Link:
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=20070124&articleId=4569
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Bloggers Who Criticize Government May Face Prison
Bloggers Who Criticize Government May Face Prison
Bill would allow rounding up and imprisoning of
non-registered political writers
Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Thursday, January 18, 2007
You'd be forgiven for thinking that it was some new
restriction on free speech in Communist China. But it
isn't. The U.S. Government wants to force bloggers and
online grassroots activists to register and regularly
report their activities to Congress in the latest
astounding attack on the internet and the First
Amendment.
Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of
GrassrootsFreedom. com, a website dedicated to fighting
efforts to silence grassroots movements, states:
"Section 220 of S. 1, the lobbying reform bill
currently before the Senate, would require grassroots
causes, even bloggers, who communicate to 500 or more
members of the public on policy matters, to register
and report quarterly to Congress the same as the big K
Street lobbyists. Section 220 would amend existing
lobbying reporting law by creating the most expansive
intrusion on First Amendment rights ever. For the
first time in history, critics of Congress will need
to register and report with Congress itself."
In other words Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats may
redefine the meaning of lobbying in order that
political communications to and even between citizens
falls under the same legislation.
Under current law any 'lobbyist" who 'knowingly and
willingly fails to file or report." quarterly to the
government faces criminal charges including a possible
jail term of up to one year.
The amendment is currently on hold.
This latest attack on bloggers comes hot on the heels
of Republican Senator John McCain's proposal to
introduce legislation that would fine blogs up to
$300,000 for offensive statements, photos and videos
posted by visitors on comment boards.
McCain's proposal is presented under the banner of
saving children from sexual predators and encourages
informants to shop website owners to the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children, who then
pass the information on to the relevant police
authorities.
Despite a total lack of any evidence that children are
being victimized en mass by bloggers or people who
leave comments on blog sites, it seems likely that the
proposal will become legislation in some form. It is
well known that McCain has a distaste for his
blogosphere critics, causing a definite conflict of
interest where any proposal to restrict blogs on his
part is concerned.
In recent months, a chorus of propaganda intended to
demonize the Internet and further lead it down a path
of strict control has spewed forth from numerous
establishment organs:
During an appearance with his wife Barbara on Fox News
last November, George Bush senior slammed Internet
bloggers for creating an "adversarial and ugly
climate."
- The White House's own recently de-classified
strategy for "winning the war on terror" targets
Internet conspiracy theories as a recruiting ground
for terrorists and threatens to "diminish" their
influence.
- The Pentagon recently announced its effort to
infiltrate the Internet and propagandize for the war
on terror.
- In a speech last month, Homeland Security director
Michael Chertoff identified the web as a "terror
training camp," through which "disaffected people
living in the United States" are developing "radical
ideologies and potentially violent skills." Chertoff
pledged to dispatch Homeland Security agents to local
police departments in order to aid in the apprehension
of domestic terrorists who use the Internet as a
political tool.
- A landmark legal case on behalf of the Recording
Industry Association of America and other global trade
organizations seeks to criminalize all Internet file
sharing of any kind as copyright infringement,
effectively shutting down the world wide web - and
their argument is supported by the U.S. government.
- A landmark legal ruling in Sydney goes further than
ever before in setting the trap door for the
destruction of the Internet as we know it and the end
of alternative news websites and blogs by creating the
precedent that simply linking to other websites is
breach of copyright and piracy.
- The European Union, led by former Stalinist and
potential future British Prime Minister John Reid, has
also vowed to shut down "terrorists" who use the
Internet to spread propaganda.
- The EU also recently proposed legislation that would
prevent users from uploading any form of video without
a license.
- We have also previously exposed how moves are afoot
to clamp down on internet neutrality and even to
designate a highly restricted new form of the internet
known as Internet 2.
Make no mistake, the internet, one of the greatest
outposts of free speech ever created is under constant
attack by powerful people who cannot operate within a
society where information flows freely and unhindered.
All these moves mimic stories we hear every week out
of State Controlled Communist China, where the
internet is strictly regulated and virtually exists as
its own entity away from the rest of the web.
The phrases "Chinese government" and "Mao Zedong" have
even been censored on China's official Web sites
because they are "Sensitive phrases". Are we to allow
our supposedly Democratic governments to implement the
same type of restrictive policies here?
Under section 220 of the lobbying reform bill,
Infowars.net could be required to seek a license in
order to bring this information to you. IF we were
granted a license we would then have to report our
activities to the government four times per year in
order to bring you this information. Does that sound
more like free speech or more like totalitarianism?
Take action:
As well as calling the Senate you should go to
GrassrootsFreedom. com which has a petition that you
can sign against Section 220 of S. 1, the lobbying
reform bill.
Paul Joseph Watson contributed to this report.
It appears that we may have a larger crowd when Rob McKenzie and I arrive in Washington, D.C. It seems that there is a national effort to bring thousands to Washington, D.C. in support of our trip and shared parenting! This will be quite the rush for sure. We will post the exact dates when we have them ironed out.
