Space: the internet's new frontier?

Guest post by Nick Pickles

The UK Government is currently considering the possibility of a UK-wide firewall, which (simply put) would give the Government the ability to block access to websites from the UK.

The argument has mainly been made around file-sharing sites, and to a lesser extent child pornography, and of course the Government insists that it would never be used for political reasons.

Yet the example of the Arab Spring and the subsequent activities of Governments in shutting down social networking sites (or more disturbingly, setting up spoof sites to entrap potential trouble makers) should not be forgotten.

It is entirely possible that as part of the super-injunction/privacy debate that website blocking could potentially be on the cards - neatly demonstrated by the High Court judge who warned “the internet is out of control.”

The internet is beyond the reach of Governments. So the natural response of Governments is to seek to bring it back under their control. The first step is to block sites sharing illegal music. That path leads to not being able to read about Tienanmen Square or organise demonstrations - it is not one that a civil society should permit.

However, there is a further option - for social networks to become ISPs.

The power of a shared satellite network, providing internet access to users without reliance on physical cable under the control of Governments, would have the potential to topple the Great Firewall of China, free protestors to organise demonstrations and globalise free speech beyond the reach of overactive judiciaries.

Eventually, universal internet access will be a humanitarian cause. What it needs is someone to take the first step, and aim for the stars.

Comments

[David M Gibson]

I largely agree with the sentiments of your article but have a couple of points to add.

Firstly, it's Tiananmen (or, more accurately, Tian'anmen to linguistically distinguish from Tia'nanmen).

Secondly, and less anally, there's little for all but the most technophobic of web-users to worry about government firewalls at the moment.

I lived in China for three years and can assure you it is relatively easy to avoid the multi-billion pound government censorship there with a simple VPN, not to mention the ever-present proxy servers.

If the Chinese government with their totalitarian will and vast economic resources can't do it effectively, the UK government have no hope of keeping the average university student away from sensitive sites. re. In fact, I'd say it's more a worry for the Tax Payers' Alliance than BBW as it comes under burning money rather than authoritarian creep.

You may, or perhaps not, be interested in a more lengthy investigation I did into the realities of the Great Firewall of China:

http://davethedystopian.blogspot.com/2011/05/war-of-river-crab-pressures-on-and.html

[Stephen]

We need to pause to remind ourselves who owns the satellites.

[Pharmb169]

Hello! fafdddf interesting fafdddf site!

[MBT Shoes]

Good stuff as per usual, thanks. I do hope this kind of thing gets more exposure.