Kentucky compared to China

11/03/2008		Kentucky compared to China
Home History Games News Dictionary		The movements in Kentucky by Governor Steve Beshear in his attempt to seize domain names of online casinos has been, in recent weeks, compared to the internet censorship that now only resides in China. As the issue escalates, themes are running rampant in regards to the freedoms of speech and information being disregarded in the governor’s attempted to capture and suppress as many as 141 internet site names. The UIGEA does not seem to be enough for his platform; they mean to eliminate the very possibility of the internet casinos existence rather than just banning the use of them by American citizens. It seems to matter little the possibility of regulation to the movement as more comparisons to China’s censorship come to light. In China, the act of censorship is the responsibility of thousand of ‘internet police’ scanning the internet for key words such as ‘democracy,’ or ‘Tiananmen.’ Once identified, websites, emails, posts, and other communications are read by the team, and flagged messages can easily result in both fines and jail time. An amazing precedent to be setting in this day and age of technology, especially when some consider the internet to be a technologically advanced ‘public library’ such as Chad Hills, representative of Focus on the Family. It can be a frightening possibility to imagine, considering China’s policy has gone so far that Paul Redmond, an American lawyer specializing in free speech said, “China is trying to control the thoughts of the people. By not allowing the flow of communication, the government believes it can brainwash citizens…” Next week will show whether Beshear and his team will win out on their battle to eradicate internet casino website names, though with relief, we may report that most expect the bill to fall through. As the UIGEA still controls the majority of online sites, the chance that elimination was ever a possibility, should concern more than just those in Kentucky’s jurisdiction.

11/03/2008

Kentucky compared to China

The movements in Kentucky by Governor Steve Beshear in his attempt to seize domain names of online casinos has been, in recent weeks, compared to the internet censorship that now only resides in China. As the issue escalates, themes are running rampant in regards to the freedoms of speech and information being disregarded in the governor’s attempted to capture and suppress as many as 141 internet site names. The UIGEA does not seem to be enough for his platform; they mean to eliminate the very possibility of the internet casinos existence rather than just banning the use of them by American citizens. It seems to matter little the possibility of regulation to the movement as more comparisons to China’s censorship come to light.

In China, the act of censorship is the responsibility of thousand of ‘internet police’ scanning the internet for key words such as ‘democracy,’ or ‘Tiananmen.’ Once identified, websites, emails, posts, and other communications are read by the team, and flagged messages can easily result in both fines and jail time. An amazing precedent to be setting in this day and age of technology, especially when some consider the internet to be a technologically advanced ‘public library’ such as Chad Hills, representative of Focus on the Family. It can be a frightening possibility to imagine, considering China’s policy has gone so far that Paul Redmond, an American lawyer specializing in free speech said, “China is trying to control the thoughts of the people. By not allowing the flow of communication, the government believes it can brainwash citizens…”

Next week will show whether Beshear and his team will win out on their battle to eradicate internet casino website names, though with relief, we may report that most expect the bill to fall through. As the UIGEA still controls the majority of online sites, the chance that elimination was ever a possibility, should concern more than just those in Kentucky’s jurisdiction.