A Patriot Act For The UK?

A Patriot Act For The UK?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

If there was ever a tool governments on this planet should fear -- it is the Internet. And they know it.

It should come as no surprise that governments are moving quietly in some cases and not so quietly in others to gain control of this thorn in their flesh.

The Internet is the legendary "vox populi" the voice of the people. And it is dangerous.

Many conservative commentators, myself included, have been warning for years that, at some point, the governments of the world would take over the Internet, by force, if necessary. We are quickly reaching that point.

The US government is working day and night to devise a way to, if not completely, rule the Internet, then certainly to gain enough control of it that they can control content and even access.

Remember Obama's Internet "Kill Switch?"

Here in the US, our own government snoops on it's citizens activity on the Internet. Send an email and the US Government reads it. Even your choice of websites to visit is monitored by the US government.

But then, the US government has chosen to completely ignore the rule of law and the constitution and eavesdrop on its entire citizenry 24/7. According the Oliver North the only form of communications the US government does not monitor is smoke signals!

Sir Tim Berners-Lee "... the British computer engineer, who devised the system that allows the creation of websites and links, said recently that of all the recent developments on the Internet, it was moves by governments to control or spy on the Internet that "keep me up most at night". (SOURCE)

From the UK Guardian comes this: "The government ran into a storm of criticism earlier this month when it emerged that it was planning to allow GCHQ to monitor all communication on social media, Skype calls and email communication as well as logging every site visited by Internet users in Britain.

Berners-Lee said: "The idea that we should routinely record information about people is obviously very dangerous. It means that there will be information around which could be stolen, which can be acquired through corrupt officials or corrupt operators, and [could be] used, for example, to blackmail people in the government or people in the military. We open ourselves out, if we store this information, to it being abused." (SOURCE)

Back on March 2nd, of 2012, I published a piece entitled: "Internet Perceived As A Threat By Government(s)" In the commentary I noted a story by Fox News in which the following was reported:

“A gathering of United Nations diplomats overseas has some in the U.S. worried about a potential takeover of the Internet by foreign powers – with others claiming such fears are wildly over hyped.

 The obscure branch of the U.N. at issue is the International Telecommunication Union, whose 193 member states include the U.S. and which was convening this week in Geneva. The ostensible purpose of the conference is to seek consensus for an updating of the last set of international telecom regulations, known as ITRs, which were issued in 1988.” (SOURCE)

OK. So … why is this a concern? Well, let’s go back to the story from Fox News: “…Robert McDowell, a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission, has been warning that the conference is a moment of great peril for industrialized and Third World countries alike. In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal and a subsequent interview with Fox Business, McDowell accused the so-called “BRIC” countries – Brazil, Russia, India, and China – and their allies among developing nations of trying to seize the moment to strengthen international regulation of the Internet. Such a development, McDowell claimed, would imperil the
 Web’s historic role as an outlet for free expression and economic growth.” (SOURCE)

What we are seeing here in the US -- and UK -- is Marxism at work, plain and simple. This is government "command and control."

No matter where the government is on the planet -- it FEARS the Internet!

Ideas are dangerous things and when people are allowed to gather electronically 24 hours a day, around the world, and share ideas -- it frightens governments, both good and bad governments. Governments are, by nature, paranoid.

Information is power. With the Internet, information is in the hands of the great un-washed and any government elite (worth his or her salt) knows, instinctively, that is a tool that can -- and WILL -- be used to diminish government power. That cannot be allowed. Thus, the attack on the Internet.

Some in the UK are referring to this proposed move by the UK government as the British version of the US Patriot Act. And they don't like it.

Even before 9/11 there was a steady erosion of personal liberty in both the US and UK. Since, however, that "steady" has turned into a "gallop."

Not too long ago we admired the "strong silent " type of man. Somewhere along the way. we forgot that he was strong precisely BECAUSE HE WAS SILENT. He kept his "business" to himself.

My third-grade school teacher, a very nice German lady, told me once: "If you know something, keep it to yourself. That will make you smarter than most." She had no idea the impact that suggestion made on me and still makes on me -- even today.

In the 21st century, however, a man who keeps his own council is considered weird, antisocial, creepy, strange, even dangerous. Need I point out just how badly "warped" that is?

I remain convinced that " ... if Thomas Paine and Samuel Adams were alive today, they would be burning the Internet up with their "rabble-rousing commentaries". Just as their fiery tomes led to the American revolt against Great Britain , other commentators around the globe are having similar effects upon THEIR totalitarian governments today." (SOURCE)

There's a pattern to all this. It is, I believe, only another step toward global governance, or a one-world government. In order for such a government to ever exist, the ability of the people of the planet to communicate with each other at will, must be abolished.

Somehow, someway, the governments of this world WILL gain control of the Internet. It is as sure as sunrise tomorrow.

J. D. Longstreet