Posted @ whirlpool - ILCF pt4

It's an idealist concept mate, and I'm sure you are very aware of that. You strike me as an especially informed and intelligent person here and I'm quite convinced that you do not genuinely believe that this will be the case.

Cheers [deleted], that makes a pleasant change. :)

Moderation by Majority. It's a very daunting concept, and dare I say, quite an utopia.

And on a smaller scale, Mark can share testimony with me that long long ago in an international amateur network far too forgotten, we had a form of that which worked pretty well ... although I must admit that there were always unseen overlords constantly itching to having that tiny utopia shut down.

Which is another reason why I reckon it would be fantastic to take current communication methods to where not only Oz Governments wouldn't even begin to bother to try and control, but also would render current methods utilised by the Chinese government (et al) similarly pointless.

I'm sorry, but I think you totally misunderstood me here. I think the suffering in short term here is NOTHING compared to what this will lead to in the long run. EVERY STEP towards a police state, EVERY STEP towards information control counts.

I agree to a point, but then I must look beyond.

Perhaps it is time to bring this famous quote from John Gilmore into the equation. See: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Gilmore

"The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it."

I reckon that if we have got to the stage that "The Net" is unable to route around the damage, then "The Net" is due a serious overhaul to make it more untouchable/immune to such damage.
What would be sad is if we couldn't or worse still, wouldn't work out a way for it to naturally overcome/resist such "damage".

But I have every confidence we can if enough reason for it can be brought to bear ... and perhaps these "steps towards a police state" are just the motivation needed.

regarDS