We had a hand litographed

We had a hand litographed news sheet, published for our school of about 300, by our Grade 11 class in Hungary, in 1943-44.

We had to submit every word to the fascist government censors of the day, who often cut out large chunks from the writings of 16-17 year old boys, in the interest of "national interests and the preservation of freedom".

2 years later it was the communists who were doing the same thing, also in the interests of "freedom".

Now it is the time for their capitalist brethren to enforce their collectivization and colonization plans, once again, in the interests of the "preservation of freedom".

"Human rights and freedom", under every ideology, are always the same predators ruling under different coloured flags, enforcing the rule of the "convenience of the day"

Ed Deak.

police state here and now

sadly this snoop technology and activity is already widespread in amerika with tentacles extending into kanada. along with that will come microchipping everybody or having iris scan profiles. it's a brave new world!

Be Ye Worried.

This has all been coming on for awhile of course, as part of the drift Right within capitalism since the early 80s, and has been given additional impetus with the security concerns that arose with our joining the Empire in Afghanistan. (Their enemies are now ours, by invite.) But the point is, since Reagan and Thatcher, and Harris and Bennett Jr. in this country, the trend-line was there already, before 9/11 and our Afghanistan involvement.

And the "tone" of the Right of recent days, especially coming out of some elements of the Tea Party in the US, but also here... some of which we catch even here on Tyee... is more and more hysterically fascist style Right. It, in the direction of fascism, in my observation of its evolution, is the development course capitalism is on, as it becomes increasingly economically dysfunctional. Which drives the capitalist State and the Big Corporations especially, though some of the "small business" mentality as well, into an ever closer and more intimate bonding embrace of shared mutual interest and concern.

And when and as, in due course, this elicits a popular counter reaction from the citizenry, the pace is likely to quicken. (We are currently still in the preliminary phase of trade unions, poverty and students groups, environmentalists etc attempting to work with capitalism and its State, and to make workable compromises with them. Eventually, this effort will be forced by reality to an end. Today, for example, Food Banks are in Ottawa reporting a huge increase in Food Bank reliance, by a jump of 1/3, which they say is destined to grow and is unsustainable much longer.)

In any case, fascism is on the move, and behaving increasingly emboldened, in the absence of an effective, coherent and aggressive countering response from working class, student and broader citizen organizations.

Be ye worried. If you are not, you don't know what the fuck is going on, and are fooling yourself.

Big Brother Stephen

Thank you Michael for this 'heads-up'. This government is very connected with the 'American Fear Agenda'. The Canadian manifestation is so ominously insidious that the new rules, if passed, would not allow your ISP to notify you that you are being watched. If you believe in democracy then let those bums know that this whole concept is totally un-Canadian and will not be accepted.

PS. The importance of capitalization in understanding sentences:
Robert is helping Uncle Jack off his horse; or, robert is helping uncle jack off his horse. I had to leave you with a smile! Talon

Be ye not worried, be ye prepared.

Those that need to defeat the spying attempts of the current king won't find it too difficult.

Name, address, phone number, email address and Internet protocol address, those can become outdated in a nanosecond.

Seems to work for Osama.

Ready, Aye Ready...

"Be ye not worried, be ye prepared."

Which, I will concede, is actually probably more appropriate.

Privacy aside, a waste of time and money?

The problem I see with mandating ISPs to provide such monitoring, especially in the case of deep packet inspection (actually reading the contents of what is being sent, as oppose to just observing between whom the information is being exchanged) is that any reasonably web-savvy individual would simply insure they were using an encrypted connection (i.e. https, ssh) or a anonymizing network like Tor.

Sure there are plenty of stupid criminals who could probably be caught, but if they are that stupid I'm sure law enforcement could find another way to nail them without asking so much of ISPs. In the case of those criminals who have opted to encrypt their communications not any amount of warrants, injunctions, or court-orders is going to decrypt that data, it simply can't be done.

So unless lawmakers are going to start regulating against the use of encryption this seems like an extremely unnecessary incursion into individuals privacy and the operations of the ISPs with very little potential gain in our ability to fight truly elusive cyber criminals.

People in authority already

People in authority already have easy access to peoples private lives. 1) If you have a bank account, past or present you are on file. 2) If you have a credit/debit card they can track and back track your spending and what you purchase. The trouble is that with this information it can be altered to anyones way of thinking and an individual has no recourse in correcting mistakes or misinformation.

Big Brother

Hello from Alaska, fellow Northerners.
It would appear Canada is busy trying to outright "out right" the D.C. Corporate Cartel and achieve parity with the Beijing Bunch via the mainline express route.
We are all in a peril so insidious and pervasive these days and I'm not talking the advertised poster child terrorism, rather the squeeze of oppression of those who would presume to be protectors.
Not having heard nor flown by jet lately, could a reader or two advise me of any signs of Canada's emulation of our now obscene security checks at airports these days?
Any signs of formerly unemployed, mainly overweight middle-aged professional gropers and peeping toms in TSA type uniforms on your fair horizons?
We both seem to be subject to cowing and herding as of late and I'm hearing some of the moos becoming a bit more strident and perhaps even morphing into bellows of outrage.
Let us hope so because governments do not know, nor do they want to be advised of how far is too far.
This is our job, my fellows.

