At this time of year in the United States, we celebrate freedom and independence with parades and fireworks. The Internet is not bounded by national borders, but there certainly are differing levels of online freedom for Netizens around the world.
A bill that seeks to foster global online freedom was recently passed in a unanimous voice vote by a congressional subcommittee that addresses international human rights. Time will tell whether the bill, H.R. 4780, which proposes the Global Online Freedom Act of 2006, will become law and, if so, whether it is the best means to accomplish its goals. Its attempt to punish U.S. online businesses in other countries could actually lead to less online freedom, if those companies decide to stop doing business in those countries.
Read this editorial from News.com. The bill’s current information (including it’s language) is available from the Library of Congress.
*Contribute to our knowledge of the “Global Online Freedom Act of 2006” at the Whats New Media Wiki
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November 7, 2006 at 4:12 am
[...] Plus, U.N. proposes changes to Net’s operation, International net domains ‘risky’ (Vint Cerf’s concerns for interoperability on a non-ASCII standard Internet) China: We don’t censor the Internet. Really and No Internet at United Nations ‘Internet’ summit from C|Net. Previously from WNM: Let global online freedom ring? and Senate panel proposes a Net user “Bill of Rights” [...]