Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: 100 websites (404 - Server Not Found)

Author:Phil Wolff
Posted:1/17/2000; 12:45:04 PM
Topic:100 websites that will change the world
Msg #:14540 (In response to 14489)
Prev/Next:14539 / 14541

I'd like to nominate the servers you can't see: Censored sites.
Countries are censoring what their citizens see, places they communicate online, even requiring permits for modems in some places. Some countries censor to manage dissent, others out of prurience. China, Burma, Singapore come to mind but I know there are others.

Companies are likewise blocking what their employees see. A whole industry feeds this fear of knowledge, litigation, "that time-wasting Internet" and outside ideas.

Some sites are torn down (anyone remember the lyrics site?) in the name of property rights or law and order or moral certainty.

Parents are encouraged to block "harmful" content from their little angels and horny adolescents.

These all share a common view of the person you are "protecting." You can't trust them to tell good from bad, right from wrong. And that you always have a superior sense of what they should know of the world and with whom may communicate or collaborate.

The people at Davos need to comprehend that the net community usually routes around damage; and censorship is usually just that.

The Truth Is Out There But You Can't See It:


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