There is no doubt in my mind that, before I die, there will be huge reforms to the Internet made by our government to help watch people as they commit cyber crimes. These may range from seducing teenage girls as a middle-aged man, or downloading copyrited songs as a teenage girl.

The  short question is: What do you think about our Government and their meddling in Internet Affairs?

-------
"I don't see any god up here." - Yuri Garagin aboard the Vostok 1

I don't wish to let them glance over my countless volumes of pornography.

-------
I dream not to be a Super Hero, but a Super Villain.
Then will I unite the world, where other Heroes have failed.
   -Eric D. Chandler

But yeah, the gov. should definitely stay away. I will be somewhat surprised (but not blown away) if the U.S. makes a move as bold as Australia did. But if it came to that, I think the internet subculture would initiate rapeage. Just seeing how the guys at 4chan messed with Time Online makes me think that. Plus, Australia's censor has already received some fairly heavy criticism for blocking-off sites questionably, and its been verified that China is blocking off websites critical of the government and what-not. So with that, I think it'd be extremely hard to impose censorship/regulation more intricately in the U.S. than already has been.

Besides, there have been rumors that the government is paying-off ISPs for web-browsing information of specific people (probably all) in the interest of "homeland security." As long as they could (and believe me, they very much can) conduct this behind-the-scenes investigation without arousing public suspicion, they probably won't perceive the need to implement a filter.

-------
This is how we bleed in audio.

What would trigger its implementation is the question I'm interested in. If they just decided to censor the internet one day everyone would go WTFBBQ and public pressure would cause the them to abandon it. Of course they are aware of this so if they really do want to censor the web they'll need a reason. A real, destructive war would be the easiest excuse. Cyber terrorism, economic meltdown and the subsequent regulation surge are other possible reasons. Could be anything.

Post edited at 10:44 pm on July 10, 2009 by InsaneBlue

-------
The man who once was but never has been.

Click Me

This is one form of what the government wants to do to the internet, to censor it from any public opinion that they do not like.

The reason Internet Piracy is patrolled and regulated so much is that there is money to be made from Copyright infringement. How many torrent sites or warez forums or warez sites in general have you seen that have been sued or someone has taken legal action against? Alot i bet, I can name a few of them off the top of my head; The Pirate Bay, Btjunkie, Torrentbox, Mininova and way more. These are websites that share movies and videos with people to watch for free.

How many carding forums have you heard of being sued? None.
I can't even name one of the top of my head. Carding forums are designed for people to trade stolen credit card information and peoples full identities for as little as $8. I have seen it with my own eyes, I can buy a credit card and full identity for UK, USA, AUS, NZ, EUROPE and alot more places for about $8. I have never seen one of these forums being sued or even any legal hassle with them. The reason for that is because there is not much money to be made from suing them, not as much as suing someone for copyright infringement anyway.

Personally, I wouldn't label piracy as cyber crime. Have you ever seen the dvd documentary produced by the RIAA that is sent to people who are caught pirating the first time? The whole thing is a joke, I suggest you download it like i did. In the documentary they claim that if you see anyone that has a spindle of CD-Rs or DVD-Rs you should report them to the authorities because they may be illegally pirating music/movies. They also claim that people pirating movies/music are closely related to terrorist & drug networks and that they more than likely possess a firearm. I am not even making any of this up, They seriously say this on the documentary.

Again, I wouldn't even label piracy as cyber crime because of the pettiness of it. There is much worse cyber crime which is simply ignored, cyber crime such as; Credit Card Fraud/Theft, Child pornography networks and website defacement.  


-------
FREE LOCKERZ.COM INVITES - 100% FREE

For instance, I think the music industry will make majority of it's money from concerts. The movie industry will make most of it's money from people seeing them in the future.

I just think they'd be better off adapting rather than fighting in this case.

-------
  Here force failed my high fantasy; but my
desire and will were moved already-like
a wheel revolving uniformly-by
  the love that moves the sun and the other stars.

---

I would definitely download a car, if that shit worked.

But yeah, the gov. should definitely stay away. I will be somewhat surprised (but not blown away) if the U.S. makes a move as bold as Australia did. But if it came to that, I think the internet subculture would initiate rapeage. Just seeing how the guys at 4chan messed with Time Online makes me think that. Plus, Australia's censor has already received some fairly heavy criticism for blocking-off sites questionably, and its been verified that China is blocking off websites critical of the government and what-not. So with that, I think it'd be extremely hard to impose censorship/regulation more intricately in the U.S. than already has been.

