USA to foreign net censorship?

[Owen Blacker]

Sorry for posting the text, not a URI, especially given it's off-topic, but
this may be of interest to some.

> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> To: "MT (gbnet)" <mark-thomas@gbnet.net>
> Date: Fri, 4 Oct 2002 01:08:05 +0100
> Delivery-date: Fri, 04 Oct 2002 01:18:50 +0100
> Subject: [mt] USA will outlaw foreign net censorship!?!
>
>
> By Lisa M. Bowman
> Staff Writer CNET News.com
> October 3, 2002, 11:34 AM PT
>
> A new bill designed to fight foreign Web censorship has been
> introduced in Congress.
>
> The legislation, unveiled Wednesday by Rep. Chris Cox, R-Ca., would
> create an Office of Global Internet Freedom charged with fighting
> Internet blocking and helping Web users in countries such as China and
> Syria get around censorship efforts and avoid punishment. The bill
> also would allocate $50 million each year over the next two years to
> develop and promote anti-blocking technology.
>
> "Just as past governments have banned pamphlets, jammed radios and
> committed their gravest atrocities out of the range of TV cameras,
> many governments are attempting to restrict an individual's freedom to
> receive and exchange information by blocking the Internet," Cox said
> in a statement.
>
> The bill, designed to counter authoritarian governments' efforts to
> block their citizens from the Internet, would provide technological
> means to circumvent censorship tools. The legislation's policy
> statement specifically mentions software, including SafeWeb's Triangle
> Boy, Peek-a-Booty and DynaWeb, and peer-to-peer network Freenet-China.
>
> The bill also would require the submission of a United Nations
> resolution condemning countries that censor the Web and would require
> an annual report on nations that abuse Web freedoms.
>
> Access to foreign Internet sites has exposed citizens of countries
> with restrictive governments to a wide range of news and material they
> were unable to read otherwise. As a result, countries such as China
> and North Korea have stepped up their censorship efforts.
>
> For example, Chinese officials recently arrested a writer who posted
> information about that country's problems on U.S.-based Web pages, and
> China's government blocked access to Google and AltaVista last month.
> Although the amount of money allocated to anti-censorship tools is
> relatively small, it could spark a proliferation of products designed
> to circumvent filters both abroad and in the United States.
>
> As a result, the bill could create an unintended clash between U.S.
> efforts to protect children from inappropriate material and attempts
> to thwart foreign governments from blocking citizen Web access. For
> example, federal law in the United States currently requires schools
> to filter content or lose federal funding, but some of the
> anti-censorship technology could help children get around the
> blocking.
>
> But that debate will likely be put off until next year, if it occurs
> at all. In the final days of a session, before congressmen return home
> and turn their efforts to election season, many congressmen introduce
> bills that cover issues important to the lawmakers and to their
> constituents--even if they aren't likely to get a hearing. The
> lawmakers are essentially previewing issues they plan resurrect next
> year.
>
> A similar anti-censorship technology bill is expected in the Senate.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                   The Mark Thomas Mailing List                     |
|To unsubscribe send mail to <Majordomo@gbnet.net> with the following|
|command in the body of the email message: 'unsubscribe mark-thomas'.|
|Should you have any queries contact <owner-mark-thomas@gbnet.net>   |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

_____________________________________________________________________
This e-mail has been scanned for viruses by MessageLabs.