In the momentum that’s building to a mid-term election—which pitifully few of us take seriously enough to even vote—it’s interesting to take a look at some things we take for granted.
We’d never, for instance, allow our government to require permission before allowing anyone to set up a web site.
We’re dangerously close to holding service providers responsible for their customers’ behavior on the net. Witness the sad case of the entertainment industry threatening university officials because of the file-sharing activities of students. This is more likely the death rattle of an industry too stubborn to evolve than a move toward government monitoring, but we have to remain vigilant.
Similarly, we don’t tolerate arrests for posting non-obscene material on the web. Nor does our government unilaterally shut down online political forums that contain information that is critical of the government.
Citizens of Vietnam, according to an Associated Press story, aren’t so lucky. Neither are the Chinese, whose government recently demanded that Internet cafe operators keep records of customer activity. In fact, if you’re Chinese and want to access the Internet, you have to register with the government.
The Internet, like libraries and individual conversation, is subversive. Repressive governments don’t much like that.
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