Government and the Internet

Senator Ted Stevens is a Republican representing the state of Alaska in the US Senate. He is influential on many committees, and is frequently to be seen on the hilarious Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (screened in the UK on More4/Channel 4 daily).

This transcript of a recent speech is truly scary (and funny). And, before us Europeans laugh it off as "couldn't happen here" I urge you to consider some of our own politicians. Let's face it, can you name a UK politician who gets the internet? And, the recent example from France (more about that in a future post) doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Our politicians worldwide are trying to meddle and tinker with the internet. That is bad enough - don't legislate technology, legislate for people's rights, the rest will take care of itself. But when those self-same people don't really have a clue about what they're talking about, it is very ominous indeed.