA, there existed sufficient laws to protect
children from the damaging effects of pornography and
obscenity.
* Period.
* The Communications Decency Act is nothing less than an attempt
by the Fearistocracy to cut off public access to Cyberspace.
To quote Chris Coen, who very clearly spelled out the obvious:
"As principle owner of an access and content provider, I
have had to give this issue a lot of thought. à if they
decide that service providers are responsible for
monitoring and censoring the information on the servers
they connect to the Internet, the effect could be
devastating to users.
à there is nothing to keep users from posting offensive
binaries to alt.test or rec.pets.cats, even though those
are not groups intended to carry such posts. ... The only
answer for a provider of our size is to axe the whole
service.
à We also allow users to have home pages. ... what should
we do when a user puts up a page on treating sexual
dysfunctions or civil rights advocacy? ... Again, the
only way we can avoid playing the role of big brother is
to discontinue World Wide Web hosting altogether.
à it could easily end up that only the wealthiest (and
morally pure, whatever that means) interests are the ones
providing content on the web. No more Sissy and Suck, no
more ant farms or anagrams. Those types of things that
make the web interesting, but they may end up as only
brief sparks in the history of a medium that became
nothing more than yet another method to pump advertising
into consumers.
The threat is not just to specific content, but to
continued ability for individuals to publish and access
information on the Internet."
Obviously, the Fearistocracy responsible for the CDA has examined
this same line of reasoning. But why would one want to remove the
public's ability to publish information for all the world to see?
Answer: Spin Control.
Since one can't simply order people around (yet) in a Democracy,
the simplest alternative is: manipulate them. Ever wonder why
there's so much bad news? The reason is because the information we
get from the "accepted" media is carefully sensationalized,
filtered and spun to produce the type of fearful mindset that leads
to 'public support' of inherently bad laws like the CDA. The same
was done with the Brady Law. And the so-called "assault weapons"
ban. Now a similar process has started, beginning with the media
finger-pointing at the "militias" as culprits in the Oklahoma City
Tragedy, to grease the skids for HR 2580, cleverly titled the
"Republican Form of Government Guarantee Act". These guys are on a
roll, and they know it.
But what if there were a balanced coverage of the issues? Boggles
the mind, doesn't it. Well, there is! Anyone with the time and
inclination can, at this moment, find megabytes of data pointing
out, for instance, the many ways in which our elected "public
servants" have violated the trust that We the People have placed in
them. Like any other body of data, one has to sift through it to
separate the wheat from the chaff. But here in C-space, we now have
the opportunity to do that for ourselves.
As Cyberspace becomes more accessible to We the People, and
stretches beyond those of us nerds who didn't trust government in
the first place, this type of information becomes lethal. Only one
group would fear its accessibility to the common person: the
Fearistocracy.
Cyberty (rhymes with Liberty) is my word for the new freedoms we,
until February 8th, 1996, have enjoyed in this previously
Undiscovered Country called Cyberspace. There's a lot going on
here, under the covers, that many of the netizens and cybernauts
don't consciously recognize. For instance, there are no artificial,
geo-political borders in Cyberspace. Everything is potentially
connected to everything. And, in much the same manner as the
philosophy espoused in Truth & Hope, Everyone is ultimately
connected to Everyone.
We are drawn to this technology that connects our physical
manifestations as separate human beings. I believe this is because
it reflects our real connection as spiritual beingsùa connection
that we have sublimated, for whatever reason, as part of our
human/material existence. In pursuing the activities facilitated
through this new-found Cyberty, we come that much closer to
recognizing our True Selves. We hardly need bureaucrats to tell us
how to do that.
Give me Cyberty or pass the bit bucket!
Democracy
Fearistocracy
Honor & Trust
Betrayal
Truth & Hope
[ First | Prev | Next | Index | Wander ]
[ First | Prev | Next | Index | Wander ]