Why are you worried?

There is no need for any law abiding citizens to be concerned here. The only people threatened by this legislation are terrorists and pedophilies.

Frankly, I believe it's likely that anyone who criticizes this legislation probably DOES have something to hide, and should be throughly investigated.

Suggesting that protecting

Suggesting that protecting ones privacy should nullify ones presumption of innocence, well that's um, a fricking stupid idea.

Let's abandon our right to privacy along with our right to be presumed innocent, and put full body scanners in everyones home.

You're pretending you're not worried because you have something to hide, right? I think you should be investigated for that.

anyone who criticizes...

"Frankly, I believe it's likely that anyone who criticizes this legislation probably DOES have something to hide, and should be throughly investigated." jcaputa

Here ix an example of the fascists in the woodwork of which I speak. He "for sure" has nothing to worry about here. Lived he in the old USSR on the other hand, and they were proposing this, he would indeed have cause to freak... and he would, you friggin' well know it.

What government needs ISP

What government needs ISP info and electronic data when a large proportion of the population is quite happy to disclose their life via Facebook and Twitter??

is this serious?

“Frankly, I believe it's likely that anyone who criticizes this legislation probably DOES have something to hide, and should be thoroughly investigated.”

Really? Sure about this?

See the movie Other People Lives. About the Stasi in East Germany before ’85, one of the saddest movies I have ever seen. For the government there; to have people like that left in charge of a country, bloody unbelievable….
For you it will be a movie; for others From Hungary, Romania, East Germany, and other places it would be a documentary. Check it out then let us see if you would like to live as those people had to.

jcaputa ~ Why are you

jcaputa ~ Why are you worried?

There is no need for any law abiding citizens to be concerned here. The only people threatened by this legislation are terrorists and pedophilies.

Frankly, I believe it's likely that anyone who criticizes this legislation probably DOES have something to hide, and should be throughly investigated.

What can one say about a comment like this without being offensive?

and more

aren't the conservatives wonderful?

death to independant ISPs, (By costs requirements)
section 8 of the charter,
due process, privacey,

WITH
real time surveillance
BY accredited RCMP/csis clones

of encrypted/wrong masked data.

betcha they add new taxes for this too.

packrat

this isn't being done to protect children, women and men

This is being done to allow them to profile people like yourselves who read media that they believe to be fair and unbiased.

This is being done to allow them to locate politically active people who might challenge their operations.

This is being done to give them the legal basis for a show trial to imprison "free radicals."

(funny... the term says right there that these 'dangerous terrorists' are defined by their freedom and the ability to take action)

Once all the dissenters are locked up or shot or whipped, why, you can start the culling in earnest. State sponsored genocide is a notable feature of all government. At the moment they're warming up their soldiers on foreign soil but when they come home their guns will still be warm and likely won't cool just yet.

Obviously, you can't act freely in our society, but you can still on occasion speak your mind. Watch them burn the books right after they get their stranglehold on the internet.

We all need to wake the fuck up and defend ourselves this beast will not go down smoothly as our natural resources do.

dongzo ~ We all need to wake

dongzo ~ We all need to wake the fuck up and defend ourselves this beast will not go down smoothly as our natural resources do.

Bravo! Some of us actually understand the road we are on instead of being enablers for the corporate fascists. It is bloody well time we started defending our country from our government!

Jerry Munro - "funny" ain't it"

....that the parties that champion smaller government and less taxes, and the rights of the individual, inevitably create bigger governments, more taxes, and "Papers, Schnell!"

Sick To Death

There is no hope -- The Stupids keep voting for the corporate party (Conservative/Liberal - same thing) and the noose tightens.

Why Canadians would sit still for this egregious assault on their privacy/rights/civil liberties is beyond me. I want to puke when I contemplate what they're up to here.

If I can't get a VPN service (something along the lines of http://www.cryptohippie.com/ - which I would not trust given the Patriot Act in the USA) to side step this authoritarian 'Big Brother' intrusion; I will disconnect my internet connection at home - I swear.

Frustrated That So Few Are Concerned

For a relevant treatment of this subject (American) read "Little Brother" by Cory Doctorow 2008. Aimed at young adults it nicely outlines the perils of ignoring the insidious intrusion on our civil rights. The computer information in this novel is all correct and is fully sourced at the back of the book.

Learn What's A Stake

Here is a good article titled the Electronic Police State:

https://secure.cryptohippie.com/pubs/EPS-2008.pdf

In the article they rank 37 countries (worst to best) and at this point, Canada ranks 29/37 -- too bad this has to change,

Rick W.

"....that the parties that champion smaller government and less taxes, and the rights of the individual, inevitably create bigger governments, more taxes, and "Papers, Schnell!"
Rick W.

Ain't it the bloody truth though. It all depends on whose ox is being gored... ours or their's. So long as its us, they think we should quietly load into the boxcars, as proof we have really done nothing wrong, and therefore have nothing to fear.

