by R.A. Scott

Created on: August 18, 2008

The Internet isn't free. It just has an economy that makes no sense to capitalism. ~Brad Shapcott

I love the internet. I have loved being online since the late 1980's. It is something that the government has no control over and at one time there was little if no commercial sites available in the beginning and that was wonderful. The internet is the last bastion of true freedom in the world. Where else can a Jewish interest group write what they believe and neo-Nazis can write what they believe in? No place else in the world does that freedom exist and it is really great.

Now I recognize there are many of you who, like I, am appalled by what neo-Nazis have to say but I also believe that they have the right to make themselves look like idiots. Will they get recruits by having an internet presence? Of course, but the number of folks who will be offended or laugh at the absurdity of their ideas will be higher.

Any governments who stick their noses into the internet mix should be voted against because they will find a way to destroy the very things we love. They will try to pass laws and project those on the internet which will ultimately ruin the internet. Although with the way the net is designed they might not be able to do any of that stuff.

However if the government were to implement taxes on the ISP then taxes will get dropped on to our heads and we don't need that. In fact we don't need anything the government has to offer and they can only ruin our experience of the internet.

Can one government, the U.S. government for example, do anything outside the United States? Of course not although I have no doubt they will try and I think someone has suggested as much. But I sincerely hope that should the U.S. government make an attempt to regulate the internet I sincerely hope that they stay within the bounds of their own country. The problem is that they might try to exert influence, as they do, on other countries to do a similar thing.

I would imagine China is a great example for the United States government to follow if they need help deciding how they might try to change things. The U.S. government might want to censor some sites or some ideas represented on the internet. If there were political ideas that differed from the party line of the party in power would a government ever consider censoring those ideas?

The last thing the internet needs is the government, any government, censoring it from anything at all. Ideas and thoughts, even bad ones, are necessary for the growth of society. Even ideas we find repulsive must have a place to be expressed.

Learn more about this author, R.A. Scott.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.