Uk Goverment still wants 1984 possibly.

[sam13lfc]

That's highly over the top lol

 

[pantsoffdanceoff]

I never get why things like this piss people off. Oh no the government knows that I'm friends with a dude at my school, they might arrest me. Personally I think if you have nothing incriminating then you shouldn't worry about it. Or is it just the principle?

 

[Rooster Cogburn]

I never get why things like this piss people off. Oh no the government knows that I'm friends with a dude at my school, they might arrest me. Personally I think if you have nothing incriminating then you shouldn't worry about it. Or is it just the principle?

It is the principle, but those principles are based on demonstrable fact. The arbitrary expansion of power has far-reaching consequences. We should always fear it and destroy it where we can.

 

[oktalist]

Anti-genius argument "if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear," also known as "if you are concerned about persecution then you deserve to be persecuted."

China! North Korea! Iran! United Kingdom! Justice League away!

 

[samsonguy920]

All this is going to accomplish is aggravate and infuriate taxpayers and voters. The criminals that dont get caught by other means are not going to get caught by these. Most likely the conservative party in the UK has just killed its chances of staying a power in Parliament.
The answer is not to not vote, because then you still wont get the result you would prefer. If you dont like who is on the ballot, vote 'None of the Above.' Would be interesting to see if 'None of the Above' won the majority of all polls. Most likely the conservatives would want the 'None of the Above' ballots discounted, and the liberals would want a new election.

 

[Agayek]

It is the principle, but those principles are based on demonstrable fact. The arbitrary expansion of power has far-reaching consequences. We should always fear it and destroy it where we can.

What this guy said. Throughout history, any expansion of government power without a damned good upfront reason has lead to, at the very least, an abuse of that power. There's plenty of examples throughout human history, not the least of which is Nazi Germany or the USSR.

 

[lava_lamp]

it is right

the internet is public domain
its like the streets

 

[Rooster Cogburn]

All this is going to accomplish is aggravate and infuriate taxpayers and voters. The criminals that dont get caught by other means are not going to get caught by these. Most likely the conservative party in the UK has just killed its chances of staying a power in Parliament.
The answer is not to not vote, because then you still wont get the result you would prefer. If you dont like who is on the ballot, vote 'None of the Above.' Would be interesting to see if 'None of the Above' won the majority of all polls. Most likely the conservatives would want the 'None of the Above' ballots discounted, and the liberals would want a new election.

This is a good idea. The only vote that is truly wasted is one caste for an official who does not truly represent your interests.

Always vote for Principle, though you may vote alone. - Adams

 

[forever saturday]

]

I've heard someone say before that when the governments need to monitor us and take our freedom away in fear of terrorism, the terrorists have already won.

i tend to agree with that person.

This is why I am still mad at myself for having the poor judgement to be born American: The USA PATRIOT act. This is what happens when you decide that freedom is more important than freedom. These are violations of human rights right here. The real kicker (for me anyway) is that America still has the gall to call itself a free country. Yeah, fighting for your ideals apparently involves taking a torch to them. The same thing is happening in Britain.

I love how after WWII it was freedom for everyone! Democracy's the besterest!
Now it's 'but they MIGHT be doing something bad! Can't have that, now, can we.'

Freedom in that sense was the freedom to be anti communist. Some places required people to swear on oath that they were not communists in the american fifties. Nothings changed.

 

[Agayek]

it is right

the internet is public domain
its like the streets

Then why do ISPs provide it? Can't it come bundled with your taxes if it was public domain?

And on top of that, 99.999% of servers (and therefore the internet) is privately owned. Just because it's publicly accessible doesn't make it any less their property.

 

[Liverandbacon]

And people say the US sucks...

 

[Pimppeter2]

Can't wait till obama finds my horse porn site

 

[CosmicGrenade]

What we need is afew AK47 and the keys to the Houses of Parliment. Who's with me?

Wait no, we'll have to call it off, MI6 just pulled up outside.

wrong it's MI5 man

but even though the UK Gov wants to do that there what the EU are already doing or something like that anyhow came in a couple of weeks ago

EU Directive 2006/24/EC

 

[lava_lamp]

it is right

the internet is public domain
its like the streets

Then why do ISPs provide it? Can't it come bundled with your taxes if it was public domain?

And on top of that, 99.999% of servers (and therefore the internet) is privately owned. Just because it's publicly accessible doesn't make it any less their property.

yea i forgot to consider that
you're right

 

[Overlord_Dave]

How do China and North Korea keep their populations in check? They monitor them and prevent them from receiving anything that differs from the party line. Now, suppose that a less than congenial government came into power in Britain with the power to monitor and record EVERYONE in the country's communications - they would have the ability to completely manipulate and suppress the population. They would be able to see what political sites you visited, monitor your funds, profile you, and, when they were ready, excise the portions of the population that didn't suit them.

You're right, if a totalitarian government got into power, then I'm sure they'd use the monitoring of the internet to achieve all their evil doings. But you need to realise that if said government got into power in the first place, then I'm sure they'd implement this kind of system if it wasn't already there anyway. Plus, the UK government is just not rich enough to fund a civil service capable of doing this.

In an extreme time (say, economic collapse, or the outbreak of a virulent virus (or both >.>)) extreme parties can potentially gain power...

I think it'll take something like the plot of Children of Men for this to happen. Which is so far-fetched it's not worth considering. And it would be rather difficult for a government to justify a statement like "in order to take care of this virus/economy/both we will have to put all the minorities in concentration camps". British politics has become duller and duller, and even with Moneygedon on our hands (as Charlie Brooker calls it) the response by opposing parties has been the political equivalent of beige. And I don't expect it to get any more interesting.

Hell, even if this whole extreme doom-and-gloom thing is far fetched, I don't want my every activity monitored.

Fair enough.

It is people like you, Overlord_Dave, who are part of the problem - too short-sighted to see potential problems looming until it's too late.

I strongly, but respectfully, disagree. I'm not being short-sighted. I'm just being realistic. America monitors the entire internet (since it owns all the major servers), and last time I checked USA citizens weren't being hunted down by the secret police.

When I talked about how expensive a 1984 government would be, I meant that due to the shear man-power required to monitor every citizen, any government, even an 'evil' one, would realise money is MUCH better spent elsewhere. As I mentioned before, the government just wouldn't have enough money to fund a big enough civil service. Especially during economic crisis.

Being totalitarian is just not worth the effort. China only manages it because it's got a sixth of the world's population to hire, the majority of citizens are still 'off-grid' and can't be monitored anyway, and the Party is spectacularly loaded. Compare that to the UK?

I think this all boils down to: if some sort of totalitarian/communist/1984-style government gets into power in the UK in my lifetime...

I'll eat my hat.

...

Or get a nice job in the Ministry of Information. After all, when in Rome...

EDIT:

it is right

the internet is public domain
its like the streets

Exactly.

 

[EZmacilx]

http://tomuchattention.com/?id=qst6qf48o223cglfq7frl6xddmyix4

 

[Iron Criterion]

Don't worry we have nothing to worry about, at least untill I can rise to power and establish my dictatorship lol

 

[gibboss28]

I would be worried if it wasn't for the fact that this government cant create a database that works to save their life.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

Yes, but the US can't get me where I am. Mainly because I live behind a wall of steel and electric fences designed to keep out armed psychopaths with AKs. Doubt the CIAs gonna managed a snatch team past that.

I love this country.


P.S. Good idea Simalcrum. Might I inquire as to whom you'll be voting for?