Arbeit macht frei!

The Idea Of Private Property

should always include the concept of personal information. Like a phone tap, or other paper search, a judge's order should be required for any agent of the state to conduct any kind of an investigation.

If incriminating evidence exists, it should be subject to exposure. At the same time, no ISP should be allowed to restrict or constrain a customer's access to the internet. The expectation should be that the customer will act within the law and the property provider will give full value for money.

if you reasonable people are

if you reasonable people are in Vancouver or can point me to some group there where i should volunteer my services, please, suggest away. Peace.

If you have nothing to hide....

Jcaputa is awfully sure of him/herself being lily-white.

For your information, there are over 205,000 federal laws on the books and more than 115,000 provincial ones (despite Kevin Kridger's best efforts to "prune 2/3 of the laws we don't need" a few years back.

I can guarantee you, if you woke up, ate, took a shit and went back to bed today, you broke at least four of them - most of them laws of omission, and some which carry serious financial and criminal penalties.

But don't worry, I have no intention of investigating you, because I know you're trying to do the same as the rest of us - just get along in this world. Only you need to think a little more about how and why you're doing it.

Crooks

No need to panic. Big brother can't spend too much time rounding up malcontents and ne'er do wells, jails cost too much and trials even more.

Also, this from the NY Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/technology/17wiretap.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a26

@ jcaputa

It is a slippery slope between law-abiding citizen and criminal in this society of arbitrary laws.

It is a common argument of those that what to clmap down on freedom to say that only "criminals" have to fear laws that strip you of your protections. A government that holds all the power, means you live at their pleasure. Which is a large change from when the government existed at the people's pleasure.

Every right and protection you give up in an effort to gain more "security" the less free you become and the less secure you actually are.

Jcaputa, there is a

Jcaputa, there is a high-level job in govt security waiting for you. You will receive confirmation shortly. Welcome.

CryptoHippie EPS 2010 Report

The CryptoHippie folks update their 'Electronic Police State' report annually or so it appears...

https://secure.cryptohippie.com/pubs/EPS-2010.pdf

In the 2010 report, the USA and Russia are neck and neck at 4/5 out of 51 countries rated. Pretty much only China and North Korea are worse.

Canada moves from 29/51 to 25/51. The neocons will not stop until we're in the same boat as the North Koreans.

something more to munch and grope

here's an additional semi-related article from os about a few more 'infringements' coming your way shortly.

http://www.osnews.com/story/24038/Naked_Scanners_Big_Content_and_Groin_Groping

snert

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_incarceration_rate
The United States of America has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Though home to a little less than 5% of the world’s population, the US holds 25% of the world’s prisoners
http://www.harpers.org/media/pages/1996/08/pdf/HarpersMagazine-1996-08-0008084.pdf
A high-security, low-risk investment: private prisons make crime pay

I wouldn't bet money on it, if I were you.

The main purpose of

The main purpose of censorship has always been:
"To preserve our freedoms"

At the same intellectual level with the present definition of "economic efficiency" as "The biggest profits for the least monetary inputs"

Ed Deak.

Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Revisited

LINK

... "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free," said Jefferson, "it expects what never was and never will be. . . . The people cannot be safe without information. Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe." Across the Atlantic another passionate believer in reason was thinking about the same time, in almost precisely similar terms. Here is what John Stuart Mill wrote of his father, the utilitarian philosopher, James Mill: "So complete was his reliance upon the influence of reason over the minds of mankind, whenever it is allowed to reach them, that he felt as if all would be gained, if the whole population were able to read, and if all sorts of opinions were allowed to be addressed to them by word or in writing, and if by the sufferage they could nominate a legislature to give effect to the opinions they had adopted." All is safe, all would be gained! Once more we hear the note of eighteenth-century optimism. Jefferson , it is true, was a realist as well as an optimist. He knew by bitter experience that the freedom of the press can be shamefully abused. "Nothing," he declared, "can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper." And yet, he insisted (and we can only agree with him), "within the pale of truth, the press is a noble institution, equally the friend of science and civil liberty." Mass communication, in a word, is neither good nor bad; it is simply a force and, like any other force, it can be used either well or ill. Used in one way, the press, the radio and the cinema are indispensible to the survival of democracy. Used in another way, they are among the most powerful weapons in the dictator's armory. In the field of mass communications as in almost every other field of enterprise, technological progress has hurt the Little Man and helped the Big Man. As lately as fifty years ago, every democratic country could boast a great number of small journals and local newspapers.

Thousands of country editors expressed thousands of independent opinions. Somewhere or other almost anybody could get almost anything printed,. Today the press is still legally free; but most of the little papers have disappeared. The cost of wood pulp, of modern printing machinery and of syndicated news is too high for the Little Man. In the totalitarian East there is political censorship, and the media of mass communication are controlled by the State. In the democratic West there is economic censorship and the media of mass communication are controlled by members of the Power Elite.

Censorship by rising costs and the concentration of communication power in the hands of a few big concerns is less objectionable than State ownership and government propaganda; but certainly it is not something of which a Jeffersonian democrat could possibly approve. ...