Besides, there have been rumors that the government is paying-off ISPs for web-browsing information of specific people (probably all) in the interest of "homeland security." As long as they could (and believe me, they very much can) conduct this behind-the-scenes investigation without arousing public suspicion, they probably won't perceive the need to implement a filter.

---

^ This. I'd download a car if it were possible/untraceable. Record companies/musicians should just get involved with the ISPs themselves, so they can make royalties, possibly in conjunction with the actual service fees, without charging $.99 a fucking song. Kiss my ass, Bono. You, too, Metallica.

-------
Spicy Pidgeon

Now you may be poor folk who can't afford to pay real money for the things you want, but that ain't my problem.  I actually have to save, and I have to save longer because of dead beat criminals who steal my money.

Idiots.  I hope some day they start a business, and it gets robbed.. then they have to pay back all those business loans by working for minimum wage.  

-------
I've got spurs that jingle jangle jingle.
As I go riding merrily along.
And they sing, "Oh, ain't you glad you're single?"
And that song ain't so very far from wrong.

---

There is not the slightest doubt in my mind that the government isn't already watching us on the interent. It seems rather odd to me that we have satellites that can see anyone, anywhere, at anytime, but we can't find criminals/wanted people. If we're not catching them, I'm sure even if the government is watching us on the internet, they wont do anything about that either.

---

The government may be monitoring the internet [in whatever possible way they can, the internet isn't really all that simple to "monitor"] for key words and key ideas and shit. But they sure as hell aren't watching you, unless you are doing something pretty freaking bad, in which case I'm glad they are.

-------
Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful.It's the transition
that's troublesome.   --Isaac Asimov

---

I don't know if gov't should step in heavily to piracy, but people who do pirate upset me. I work in an industry that loses many, many, many millions (possibly billions) to pirates. That directly influences me and the amount of effort:pay I get.

Now you may be poor folk who can't afford to pay real money for the things you want, but that ain't my problem. I actually have to save, and I have to save longer because of dead beat criminals who steal my money.

Idiots. I hope some day they start a business, and it gets robbed.. then they have to pay back all those business loans by working for minimum wage.

---

Piracy does deprive you of money, but not in a way that is analogous to robbery.

-------
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

---

Quote: from sakurag at 12:39 pm on July 23, 2009

---

I don't know if gov't should step in heavily to piracy, but people who do pirate upset me. I work in an industry that loses many, many, many millions (possibly billions) to pirates. That directly influences me and the amount of effort:pay I get.

Now you may be poor folk who can't afford to pay real money for the things you want, but that ain't my problem. I actually have to save, and I have to save longer because of dead beat criminals who steal my money.

Idiots. I hope some day they start a business, and it gets robbed.. then they have to pay back all those business loans by working for minimum wage.

---

 

Piracy does deprive you of money, but not in a way that is analogous to robbery.

---

I wish you would elaborate on this, as (other than breaking into the record producer's homes and physically taking the money), how is this not robbery? We are downloading music files that usually cost a small fee ($.99 is too much? Really?) for free, and essentially keeping money out of their pockets. How is this not akin to robbery?

I do not agree with the government completely monitoring our activity, as this is a violation of the 4th Amendment. However, I certainly do not think it is a capital offense for companies to want to protect their rights as copyright holders.

Post edited at 11:19 am on Aug. 10, 2009 by RodiaRaskolnikov

-------
a deafening silence
rings on in my heart.

Second: Do you know how much it costs to buy an entire library. I have probably around 3000 songs on my ipod right now. I've got tons more on my comp, but lets assume that I only bought the one's I have on the ipod. That would mean $2970, if you ask me, that is stealing.  Sure, they offer discounts and stuff, but to think I could get a library for under 2500 bucks...it is hard to imagine.

The only people I sympathize with are the artists themselves. But it is the record companies that own their name that are screwing them out of money, not us.

-------
Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful.It's the transition
that's troublesome.   --Isaac Asimov

---

I wish you would elaborate on this, as (other than breaking into the record producer's homes and physically taking the money), how is this not robbery? We are downloading music files that usually cost a small fee ($.99 is too much? Really?) for free, and essentially keeping money out of their pockets. How is this not akin to robbery?

---

Simply put, if you rob a store, you are removing from them the goods in question. They lose the ability to sell that item. Since they had to pay to get the item into their store, they just lost money.

With piracy, you are merely copying the information. You deprive the owner of your business, but you don't actually take money out of their pocket, or impact their ability to sell. While not paying for the product is wrong, the only other thing you're stealing from them is magical potential-dollars that you might have spent on the product in a legitimate transaction.

-------
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"