Thoughts from the abyss

“The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously to levy what likely will amount to wiretapping taxes on companies, municipalities and universities, saying it would create an incentive for them to keep costs down and that it was necessary to fight the war on terror. Universities have estimated their cost to be about $7 billion.” Read the full news post at C/Net News.

I’ve been fired up the past few weeks with the RIAA, the Bush Administration, the FCC, and all the other groups that just seem to want more and more rights to be taken away from our society that was supposed to be founded as a democracy. I think things are getting way out of hand.

This latest FCC stunt will basically force broadband providers, internet phone providers, and universities across the country to rebuild their networks to provide wiretap access to the feds. As the quote above states, it would cost the education system alone approximately $7 billion to revamp their networks to provide new and improved spy avenues. That’s not a studied number from what I read, but more so a guess. I think this is absurb! The government is already in question about illegally tapping us citizens, and now they want to set it up to make it perfectly legal…to fight terror and provide more “safety of the people” I might add. I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of hearing the “to fight terror” excuse in response to attempting to strip us of our privacy and rights that are supposed to be our given right as a citizen in this country.

I personally think Bush did a great job handling the country after the 9/11 attacks, at a time our country was in a great state of shock and need. But it’s almost like after the second election, he switched gears and started to become power hungry. Everything he says in response to his actions are the “to fight terror” excuses. I’m sick to death of hearing about it. Can I break into the neighbors house and go through their items, then turn around and use the “I was fighting terror” excuse? The feds were possibly tapping my internet connection and using the same excuse, so why can’t I? No, I can’t. In fact, in the legal system I’d be charged with a felony. Hopefully the next two years doesn’t bring many of these bills (I’d rather think of them as infringements on our rights, not bills) but you get the point.

Lately it’s been one after the other of bills being introduced that are just ridiculous. I’ve read tons of peoples comments and posts about these sort of issues, and anyone in touch with the internet are on board to stop these idiots as best as they can. Write your senators, sign up for petitions, make some phone calls, or do whatever you need to do to voice your opinion. I think it’s very scary to know that possibly one day you might wake up to find your calls recorded by the government, and your internet access filtered to search for what content you’ve been accessing. Some say that will never happen, and some say what’s it matter if they’re watching you if you have nothing to hide. A friend of mine make a very good point in response to that exact statement: “Didn’t the Nazi’s say the same thing? If you weren’t doing anything wrong, then it didn’t matter that they could do what they wanted.” I think he put it into perspective for myself after he said that.

I’ve been told I was taking a harsh approach and opinion to these sort of topics, but honestly, I think it’s insane what’s been going on lately. They want more power, and the more power they get, the more they are going to take from us, and then in return the more they are going to want. It would be a vicious cycle, and that’s all the more reason why legislation like this has to be defeated. The government is supposed to work for us, be run by those we’ve elected, and basically let the country run itself. I know that’s a simply model of how the country is supposed to run, but I think you know what I mean. It’s time the government get their nose out of ordinary citizens business. I’m fed up with it!