Is it true there's a government plan to close down the internet?

Check this scary article out. I hope none of this is true. Is it? Can the government really shut down the entire global internet or regulate it to a few corporate websites, as this article claims?

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/june2008/061108_kill_internet.htm

 

That's true only if you believe in Big Foot.

 

I doubt it will ever happen unless they unplug all the computers in the world.

 

possible ,there goes capitalism

 

But the internet is trans-national.....How can a single government's decision...even if its is true, affect the whole internet?

If a government decides to ban internet, only the citizens of that particular country gets affected...unless of course the whole world gets united....which is tough to fathom at the moment.

Regards,

RightMan

 

Even if it were a desire and global collusion of governments possible, human psyche suggests that inherently beneficial inventions have a way of overcoming all obstacles including government intervention. The real problem is fear mongering and misleading information by power brokers who see their wealth (or control if you will) diminish faster than at any time in history.

The internet is the one single global tool that offers equal footing (with respect to information) for every single person regardless of wealth (ok, subject to access etc etc). At the speed of light we can connect to real and fabricated information better than any time in our known history. This is exciting for the future, but seen as threatening to "traditional" power brokers who know no boundaries when it comes to protecting their "agenda."

When you box any living creature into a corner with no option for exit, there is no choice. Attack is an involuntary movement of self protection. Traditional governments and behind the scenes power brokers are starting to feel trapped and only beginning to accept or understand the true power of the internet (which is nothing more than instantaneous information and collaboration by disparate communities of like minded people for the betterment of their own or their own community's situation).

The internet is one large audit vehicle. The balance of power hangs in the ability to encourage, accept, digest and ultimately utilize for the benefit of everyone, information that is constantly challenged and checked by global peers of equal footing (ie every single internet user has the opportunity to be heard, vote and form an opinion on any subject they choose).

The onus of responsibility will always weigh heaviest on those that "know." Yes, the internet has bad elements. You can't have a community without representation by all walks of life. The magic in a global community of instantaneous connections, is that I can now audit your credibility just as fast.............. and make decisions accordingly.

This one fact is what scares governments and power brokers more than any other ingredient of the internet. Wealth and power typically grows through arbitrage situations. The wealthier or more powerful you are the more "arbitrage" situations that are presented to you. Arbitrage is nothing more than information before anyone else.......

So, think about that situation for a minute and you start to understand why the internet is the greatest tool for the masses, but seen as the evil enemy of traditional thinkers............ If you can audit any situation quick enough you eliminate or reduce the potential for manipulated arbitrage situations.

Arbitrage is not the same as investing and not the same as "building" your wealth through value added pursuits. Arbitrage results on a large scale through the ability to manipulate markets and thinking on a grand and gross scale (at least where governments and power brokers are concerned).

Using a hypothetical case study to put some literal example into this post, say ACME TRADITIONAL BUSINESS, INC, a global multinational company worth 300 billion dollars is in danger of going broke - what do they do? Fortunately for them, they've made plenty of "sound" investments in the form of political donations to "friends," who realize that if ACME goes broke their lifestyle suffers.......... (this is of course hidden by the veil of how bad it would be for "everyone" if ACME goes broke)....

ACME and friends can't just turn the light switches off and take their bat and ball and go home. They are too large to be unnoticed. The only way you can protect bigger than life companies is by being totally transparent with your actions at a scale that almost belies belief............

So, if indeed the internet was a target for greater regulation (as is the case in Australia presently) or worse, and the internet is the largest industry in the world, then it would take a catalytic event of proportions we can not even imagine, for there to be no internet.

I do believe there is quantifiable support at government levels and "money men" to try and control the internet (ie create yet another arbitrage situation for themselves), but I am equally optimistic and enthusiastic that any attempt to do so, will simply end up squashing the perpetrators of the plan.

Bottom line: love it or hate it, we have instantaneously connected ourselves in ways that we can never change, and in many ways why would we want to? Over time, evolution will help with making it better and more efficient etc, and who knows, maybe it will be replaced by something even better, but the basic principle of connected communities that know no boundaries will continue to grow - regardless of oppressors, governments, power brokers and naysayers. To be around when history unfolds is quite remarkable. To be a participant in history, with all its ups and downs, is something we will all look back from a rocking chair and smile about.

To all - A Happy New Year - The future is what you make of it, not what is presented to you.

 

Closing down the internet is not a simple thing like closing down your own home door. It would be the last thing, if at all, it ever happens...

 

cant we believe in bigfoot and not this?