Posts Tagged ‘kingdom’

Censorship Backfires Again

Saturday, May 19th, 2012

It’s institutionalized buffoonery gone amok! The UK government decided to ban access to the massive file-sharing web site known as The Pirate Bay. As a result, the UK Pirate Party has seen their online rankings skyrocket by more than 100,000 spots.

The impressive jump comes as British law-makers, much like their counterparts from around the world, are bending over at the waist to serve powerful media giants. These old behemoth industries can’t reshape their business models fast enough to keep up with the ever increasing rate of progress so they use their clout to pass laws in a vain attempt to cripple the competition.

But here’s the kicker: the government’s blockade is so easily circumventable that it’s practically a joke. Anyone who has a basic understanding of the Internet (i.e. the majority of file-sharers affected by the ban) will quickly find out how to get around the censorship.

So movies and games will continue to flow freely and the media giants will go on viewing piracy as lost sales rather than a form of advertising. But now, thanks to idiotic policy at the highest levels, Pirate Party UK have been launched into the limelight and are cleared to follow in the footsteps of German’s Pirate Party, who’ve already secured 20 seats in parliament and are polling at 11%.

Awesome stuff. It shows humankind still has a fighting chance against the encroaching corporate dictatorship. Let freedom prevail!

Banning Public Marches, Blacking Out Internet

Monday, September 26th, 2011

The United Kingdom has banned public marches for a 30 day period. Oh well, it’s probably for the best given the upsurge of violent protests, right? Wrong!

It doesn’t matter that the bans are for a set period of time, or that they are localized to a few boroughs. Restricting the right to voice discontent, even for a single moment, in any place, is far too much!

The problem is the precedent the motion sets. The same mechanisms which ban public protests for a month can quite easily ban them indefinitely.

Sadly, the UK is not alone with their heavy handed approach to dealing with civil disobedience. In New York, many activists from the Occupy Wall St. movement found their cell phone service cut, reminiscent of the BART blackout that happened a few months ago in San Fransisco.

In the US, UK, and elsewhere, these sweeping restrictions in response to minor uprisings should not go unchallenged. Fight to stop them from taking away your civil liberties, because you will most certainly have to fight to get them back.

Be outraged! Don’t shirk your responsibility – speak out against the consistent expansion of police powers. Let your voice be heard about these and any injustices you see!