How Can Obama Ruin the Internet? - You Do Nothing!
A recent newspaper headline screamed: "Fewer American Go to the Movies." Is that a bad thing? It's only bad if you are a movie theatre trying to fill seats in the U.S.A. In fact, the audience size as well as the venue and media choices are bigger than ever. After all, the choice on how and when to watch movies is unlimited on theatre screens, iPads, iPhones, flat screen T.V.s and video or android devices.
The point here is don't feel sorry for the film industry. They will continue to produce movies because they are making so much money with so many ways to license, distribute, market, package and bundle feature films for screening or viewing--the CGI, Computer-Generated Imagery, digital age has now arrived.
So, how does the digital entertainment industry mirror the Internet? It certainly can draw parallels that are subtle, yet frightening in their real impact. Up into the beginning of the twenty-first century the U.S. governing board has been privately run to exert regulatory pressures on the industry. The history is interesting in itself as described in an excerpt from Wikipedia:
"The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures was founded in 1909 in New York City, just 13 years after the birth of cinema, to protest New York City Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr.'s revocation of moving-picture exhibition licenses on Christmas Eve 1908. The mayor (son of the famed Civil War general) believed that the new medium degraded the morals of community. To assert their constitutional freedom of expression, theatre owners led by Marcus Loew and film distributors (Edison, Biograph, Pathé and Gaumont) joined John Collier of The People's Institute at Cooper Union and established the New York Board of Motion Picture Censorship, which soon changed its name to the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures to avoid the taint of the word 'censorship'."
In 1909, the National Board of Review in an effort to avoid government censorship of films became the unofficial clearinghouse for new movies. In 1969, the Motion Picture Association of America, MPAA, as an independent-private organization, continued on with its oversight in the capacity of ratings reviews. In order to control the moral conduct in the movies, it rated the movie theatres goers on an age basis thereby limiting the box office sales with G - General, R - Restricted, NC-17 - No Children Under 17 or X - Porn ratings. Today however, with the availability to view anything anywhere, this literally neuters and narrows down the MPAA viewer controls only on theatre goers.
U.S. movie box office ticket volume fell 11% between 2004 to 2014, while 2013 domestic sales rose to $10.9 billion, due to increased ticket prices. By contrast, China's ticket sales rose to $3.6 billion as well as movie goers; it's the first time a foreign market surpassed $3 billion.
The U.S. movie industry is highly critical of the Chinese totalitarian government's austere, deeply Orwellian, stranglehold on their societal, cultural and personal values. With almost 14 new cinema screens built every day, China censors only allow 34 foreign films per year to screen nationwide in their cinemas according to data from the MPAA, Motion Picture Association of America. Where is the creative freedom from censorship?
ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), founded September 18, 1998, is a private (non-government) non-profit type of corporation. Responsibilities are for all of the IP address space allocation, protocol parameter assignment, domain name system management, and root server system management functions. The need to internationalize the governing of the Internet (among other concerns) led the U.S. government to recommend the origin of ICANN as a global, government-independent entity to manage the systems and protocols that keep the Internet going.
ICANN has a board of nineteen Directors, nine At-Large Directors, nine to be nominated by Supporting Organizations, and the President/CEO (ex officio).
Obama recently signed an executive order transferring ICANN controls over to the United Nations and a yet unnamed group of people as an international body legislating regulations of the who, what, why and when on how the World Wide Web, WWW, runs on the Internet.
Is the Chinese movie censorship scenario going to be the same template for the takeover and control of the ICANN? "The plan announced on March 14, 2014 would have the U.S. give up control of the "root zone file" of the Internet and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or Icann. This root of the Internet stores all the names and addresses for websites world-wide, while Icann controls Web addresses and domains. The U.S. has used this control to ensure that websites operate without political interference from any country. It's so that anyone can start a website, organize on Facebook or post on Twitter without asking permission."
All Americans should immediately reject Obama's very naive turnover or resign themselves to a horrible outcome for their Internet--it is one of the most important inventions helping everyone daily at minimal cost, with no restrictions or limits currently for all users.
"The alternative to continued U.S. authority is control by an international body dominated by authoritarian regimes. Do you know that Saudia Arabia has already sought to veto domain references to .gay, .bible, .islam and .wine even before this Obama changeover and was denied by ICANN? Do you see the warning signposts ahead?
