Imagine if your favourite websites were no longer available to you.
Imagine if any website your government - or corporate or political lobbyists - didn't like or considered "offensive" (say, an adult spanking fetish blog like this one) could be shut down and/or permanently blocked from view without notification or appeal.
Whether you're in the USA or elsewhere, it could happen.
Learn more about why Banjo's BBS - along with so many other websites across the internet - voluntarily went dark for a day, January 18th - January 19th 2012:
http://sopastrike.com/strike/
http://fightforthefuture.org/
https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/
Don't think folks in Australia are safe, either:
http://nocleanfeed.com/
http://www.overclockers.com.au/wiki/Australian_Internet_Filtering
What about your country?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_by_country
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship
Don't take a free internet for granted. Don't remain silent. Make your voice heard now... while you still have one.
Almost anybody can be "offended" about almost anything for any reason. If you don't like something, go to another website. The internet is huge and there's room for everyone.
ReplyDeleteNO CENSORSHIP!!!
smuccatelli
The whole web could become like a flickr account, where all it takes is someone to complain and suddenly you're site is gone - no explanation, no appeal. It will ruin the web if they put SOPA through. If some people could have their way they would turn the internet into one big personal bankruptcy machine, that rang-up charges every time you turned it on. Damn them, I pray they are defeated! I've always been afraid that one day we would only be able to look back at the "Wild West" days of the free internet with fondness, and sigh... If they win, though, it won't be without a fight!
ReplyDelete@Otto149
ReplyDeleteThe sad thing is, I'm only in my thirties and came 'late' to the internet around 1999, but I already miss "those days"... dial-up was a pain, page design was ugly, and images were lossy as hell... but there was IMO a certain "wow, this is the future!" buzz, and every new site was an amazing discovery (especially spanking ones!).
Nowadays, every other site is annoying Flash, adverts are everywhere, every action requires a 'prove you're a human' check, spam and phishing scams are rampant and big corporations - not small time geek tech enthusiasts - own most websites (including the spanking ones!).
The days of charming 'mom and pop' free Geocities-type websites are gone, replaced by 'social media' networks that encourage inanity and track what you look like, where you shop, and who you're friends with.
Also, you're right that a lot of people seem to see the internet as something that needs strict control, and should be used primarily to charge folks money while providing as little service/product as possible (charge for song/movie downloads, but no physical pressed CDs/DVDs, printed booklets, etc. and limit your usage rights with your purchase anyway).
Sorry, rant over! :)
No censorship, this is our choice!
ReplyDeleteRon
As an online 'spanko', I agree with this analysis of how browsing isn't half as much fun as it used to be. But I remember the dark old days before the internet, pre-dating that first liberating rush of excitement brought on by dialling-up a connection the www. It was so frustrating: scouring printed spanking porn or videos for scenarios and images which would speak directly to my fantasies - and finding, usually, that the content was either to the right or to the left of what I was really looking for - or seizing upon the occasional hints of femdom/spanking in the mainstream media of TV and film in the 70s and 80s! The net is not what it was, but it's better than what I had! Colin
ReplyDeleteHah.
ReplyDeleteA bit too much complaining, I think. Yes, the "control" part is by far the most worrisome, but most of the rest of that stuff while annoying, doesn't actually prevent you from creating or accessing the content you want. Indeed, I've noticed that more and more useful scientific, legal, and sexual content has been moved online over the past decade , so if nothing else, the web is more useful than ever, even if its much harder to find free web hosting (its still there for the cost of advertising) and your privacy has taken somewhat of a hit. Of course you totally overlook the rampant file sharing and piracy that has made the web infinitely more useful and interesting even as its cause the PTB to pee their pants. And yeah, the Social networking sites can be dangerous and annoying but if you take the time to use them properly you need suffer little anonymity loss and its easy to make online friends that transfer to the offline world. So it's very much a mixed bag.
Now as for this artwork: I don't know if you borrowed that character with the gun from a video game but he (and the height, carriage, lack of visible breasts and the fact that commando teams world wide (and paramilitary) are almost totally men at a 99.99 percent level indicates it must be a he)is very ominious and very much NOT fun. Good job of getting your point across!
Clarence