See other Dead Constitution Articles
Title: Bloggers Who Criticize Government May Face Prison
Source:
infowars
URL Source: http://infowars.net/articles/january2007/180107Bloggers_Prison.htm
Published: Jan 19, 2007
Author: Steve Watson
Post Date: 2007-01-19 12:54:43 by Nostalgia
Keywords: None
Views: 108
Comments: 6
You'd be forgiven for thinking that it was some new restriction on free speech in Communist China. But it isn't. The U.S. Government wants to force bloggers and online grassroots activists to register and regularly report their activities to Congress in the latest astounding attack on the internet and the First Amendment. Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of http://GrassrootsFreedom.com, a website dedicated to fighting efforts to silence grassroots movements, states: "Section 220 of S. 1, the lobbying reform bill currently before the Senate, would require grassroots causes, even bloggers, who communicate to 500 or more members of the public on policy matters, to register and report quarterly to Congress the same as the big K Street lobbyists. Section 220 would amend existing lobbying reporting law by creating the most expansive intrusion on First Amendment rights ever. For the first time in history, critics of Congress will need to register and report with Congress itself." In other words Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats may redefine the meaning of lobbying in order that political communications to and even between citizens falls under the same legislation. Under current law any 'lobbyist" who 'knowingly and willingly fails to file or report." quarterly to the government faces criminal charges including a possible jail term of up to one year. The amendment is currently on hold. This latest attack on bloggers comes hot on the heels of Republican Senator John McCain's proposal to introduce legislation that would fine blogs up to $300,000 for offensive statements, photos and videos posted by visitors on comment boards. McCain's proposal is presented under the banner of saving children from sexual predators and encourages informants to shop website owners to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, who then pass the information on to the relevant police authorities. Despite a total lack of any evidence that children are being victimized en mass by bloggers or people who leave comments on blog sites, it seems likely that the proposal will become legislation in some form. It is well known that McCain has a distaste for his blogosphere critics, causing a definite conflict of interest where any proposal to restrict blogs on his part is concerned. In recent months, a chorus of propaganda intended to demonize the Internet and further lead it down a path of strict control has spewed forth from numerous establishment organs: During an appearance with his wife Barbara on Fox News last November, George Bush senior slammed Internet bloggers for creating an "adversarial and ugly climate." - The White House's own recently de-classified strategy for "winning the war on terror" targets Internet conspiracy theories as a recruiting ground for terrorists and threatens to "diminish" their influence. - The Pentagon recently announced its effort to infiltrate the Internet and propagandize for the war on terror. - In a speech last month, Homeland Security director Michael Chertoff identified the web as a "terror training camp," through which "disaffected people living in the United States" are developing "radical ideologies and potentially violent skills." Chertoff pledged to dispatch Homeland Security agents to local police departments in order to aid in the apprehension of domestic terrorists who use the Internet as a political tool. - A landmark legal case on behalf of the Recording Industry Association of America and other global trade organizations seeks to criminalize all Internet file sharing of any kind as copyright infringement, effectively shutting down the world wide web - and their argument is supported by the U.S. government. - A landmark legal ruling in Sydney goes further than ever before in setting the trap door for the destruction of the Internet as we know it and the end of alternative news websites and blogs by creating the precedent that simply linking to other websites is breach of copyright and piracy. - The European Union, led by former Stalinist and potential future British Prime Minister John Reid, has also vowed to shut down "terrorists" who use the Internet to spread propaganda. - The EU also recently proposed legislation that would prevent users from uploading any form of video without a license. - We have also previously exposed how moves are afoot to clamp down on internet neutrality and even to designate a highly restricted new form of the internet known as Internet 2. Make no mistake, the internet, one of the greatest outposts of free speech ever created is under constant attack by powerful people who cannot operate within a society where information flows freely and unhindered. All these moves mimic stories we hear every week out of State Controlled Communist China, where the internet is strictly regulated and virtually exists as its own entity away from the rest of the web. The phrases "Chinese government" and "Mao Zedong" have even been censored on China's official Web sites because they are "Sensitive phrases". Are we to allow our supposedly Democratic governments to implement the same type of restrictive policies here? Under section 220 of the lobbying reform bill, http://Infowars.net could be required to seek a license in order to bring this information to you. IF we were granted a license we would then have to report our activities to the government four times per year in order to bring you this information. Does that sound more like free speech or more like totalitarianism?
Want to start your own blog or website, get the word out and support Alex Jones? http://Infowars.net offers high-quality webhosting services at very competitive prices, and most importantly, with http://infowars.net, privacy is paramount! We don't sell the names of our customers to marketing firms or the government. Click here for more info.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Nostalgia, *you gotta be shitting me* (#0)
and who would be the determiner of what is "offensive?"
The SPLC neo-blogger control team !
"They say Justice is blind and I agree ... so much so that she hasn't found her way into a courtroom since 1938" noone222 12-17-06
This crap should never see the law books. But if it does, everyone and anyone who wants to join in doing it should continue doing as they are doing and challenge them to find all the jail space and money for procecution to shut the First Amendment down. I certainly am not impressed by anyone trying to intimidate me into silence. And I would rather be in jail or dead rather then to shut up merely because I'm bullied by thugs.
That's the spirit !!! Fuck em. The tree of liberty must be watered by the blood of patriots and tyrants occasionally, and now is as good a time as any.
"They say Justice is blind and I agree ... so much so that she hasn't found her way into a courtroom since 1938" noone222 12-17-06
I'll go a step further. THIS liberty tree is dead. Tear it out by the roots and plant a new one. [let the reader understand]
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act - - George Orwell Boo!
The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws. – Tacitus
This latest attack on bloggers comes hot on the heels of Republican Senator John McCain's proposal to introduce legislation that would fine blogs up to $300,000 for offensive statements, photos and videos posted by visitors on comment boards.
#2. To: christine (#1)
and who would be the determiner of what is "offensive?"
#3. To: christine (#1)
#4. To: Ferret Mike (#3)
And I would rather be in jail or dead rather then to shut up merely because I'm bullied by thugs.
#5. To: noone222, ferret mike (#4)
The tree of liberty must be watered by the blood of patriots and tyrants occasionally
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
In a CorporoFascist capitalist society, there is no money in peace, freedom, or a healthy population, and therefore, no incentive to achieve these - - IndieTX
#6. To: Nostalgia (#0)
During an appearance with his wife Barbara on Fox News last November, George Bush senior slammed Internet bloggers for creating an "adversarial and ugly climate."
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest