GERMANY MAKES PLANS TO BAN THE INTERNET

June 16 2009

Berlin, Germany – The concept of freedom of the individual is something nearly as old as civilization itself. The structure of human society itself has given birth to the concept and call for personal liberty. The more complicated society has become the more verbose those demands and the fight for them has become. That hasn’t been
truer than it is now, in the internet age. The access to nearly unlimited information both good and bad that the internet provides has long been a focus of individuals trying to protect freedom and those trying to limit it, but finally it appears someone has come up with an answer.

Set before the German parliament today is sweeping set of reforms that will dramatically change what kind of material the people of the country will be able to access online and how they will go about using the internet. With blocking child pornography as the impetus, the government is unified in monitoring and limiting web access in
ways that no western government has thus far been willing. Thus far protestors have made noise about the upcoming change, but other countries have sat back and allowed the politics and policies of the German government impose its will on the people.  

“Luckily for the German people the government has always acted in their best interest.
Sure limiting freedom can seem a reproachful thing on the surface but it’s really just a matter of who is doing the censoring. Obviously when you have a government like in China you would significant concern that they might not be acting in the best interest of the people but when you have a responsible government like they do in Germany things should turn out okay,” said Scrape TV Technology analyst Ken Kevins. “True they had some problems a few years ago with things censorship but that’s all been worked out now. The reality is you can’t burn the internet so censoring it is the next best option.”

The current plan is to simply filter websites and block access to those with objectionable content, much like is done in other European countries. The government will reportedly set up a secret committee to determine what sites will be considered objectionable. They have also been talking with German filmmakers to produce short films explaining the censorship.

“The commonly accepted line of thinking is that when personal liberty is compromised it starts a cascade of limitations that ultimately become a major issue. That we accept one limitation and once that stops being a headache it’s easier to simply accept other limitations and it
just goes on and on until there’s little or nothing left of freedom,’ continued Kevins. “The difference here is that aside from a few protestors people are in favour of these limitations and even embrace them. Sure there are some who simply won’t speak up even if they do object but for the most part people want these changes and ultimately it’s the will of the people that has to be respected. After all

Germany does have a democracy, just as it has for the last 100 years or so.”

Rumours of people hording caches of controversial websites have thus far been unconfirmed. The German government is also weighing the option of creating a special task force which will round up any such caches and destroy them.

“Censorship often works in favour of a society in ways that freedom simply cannot.
The core issue is whether or not people can be expected to behave responsibly without the government interfering. In that respect it isn’t so much a trampling of freedom with jack boots, it’s is true freedom. Now people won’t have to be worried about being responsible because the government will take care of it for them,” continued Kevins. “By putting your trust in the government you can be free of the day to day drama of having to be a responsible member of society and always have faith that the government is acting in your best interest. There’s probably no country where that is truer than in Germany.”

The German government is reportedly already asking ISP’s to turn over the names of subscribers so that they can be ‘sorted out’.

Martin Philton, Technology Correspondent

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