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Interesting to think about the dichotomy that exists between our country and China when it comes to issues like this. In China, they would just block the conten

Interesting to think about the dichotomy that exists between our country and China when it comes to issues like this. In China, they would just block the content and move on to other things. In the US, because we value every individual's rights, we have to grapple with these tough questions. I think it's worth these headaches to protect our inalienable rights, but others may disagree. It makes me proud, though, that our country is still willing to take on these issues despite the amount of vitriol from both sides.

nxsynonym 9y ago
As frustrating as these topics can be, I think it's much better to have the discussions then to just shut things down a-la-China. My fear is that this particular case could set a precedence of the "pipe lines" controlling the contents that are passed through. If we allow this to happen in this case, how long until the other bigger pipe lines are allowed to make similar decisions? Is it a slippery slope that leads to Time Warner, Verizon, or AT&T to control what content is allowed to passed through their cell/data networks? I don't know what the correct course of action is, I just hope that we will continue to debate and weigh options and not turn a blind eye to this kind of thing.
- eli_gottlieb 9y ago
  >Is it a slippery slope that leads to Time Warner, Verizon, or AT&T to control what content is allowed to passed through their cell/data networks? It's not a slippery slope. It's rock bottom. Those companies already proposed exactly that sort of thing, a long time ago. They proposed it with copyright enforcement, and they proposed it when they fought against Net Neutrality and common-carrier rules. They want to control what goes through their pipes. They do not want to be a dumb pipe, they want to rent-seek, they want to play highway robber of the information superhighway. They've told us that. They are proud of that. They believe that is good business. The question is whether we let ourselves hear it.
aiyodev 9y ago
> In China, they would just block the content and move on to other things. In the US, because we value every individual's rights Do we, though? This used to be true but I no longer think it is.
- swampangel 9y ago
  It was never particularly true with respect to minority rights. It's just become more difficult to pretend that it's broadly true.

nxsynonym 9y ago

As frustrating as these topics can be, I think it's much better to have the discussions then to just shut things down a-la-China. My fear is that this particular case could set a precedence of the "pipe lines" controlling the contents that are passed through. If we allow this to happen in this case, how long until the other bigger pipe lines are allowed to make similar decisions? Is it a slippery slope that leads to Time Warner, Verizon, or AT&T to control what content is allowed to passed through their cell/data networks? I don't know what the correct course of action is, I just hope that we will continue to debate and weigh options and not turn a blind eye to this kind of thing.

eli_gottlieb 9y ago
>Is it a slippery slope that leads to Time Warner, Verizon, or AT&T to control what content is allowed to passed through their cell/data networks? It's not a slippery slope. It's rock bottom. Those companies already proposed exactly that sort of thing, a long time ago. They proposed it with copyright enforcement, and they proposed it when they fought against Net Neutrality and common-carrier rules. They want to control what goes through their pipes. They do not want to be a dumb pipe, they want to rent-seek, they want to play highway robber of the information superhighway. They've told us that. They are proud of that. They believe that is good business. The question is whether we let ourselves hear it.

aiyodev 9y ago

> In China, they would just block the content and move on to other things. In the US, because we value every individual's rights Do we, though? This used to be true but I no longer think it is.

swampangel 9y ago
It was never particularly true with respect to minority rights. It's just become more difficult to pretend that it's broadly true.