"In a law review article about Icann in 2000, "Wrong Turn in Cyberspace," Michael Froomkin wrote that "It is hard to see how an undemocratic solution based on the international system in which a tyranny's vote is as valid as a democracy's vote would be a material improvement on Icann itself."
"Congress should quickly come to the same conclusion and act to save the Internet."
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO TELL THEM NO TO ICANN TRANSFER!
Under the byline: "I told you so." or "I just said that."
Turkey Muzzles YouTube, Media Ahead of Elections
March 28, 2014
ISTANBUL-The Turkish government blocked YouTube and restricted local media; saying it represented a threat to national security. This act was drawing international outrage days ahead of critical local elections seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Tayrip Erdogan's rule. It was censored after a leaked recording was released anonymously of Turkey's National Intelligence Organization's head, Hakan Fidan, suggesting a missile assault as justification for any public incursions or riots. The prosecutor's office said that the leak would be investigated as "an act of spying."
ICANN Rule (If it was under new U.N. Organization): Your Freedom of Speech on the Internet is allowed when no political views expressed oppose the host country.
Is there a real danger of placing ICANN administration under the thumbs of despots, terrorists, communists and totalitarian rulers?
The tip of the ICANN ice berg is now showing! Beware of the danger below!
Russian Parliament Approves New Law Restricting Internet, Blogging
This article just feeds further disbeliefs about why the Internet organization, ICANN, should not be turned over to an International body, a select committee, to oversee and administer the Internet regulations. This news item shows who one of these members would be on the Internet panel.
By Wall Street Journal
MOSCOW—Russia's parliament approved a package of sweeping new restrictions on the Internet and blogging. The bills drew wide criticism from local technology companies and pro-democracy activists.
The new measures come amid steps by the Kremlin to tighten its control over media and the political system in Russia, efforts that have gained momentum in recent months. Western criticism of Moscow in the Ukraine crisis has led to more attacks by the Kremlin on domestic critics.
The draft laws affecting the Internet, which are expected to be signed soon by President Vladimir Putin and take effect in August, have elicited criticism from Russia's technology sector.
"The adoption of the law will become a yet another step in increasing government control over the Internet in Russia, which will negatively impact the development of the industry," said a spokesman for Yandex, Russia's biggest search engine.
The three bills impose strict control over disseminating information on the Internet and online payments, and toughen punishment for terrorism and extremism. The one that sparked the most concern effectively equates popular bloggers with media outlets, subjecting them to greater regulation and liability.
The bill would require bloggers with 3,000 or more page-views a day to reveal their identities, fact-check content, not disseminate extremist information or information violating privacy of citizens, and abide by the rules of pre-election.
STFU! Moscow Controls Internet Speech
LOL! President Vladimir Putin signed into law to restrict the use of profanity to reinforce what the Kremlin calls traditional values in Russia. This line item is contained within their Internet bill to tighten controls over speech and the Internet.
Bloggers with more than 3,000 daily page views will be subject to hefty fines for profanity beginning in August, 2114. The laws do not define what the 'foul language' is which leaves the totalitarian regime wide latitude in levying restrictions and fines.
Obama recently signed an executive order transferring in 2015 the ICANN controls over to the United Nations and a yet "unnamed group of people" as an international body legislating regulations of the who, what, why and when on how the World Wide Web, WWW, runs on the Internet.
Are the international panel members that will administrate the proposed 'United Nations ICANN Organization' oversight going to be inclusive with like-minded thinkers as in Russia? If so, we are in "Deep SH*T" since this is the case. Then, look out for them levying onerous user financial burdens like punishing excesses of access fees, service rates and government licenses.
Look out for the ICANN panel members' stringent U.N. Internet guidelines to curb free expression and discourse. This is all from the "civil rights advocate nations" like China, Myanmar, Iran, Albania, Cambodia, etc.--only kidding, I wish I was, but it is the harsh fact!
Get Out Your Voice & Email Your Representatives!
~ It is a Non-Partisan Issue ~
~ Americans Owe their Freedom to our Laws - So does the Internet ~
To Email your U.S. Congressional Representatives.
Click on: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/map Enter your home "Zip Code" and it will list by their Names and Internet sites. Click on to their individual "Official Website" and type into their email message box: "Do Not transfer ICANN to UN" and send--it's that easy and it will take a second to do it too!
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