Re: A request

["Umberto Rossi" <urossi@programatic.it>]

> A request to all those well informated boys of the list.
> I´m writing a futurist novel, and i have a problem. Do
> you think it would be posible to control internet- by
> the USA goverment, for example- in the future.I mean, to
> permit only censured informations.  If posible, HOW?.And
> what about encriptation. I know this is a list about EJ,
> but you are the people well prepared to respond this I
> know. Sorry. Thanks in advance to all commentaries.

In italiano o in inglese? Magari in nome della fraternità neolatina?

But let's stick to English.

What I personally think--after my short professional experience on
the web (I am a webmaster, which does not mean very much, but at
least is a job that exposes you to the web)--is that the volume of
information on the whole web is so big that there's not enough
policemen to control it all.  Besides, you can imagine that a certain
state, spending a huge sum of money, monitors all the websites
which are physically located on its territory.  But what about the
infinite number of websites which are stored on servers in other
countries?  I mean, I can imagine some President of the USA issuing
a law which forbids some contents (say, pornography) on websites.
All the servers in the USA are searched, and the illegal texts
destroyed.  But what about the sites which are located in Japan,
Finland, Russia, Italy, etc.?  Sites that can be accessed by just
clicking on a virtual button with your electronic rodent?

What is subversive in the concept itself of the web is that it has
*no respect whatsoever* of national boundaries--while repressive
policies are still tied to the concept of nationality (the so-called
war on drugs demonstrates this).

Encryption is something totally different.  It is a technology which
permits secure communications on the web.  It means you can send
emails which can be read only by the addressee.  This may be useful
both for criminals and for spys--but also for people living under
totalitarian regimes.

Spero che sia abbastanza, comunque ne possiamo riparlare.

Hasta la vista, senor! (missing the inverted exclamation mark
and the special "n", sorry...)

Umberto Rossi

Se non sei sul web, hai torto!
If you're not on the web, you're wrong!