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November 25, 2008
Regulators Take Aim at Blogs
In moonbatty Washington State, regulators are setting their sights on the blogosphere:
State regulators are wondering whether online political activism amounts to lobbying, which could force Web-based activists to publicly detail their finances.
As in dictatorships, and as the Founding Fathers would be horrified to know, attempts to rally people for political causes are regulated by the government, thank you John McCain et al. Newspaper editorialists and radio commentators have been given exemptions, because they are considered part of the establishment. Whether bloggers get First Amendment rights too is still up for debate.
It may not be long before we have our own version of Jingjing and Chacha:
…when netizens visit all the main portals of Shenzhen city, Guangdong, they will see two cartoon figures "Jingjing" and "Chacha" (Jing Cha = Police). The image of Shenzhen Internet Police will officially be online. From now on, when netizens visit websites and web forums of Shenzhen, they will see these two cartoon police images floating on their screen. Our reporter learned that these are the images of Shenzhen Internet Police, presented by Internet Surveillance Division of Shenzhen Public Security Bureau, for the first time in China.
"The Internet police has existed for a long time. This time we publish the image of Internet Police in the form of a cartoon, the purpose is to let all internet users know that the Internet is not a place beyond of law, the Internet Police will maintain order in all online behaviors," said Director Chen of the Information Center, Internet Security and Surveillance division, of Shenzhen Public Security Bureau.
You have to wonder if Jingjing and Chacha are part of the Chicom infrastructure Chairman O so admires. Enjoy your favorite blogs while you can.
On tips from Kevin R.
Posted by Van Helsing at November 25, 2008 8:30 AM
Comments
this is freaky, van - this morning i went to a u.k. timesonline article and a little survey pop-up came up and as you know, they're looking to have little black boxes put on all internet devices to track the user's habits.
Posted by: nanc at November 25, 2008 8:43 AM
Nanc, I really hope you're kidding. I don't mind if people want to know where I surf and what I surf for, but to have an agency that oversees it? That's effin' scary. Welcome to 1984.
Pretty soon, the Chinese will be sending missionaries over here.
*shivers*
Posted by: Murff at November 25, 2008 11:48 AM
BIG BROTHER IS MONITORING YOU
Posted by: Spurwing Plover at November 25, 2008 12:31 PM
If you believe that all portions of the blogosphere will be equally affected, I have a few bridges for sale. Don't forget this is the same Washington State that wanted to fine radio hosts as unpermitted lobbyists for opposing light rail and other such boondoggles in Seattle. The radio and television personalities who were publicly *for* those things were not attacked.
Posted by: Bob Smith at November 25, 2008 1:43 PM
And so it begins...
Posted by: KHarn at November 25, 2008 3:46 PM
Posted by: Bob Smith at November 25, 2008 1:43 PM
That's right, I'd forgotten about that. The radio hosts had to take it to court and thank goodness they won. If they'd lost it would've been a precedent with horrific consequences. Amazing, isn't it? There are people that really and truly don't know what free speech is.
Posted by: Kevin R at November 25, 2008 5:08 PM
