Jesse Kline on current threats to Internet freedom: The stat

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Jesse Kline on current threats to Internet freedom: The statists strike back

Jesse Kline Mar 6, 2012 – 9:00 AM ET | Last Updated: Mar 6, 2012 9:35 AM ET
The modern Internet is a product of the Cold War: Following the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, the U.S. military built a decentralized computer network that could continue to operate in the event of a nuclear attack. Where previous networks relied on a central server to facilitate the transfer of information, what came to be known as the Internet was decentralized, so that communication could continue even if a large part of the network was destroyed. The result was a communications medium that, to this day, is largely free from government censorship.

But that may change — unless those of us who treasure our online freedoms stand up to government efforts to monitor and even control our key strokes and page views.

The first major attempt by the U.S. government to enforce state control over the Internet came in the form of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Part of the Act, which was later struck down on First Amendment grounds, contained decency and obscenity standards, similar to those imposed on broadcast television stations — essentially making it a crime to swear online.................http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/201 ... rike-back/