Plan to filter words from the internet!

[Epyslon]

http://fe15.news.re3.yahoo.com/s/nm/200 ... nternet_dc

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Internet searches for bomb-making instructions should be blocked across the European Union, the bloc's top security official said on Monday.
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Internet providers should also prevent access to any site giving instructions on how to make a bomb, EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini said in an interview.

"I do intend to carry out a clear exploring exercise with the private sector ... on how it is possible to use technology to prevent people from using or searching dangerous words like bomb, kill, genocide or terrorism," Frattini told Reuters.e

The EU executive is to make this proposal to member states early in November as part of a raft of anti-terrorism proposals.

These include the screening of private data of passengers flying into the 27-nation bloc and the creation of an early warning system to alert police forces to thefts of explosives.

Representatives of the Internet industry are meeting the EU on Tuesday, the sixth anniversary of al Qaeda's September 11 attacks on the United States, at a European Security Research and Innovation Forum.

The Internet has taken on huge importance for militant groups, enabling them to share know-how and spread propaganda to a mass audience, as well as to link cell members.

MORE COOPERATION

Asked whether a plan to block searches for bomb instructions or for the word 'terrorism' on Web search engines could infringe on the rights to expression and information, Frattini said in the phone interview:

"Frankly speaking, instructing people to make a bomb has nothing to do with the freedom of expression, or the freedom of informing people.

"The right balance, in my view, is to give priority to the protection of absolute rights and, first of all, right to life."

Frattini said there would be no bar on opinion, analysis or historical information but operational instructions useful to terrorists should be blocked.

He said European legislation would spell out the principles of blocking access to bomb instructions. The details would be worked out by each EU country.

Disconnecting a Web site immediately was currently possible only in a minority of EU states including Italy, Frattini said.

After German police arrested three men suspected of a major bomb plot last week, politicians called for greater powers to monitor computers. Germany's top appeals court has ruled the clandestine monitoring of computers by police is illegal.

"The level of the threat (in the EU) remains very high," Frattini said. "That's why I am making appeals and appeals for stronger and closer cooperation." (additional reporting by David Brunnstrom)

BG discuss?

[Insanecyclone]

This generation gets more and more interesting

[Charismatic]

BG already filters (or rather... did filter) words! This is nothing new.

[Septimus]

What was that quote from Benjamin Franklin? "A society that gives up a little liberty for security deserve neither."

[Shuemue]

It's fucking retarded. The only realistic way of preventing a serious person from obtaining information online is to delete the whole internet. With proxies, encryption and such, everything is freely available.

[Amarok]

It's fucking retarded. The only realistic way of preventing a serious person from obtaining information online is to delete the whole internet. With proxies, encryption and such, everything is freely available.

Don't worry, the REPRESENTATIVES OF THE INTERNET will be meeting to discuss.

Representatives of the Internet industry are meeting the EU on Tuesday

[vegetaa]

Well, even if the allmighty representatives of the internet decide to filter the web...it's still close to impossible, technically speeking.

You could perhaps manage to force every single search engine (there are thousands around the world, including many countries with obscure laws) to filter their content for specific words. But it's highly unlikely. Of course with enough effort you could perhaps make it so, but the documents would still be accessible.

You could perhaps manage to force every website hosting service in the whole world (there are literally hundreds of thousands, including many countries with obscure laws) to prevent hosting any document containing these specific banned words. But it's highly unlikely. And there would still be people hosting forbidden documents on their own computer, at home.

Of course, at this point you can imagine that somehow these internet superheroes managed to force everyone to erase all this awfull content from their own computers, to comply to the law they forced every country in the world (even you know, those with obscure laws) to obey to. But it's highly unlikely.

But wait, in the whole world, I think there will always be a few people with bad motives, that will still create and publish such bad documents. And it will be damn hard to detect, if kept hidden enough ("unadvertised" is just enough to avoid any search engine to find the documents).

Cliffnotes : highly unlikely. Simply because the bad guys will always find a way to do what they want to do. Especially in an environment as complex and huge and multi-cultural and far-from-law and by nature impossible to control or shutdown, as the internet.

[Charla]

Don't ISPs in China and stuff already censor half of the internet (even though it doesn't actually do much except make headlines in the West).

[vegetaa]

They don't censor "words", they censor most of the 0s and the 1s that come from outside their country.

[Charla]

Right. Although 0s and 1s are words around here, and anything else they want to be. My point was that China proved you can censor whatever you want and the press will take you seriously, no matter how easy it is to get around.

[vegetaa]

What I mean is China blocks traffic, not sites or search queries, based on where they're from (either geographic location, IP range, domain), what they want to set up is something based on the content.

[BRP]

Oh damn, internet can't tell me how to make a bomb... well, I guess I'll just have to read a book to do it!

[Ramor]

Oh damn, internet can't tell me how to make a bomb... well, I guess I'll just have to read a book to do it!

anarchists' cookbook go!

[Amele]

Oh damn, internet can't tell me how to make a bomb... well, I guess I'll just have to read a book to do it!

most local libraries will have everything you need.

this message brought to you by the foundation to support literacy on BG, in the hopes that maybe it's not too late to teach us all how to spell!