internet

"Algorithms seem to me, at this point, the closest thing we have to demons." (Douglas Rushkoff) Douglas Rushkoff is a highly stimulating speaker with a comprehensive but original view of the problem of internet tyranny. He approaches it as a problem of monopolies and corporations in the context of economic growthism, which he argues is unsustainable and ultimately destroys companies because it costs them too much. He recommends long-term business models, which aim to support their participants. He notes that family businesses tend to do better and last longer because they have this model, rather than the growth model. In his lecture he is able to travel across several disciplines, back and forth, and to tie economics to society and soil degradation. He makes concrete and inventive recommendations. This is less about internet censorship than about the destruction of local markets and the sidelining of entire populations. Rushkoff is the author of multiple books, but in this video, he talks about a 2016 publication called, Throwing rocks at the google bus: How Growth Became the Enemy of Prosperity.

Russia is preparing itself to be disconnected from the World Wide Web. The Lower House of Parliament passed in the first reading a law ensuring the security of the Russian part of the internet. The bill envisions the ‘Runet’ – the Russian segment of the internet – being able to operate independently from the rest of the world in case of global malfunctions or deliberate internet disconnection. The measures to ensure internet stability include the creation of a national DNS system that stores all of the domain names and corresponding IP numbers. (Article first published at RT on 13 February 2019.)

Just as any new technology claims to offer the most advanced development; that their definition of progress will cure society’s ills or make life easier by eliminating the drudgery of antiquated appliances, the Wifi Alliance was organized as a worldwide wireless network to connect "everyone and everything, everywhere" as it promised "improvements to nearly every aspect of daily life."

The Alliance, which makes no pretense of potential health or environmental concerns, further proclaimed (and they may be correct) that there are "more wifi devices than people on earth". It is that inescapable exposure to ubiquitous wireless technologies wherein lies the problem.

Read more at: The Wifi Alliance, Coming Soon to Your Neighborhood: 5G Wireless (6/7/18) by Renee Parsons | Global Research

"Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon -- the most powerful broadband providers -- are trying to fundamentally change the way the Internet works. They're seeking to make even bigger profits by acting as gatekeepers over what we see and do online. If they succeed, the Internet would be more like radio and television: a few major corporations would control which voices are heard most easily, and it would be much harder for grassroots groups, individuals, and small businesses to compete with large corporations and well-funded special interests."

So Australia's Rudd Government proclaims that some internet content is "simply not suitable in a civilised society". Mmmm, smells of public communications consultant speak!

This latest Ruddism could possibly become the broadest claim of the 21st Century thus far. Could Rudd-speak imply control beyond banning child porn? Could it in fact imply that any website that dares to be critical of Rudd and Ruddism be instantly condemned to be 'not Rudd suitable' and so excommunicated by his holiness?

See also: ABC news 'Greenlight for internet filter plans' of 15 Dec 09, also Stop Internet Censorship! of 4 Dec 09,

What you can do: Attend an Anti-Internet Censorship meeting (see facebook). When: Monday 21 Dec 09, 7:30 PM; Where: Brisbane Square Library – Community Meeting Room

The Rudd government April 7th 2009 announcement of a plan to finance and construct a massive 'fibre-to-the-node' broadband network -- supplying service to 90% of Australian homes is a remarkable sea change in public policy. This article discusses the financing and timing of this proposal - and the PM's remark that it would ultimately be privatised. (Article by Tristan Ewins, originally published on leftfocus.blogspot.com on 7 Apr 09.)

"The case for re-nationalising Telstra" of 13 Jan 09 also by Tristan Ewins (also on Online Opinion), forum discussions "The broadband revolution" and "Monday Message Board" on johnquiggin.com, "Other projects will pay for hare-brained scheme" by Kenneth Davidson in the Age of 9 Apr 09, citizensagainstsellingtelstra.com.