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S$18 million and this still happens?

Irrepressible.info

Amnesty International has launched a new campaign, Irrepressible.info, that will bring together all their campaigns about the repression of the internet and the jailing of net dissidents. It will focus on both the role of governments as well as corporations on repression of the internet.

"... the internet itself can become a tool of repression where the monitoring of communications, the censoring and filtering of information and the amassing of immense databanks of information enhance the ability of authoritarian governments to restrict the freedoms and basic human rights of their citizens. Such national restrictions can affect not just those living within that country but anyone who  seeks to impart or receive information in relation to that country." The Internet And Freedom Of Expression: A New Frontier For Human Rights? [pdf]

"... there is a real danger of there being ‘two internets’– one that is an arena for the free and peaceful exchange of ideas, and another thatis a tool for political oppression. It is a danger that threatens to undermine the very principleon which the internet was founded." Irrepressible Information [pdf]

Is yeochoewtong.com that powerful?

www.yeocheowtong.com is taking credit for the retirement of its namesake from the cabinet in Singapore. There is a discussion going on at the moment on Sammyboy's Alfresco Coffee Shop about this matter.

The rationale is that since www.yeocheowtong.com has served up much 'dirt' on Cheow Tong [back story], it has forced the hand of PAP through the power of the Internet.

"Is yeocheowtong.com that powerful? Not even the PAP can overcome the power of the Internet."

Let try and answer that.

The rationale is that since PAP leaders have often made said that if the one's reputation has been sullied by another, then its imperative that one must sue for defamation.

"When I call a man openly, you're a liar, you're dishonest, and you do not dare to sue me, there's something basically wrong." MM Lee [ref]

MM Lee said this recently in reference to the James Gomez affair. MM Lee called Gomez a liar and accused him of being dishonest. The argument is that Gomez should take MM Lee to court to clear his name and redeem his reputation. Should Gomez not do so, the logical inference would be that MM Lee was correct about Gomez and that he was a liar and dishonest. 

Network Neutrality - Why it matters.

"The Internet is increasingly becoming the dominant medium binding us. The neutral communications medium is essential to our society. It is the basis of a fair competitive market economy. It is the basis of democracy, by which a community should decide what to do. Let us protect the neutrality of the net.” Neutrality of the Net, Tim Berners-Lee

There is a rather important battle brewing at the moment over in the United States over the Internet.

I think its rather important that we educate ourselves on what is happening even though we might not be in the US. What is at stake here will eventually go beyond  geographical boundaries. What is at stake here is the very notion of the Internet, the very nature of the Internet.

When talking to students about Network Neutrality, it strikes me at the number of blind spots we have, probably as the Internet and it practises has become ordinary and everyday for so many of us. There is no much that we have taken for granted that the possibilty of it being taken away is hard to conceptualise.

For more information, please read the FAQ at save the internet.com

Available here