[269] in Privacy_Forum
[ PRIVACY Forum ] Even the Navy Can't Censor the Internet
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (privacy@vortex.com)
Thu Aug 30 02:11:14 2007
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Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2007 22:37:59 -0700
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Even the Navy Can't Censor the Internet
http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000279.html
Greetings. I frequently make the assertion that it's impossible to
successfully censor the Internet by trying to remove materials that
have already been posted publicly after they've attracted
attention. What's published is published, what's done is done. The
genie won't just refuse to go back into the bottle, he'll stick his
tongue out at you as well -- or worse.
You may recall the international brouhaha a couple of weeks ago over
the Navy pulling from YouTube all copies of an (originally
relatively obscure -- now infamous) amateur music video posted by a
user named "PUMPIT01" and produced on the aircraft carrier Ronald
Reagan (CVN76), as described in http://tinyurl.com/2tuzdz and many
other stories.
The video in question ("Women of CVN76") has been variously
described as being removed due to security violations (brief shots
of utterly innocuous reactor-related areas), "inappropriate use of
safety equipment," and other explanations.
The real reason for the Navy's "reaction" is clearly just plain old
ordinary embarrassment, especially since the ship's CO has a
cameo role in the amusing production.
But my point here isn't to post a video review, but rather to
emphasize that for all the noise about deleting the video, it of
course remains easily available with but a minimum amount of effort.
You may feel that the inability to effectively "recall" posted
materials is a blow for freedom, or to the contrary an information
control disaster. But either way, it's a fact -- a reality that we
can't escape. And perhaps the sooner we come to terms with this
truth, the less time we'll be wasting at shadow boxing with useless
Internet censorship attempts. There are far better ways that we can
be spending our time.
Excuse me? Oh, where's the video? Like I said, finding a copy is
actually quite simple.
Example: For the sake of the argument, let's say that you did a
Google Search right now for the straightforward query of:
cvn-76 women pumpit01 "click here"
No magic words. No secret codes. Just pretty obvious stuff from the
news stories about the video, plus a little common search sense.
And while any given search results are often fairly ephemeral, and
any particular copy of material found at any given time may still be
removed, well, the Internet is a big place, and the Lords of
Censorship remain essentially impotent, for better or worse, indeed.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@vortex.com or lauren@pfir.org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
- People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
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