Pandora’s Box
Herself had her radio on yesterday.
It was the usual waffle that RTE pumps out and I wasn’t really listening. I just caught snatches of conversation from time to time.
One little snippet caught my attention for a short while. There was some bloke on about the Interweb and how it should be treated as a public health hazard. He went so far as to say [and I quote] “it should be treated like alcohol and tobacco“. What? How?
I am reasonably familiar with the Interweb and have been working with it for almost forty years. Not only am I familiar with the immense power for good, I have also dipped occasionally into its murky side. Even more important I am quite familiar with the way the Interweb works. For example I can say quite categorically that it cannot be controlled.
Any restriction can be circumvented. As a simple example, Ireland has placed restrictions on several Torrent sites. I cannot access them. However if I switch over to a VPN and spoof the Interweb that I am connecting from any country of my choice, immediately all those sites become available.
There have also been attempts to censor the Interweb by filtering out certain words. One famous example was when the UK applied such a filter with a list of banned words and immediately ran into major problems with places like Scunthorpe. [Scunthorpe?].
I know there are major problems concerning young people watching shit online. There are countless porn sites, gambling sites, sites the promote anorexia and suicide but they fade into the background when it comes to anonymous trolling and cyber bullying on “social” media. It’s also a marvelous playground for pedophiles. The only way to regulate the web to eliminate those is to switch it off. Do that and all finance and commerce immediately grind to a halt. The world would go into a tailspin.
So that idiot with his “public health hazard” can dream on. He is just showing himself up as a Nanny with a Nanny’s wet dream of controlling everyone.
There is only one way to keep kids safe from the worst excesses of the Web – don’t allow them have access to any device that can connect.
Good luck with that!
We have been through this before following the invention of printing press and more recently mimeograph and similar. And always the call to ban them, only allowed under government control, etc. Oz magazine.
In fairness the bloke didn’t want to ban the Web, just apply the same treatment as tobacco or alcohol. Plain packaging on every website? A hefty tax on routers and modems? All computer screens hidden behind doors and screens?
It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that governments could ban VPN’s. I’m sure I read that one was threatening to do so recently (other than China, that is). ISP’s must know that you’re connecting through one, so a requirement that they block any attempt by private individuals to use one, would be tricky. I’m sure you can advise otherwise!
Theoretically that could be possible though it would be like trying to catch an ell with your bare hands. As soon as the ban one, another will pop up.
Ban VPN’s? How would anyone discriminate between business and personal use?
Back in the early 00’s I did jobs as field engineer on a couple of trial VPN projects, linking satellite offices to head office. Now VPN’s are so widespread that closing them all down would cause commercial chaos. They’re too damn useful.
And then we get to those monstrosities called blogs … terrible, frightening things.
Now there I have to agree. They do no end of damage to impressionable minds. Pure filth.
But very entertaining “filth”!
I have been to the Scunthorpe and understand the reticence of the internet to allow such places. I trust that hurricane Kathlene has not, as yet, blown your house into the sea.
Storm? Hurricane? Sure ’twas only a mild breeze. Barely fluttered the roof tiles.