New UK ISP Laws Effectively End Civil Liberties
As of today ISPs in the UK are required by law to monitor and record all internet traffic. This includes the websites you visit and all your email and IM conversations. You know, private stuff.
ISPs are required by law to hand over any and all of this information to the security services, police and most worryingly to your local council upon request. Quite apart for putting an intolerable strain on smaller independent ISPs this is a direct breach of our civil liberties.
This, along with other laws which restrict photography in public places are being pushed through under the imaginary umbrella of “The War on Terror”, but what it’s really about is protecting the stranglehold of and handful of media giants. How long will we continue to allow governments to strip us of our basic civil liberties in order to protect us from this imagined threat?
Wonder why you haven’t heard about this on the news? You’d think this would be front page stuff right? It’s funny how some stories seem to get buried isn’t it.
European Parliament members have already voted in favour of outlawing this kind of ISP disconnection policy. French MEP Guy Bono’s proposed bill on safeguarding cultural products, drafted in September, had made clear: “Criminalising consumers so as to combat digital piracy is not the right solution”
“The repressive measures are measures dictated by industries that have been unable to change their business models to meet the needs imposed by the information society. Switching off internet access is a powerful sanction which could have profound repercussions in a society where access to the internet is a mandatory law for social inclusion.”
So here’s how the new laws work:
First strike: Suspect is issued an email warning.
Second strike: Internet access contract is suspended.
Third Strike: Internet access contract is terminated and access is cut off.
Sounds fair right? Not really. So what is this really about? Is it about protecting us? Is it about protecting the profits of some very, very rich people? Or is it just another step towards a full police state? Let’s face it, we’re halfway there already.
Posted in Rants
April 6th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
In theory its not that much of a problem because they should only be able to request this information if you are a suspected terrorist
In practice they will (next step) monitor all this activity to identify you as a terrorist
So if you suddenly become intruiged as to how car bombs are actually made - you’ll probably one day end up in prison without trial
Paranoia is ace!
April 6th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Agreed. Although it’s not so much how they plan to use the information as the fact that they are able by law to collect this information in the first place, and the vast majority of people will either not know or care, or think it’s for their own good.
April 7th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Dude, we didn’t have any civil liberties anyway. Didn’t you get the email?
It’s always been the case that we are absolutely and completely fucked if the powers that be take a dislike to what we do for some reason. Harassment, beatings and unlawful shit like that has been around forever. It’s just a bit more obvious and called something different these days
April 10th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
A fast way to suspend your internet account without any fees
April 14th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
I’m sure your heart’s in the right place, but you really should consder getting someone to check your spelling and grammar before posting - this post is frankly embarrassing…
April 14th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
EPIC FAIL on the snide post about grammar, that ironically contains a grammatical mistake
April 14th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
And where might that be…?
April 15th, 2009 at 12:11 am
‘consder’, dum ass
April 15th, 2009 at 8:43 am
That’s a deliberate spelling mistake, not a grammatical error!
April 15th, 2009 at 9:00 am
Why does every internet debate always have to end with a grammar war and/or some reference to the third reich?
Won’t someone think of the children?
May 24th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
Interesting. thanks for the insights. I will add this to my favourites and come back to check out your updates. very cool