[C8]

Here is an article of a bill that looks to be signed into law that makes it much easier for the government to force any website to give up member information.

Per The Daily Beast:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... -cisa.html

If at first a controversial cybersecurity bill fails, remove one letter from its title and try again.

On Tuesday the Senate passed the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act. CISA would force websites and tech firms to share user information with the government, so long as that information fits an astonishingly vague description of a “cyber threat.”

If this sounds like a bill Americans have protested and killed several times over the last half-decade, it’s because it is.

The newly successful CISA is recycled from a less-popular model. Its look-alike, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), offered nearly identical immunities for companies that share information with the government. But unlike CISPA, which was abandoned after loud condemnation from activists and an unofficial veto from the president, CISA is gaining momentum.

CISPA originated in the House of Representatives, but failed in the Democrat-majority Senate in 2013. CISA, which originated and passed in the Senate, is expected to cruise to approval in the House.

A veto, like the one President Barack Obama threatened for CISPA if it came to his desk in 2013, is also unlikely. The White House expressed its support for CISA earlier this year.

There are a number of other articles I have read the past 2 months which are pointing in the direction that websites which allow quotes (such as I have from above) or even links (aggregators) may be taken down for copywrite infringement. Courts are drifting towards a highly legalistic web that only sites which have deep pockets and lots of lawyers can survive in.

Also more websites (such as the Daily Beast) are eliminating comments sections where readers can post information disputing the claim of an article (this is done under the pretext of shutting down racist, sexist speech or some other PC speech code)

All in all the government is poised to move into the internet in a much bigger way and develop more ways to shut down speech a powerful group doesn't want.

It should be noted that gag orders would prevent websites (like PeakOIl.com) from notifying you that you are under investigation and info has been shared about you.

Overall, it appears the free wheeling days of open speech on the internet are numbered.

Control of communication is critical to authoritarian governments.

Its been fun while it lasted

[Lore]

Gee, I don't know, it's a matter of how many bodies freedom is willing to sacrifice at the alter.

[Keith_McClary]

Remember LAVABIT ?

[Ibon]

I always get a kick out of these claims that the government is controlling the internet when we all allowed ourselves to so easily be subjugated by the internet in the way it increasingly substitutes organic life.

Carry on.

[Keith_McClary]

I always get a kick out of these claims that the government is controlling the internet when we all allowed ourselves to so easily be subjugated by the internet in the way it increasingly substitutes organic life.

Carry on.

Why would you think that the internet is not also subjugating the government idiots?

[davep]

I always get a kick out of these claims that the government is controlling the internet when we all allowed ourselves to so easily be subjugated by the internet in the way it increasingly substitutes organic life.

Carry on.

They're totally separate phenomena. We were once all more or less addicted to TV, but the Govt didn't add listening devices or cameras to them.

[SeaGypsy]

Orwell ducked out in failing to forsee smart phones. What a big brother vunderbug is that thing ffs?!? I wish we could resurrect him, I really do.

[Gsearch]

The internet is not just more controlled, it's more shittier. The internet was way, way better 10 years ago. It was faster, there were less advertisements, much more aesthetically pleasing and convenient web design, which was simpler and relied less on java apps and such.

America has dropped beyond third world level internet, due to government regulation. Go to countries that are freer and more prosperous than we are, such as Thailand or Somalia, and be amazed at the affordable and excellent selection of internet and cell phone coverage, and the beauty and simplicity of local websites. It is even rumored thst North Korea at least has faster, less expensive internet than America.

[MD]

The best years were between late 90s and early oughts when so much high level content was freely available. Most valuable content now resides behind paywalls, or completely restricted to authorized users only.

Beyond that the giants have taken over. Yes there is an outside chance that another entrepreneur will emerge with something truly unique, but it's much more likely that new innovations will be swept up so quickly that the odds of success have become minuscule.

Look to the automotive industry of the early 1900s for comparison. Thousands of car builders were reduced to a Big Three leaving only a very few very small niches available to the independent minded.

A next Facebook? Probably not.

[fleance]

The saying is true history repeat by itself. When CISA was veto now here it goes with another cyber bill.

[dolanbaker]

.. and more supervised!

Surveillance bill includes internet records storage
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34715872

Internet firms will have to store data on what people access online for a year, under new surveillance law plans.

At the same time, ministers are proposing senior judges will have unprecedented powers to block operations to intercept communications.

The draft Investigatory Powers Bill aims to completely overhaul how police and security agencies use covert powers to detect and stop crime.

Home Secretary Theresa May is now unveiling the plans in the Commons.
The large and complex bill also contains proposals covering how the state can hack devices and run operations to sweep up large amounts of data as it flows through the internet, enshrining in law the previously covert activities of GCHQ, as uncovered by whistleblower Edward Snowden.




Mrs May told MPs the draft bill was a "significant departure" from previous plans, dubbed the "snooper's charter" by critics, which were blocked by the Lib Dems, and it was needed to help fight serious crime and terrorism.

It will "provide some of the strongest protections and safeguards anywhere in the democratic world and an approach that sets new standards for openness, transparency and oversight," the home secretary told MPs.

The legislation brings together a variety of existing powers that cover how the home secretary and other ministers can authorise operations to intercept communications - such as telephone taps and other surveillance

[davep]

Mrs May told MPs the draft bill was a "significant departure" from previous plans, dubbed the "snooper's charter" by critics, which were blocked by the Lib Dems, and it was needed to help fight serious crime and terrorism.

This is actually totally untrue. It provided more technical details, that's all. There is no judicial oversight, just judicial assurance that administrative procedures were followed. So it's a dragnet with no oversight for either collection or use.

[JV153]

I don't know about controlled.. but there's these things called HTTP cookies that web sites place on your computer. You can think of it as a coat check token. Adobe Flash player has it's own special set of cookies, etc.

[davep]

I make the Flash plugin in Firefox "Ask to Activate" and use the "BetterPrivacy" extension to destroy Flash "super-cookies". Also, uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, Disconnect, NoScript and HTTPS Everywhere help ensure I don't get tracking cookies or ads (along with other security features). I also block all cookies except for sites specifically whitelisted.

NoScript needs tweaking though, and I wouldn't recommend it for most non-technical people.

[onlooker]

With the revelations of Snowden it is obvious that at least the US govt. has implemented a vast and deeply probing monitoring and surveillance of electronic communication and traffic. On the other hand, people such as us who CAN be discriminating somewhat about what constitutes facts as opposed to canards or fabricated/spurrios information can at least uncover some true aspects of the world we live in. Outside the Internet it is useless to find truly objective content, as someone is ultimately beholden to someone else and the costs are prohibitive for TV and even Radio/Newspapers. The internet simply affords an abundance of information not easily organized, collated or sorted. It is up to the user to discover true facts and information. This applies to a wide spectrum of online activities from shopping, to interactions with others, to investigations of different subjects.

[Keith_McClary]

[JV153]

Courts are drifting towards a highly legalistic web that only sites which have deep pockets and lots of lawyers can survive in.

Overall, it appears the free wheeling days of open speech on the internet are numbered.

Control of communication is critical to authoritarian governments.

Its been fun while it lasted

They're cutting down on commenting which is a good thing - most of it is barely readable. But not to worry - there's just too much bit traffic for the authorities to sift through - and if they did that would be quite a waste of computing resources to do so.. we live in an age of waste (via huge amounts of burned fossil fuels) so this fits the pattern. Lots of cops in the donut shop.

[onlooker]

Yes and as the age of Oil/waste runs down they will have better more efficient uses for scarce energy than monitoring us plebes on the Net.

[DesuMaiden]

No surprise. I've know for quiet a while that the Internet is heavily monitored and controlled. I will give you a recent example:

I recently purchased a game called Valkyria Chronicles. I googled the game's name after purchasing it, and shockingly, Google was able to know about the fact that I recently purchased that game. TPTB know almost everything you do these days electronically, so Internet privacy and anonymity is kinda an oxymoron, because it is impossible to achieve.

Even if you take the most extreme measures to stay anonymous online, the government can still discover your real identity if they wanted to do so.