Just As It Tries To Kick People Offline, The British Gov't Wants To Move All Public Service Online
from the interesting-timing dept
Just as it considers kicking people offline via the Digital Economy Bill, it looks like the UK is getting set to move all sorts of government services online -- giving every UK citizen a unique webpage, where they can access all sorts of personalized gov't services. Now, some folks are (perhaps reasonably) concerned about privacy and the threat of data breaches, but it seems like an even bigger issue is the conflicting messages the UK gov't seems to be sending in threatening to remove people's internet connections at the same time it's trying to get them to do more and more online.
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Filed Under: gov't services, internet access, uk
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Depending on your lifestyle and need to access information, losing your internet connection can be a terrible hardship. Anyone looked for a job lately? Certain workforce sectors just do not take paper resumes anymore. If you submit one, it will go straight to the trash. They demand you submit it online. What if you are a reporter and must access information in pursuit of your job? Reporters were around before the internet, but the internet has now become so indispensable a tool that to be forbidden to use it would be crippling. Stock traders, IT personnel, and many other kinds of jobs would just not be able to function effectively without the internet given conditions today.
We live in the age of information, and it's upsetting to see that governments have not only failed to recognize access to information as a right, but that some are trying to take it away.
The internet isn't just a luxury anymore.
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Right
I hope that governments will recognise this, and not bow down to the sleazy claims of the music industry that it threatens their business model - well change it then...
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Re: Right
"Boo hoo, if people share then my business model doesn't work!"
"*sob*, *sob* if people give bad reviews on my products, then I can't sell my products!"
"Waaahh, it doesn't matter if people are going to die without my medicine...I created it on the expectation that other people wouldn't be allowed to produce it!"
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Re: Re: Right
Not that the corporations want the government to remember that officially...
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Maybe the UK government can make a law that turns copyright infringement into a criminal action, like theft? So the stealers can still access the interent but from jail.
I'm sure that would be pretty easy to do.
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Then you haven't actually read the Digital Economy Bill.
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UK
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History repeats itself
Woo-hoo! No more stealers 'round here no more!
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Re: History repeats itself
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Re: (Ady)
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so when you get kicked offline
TAM your wrong they want to kick people off cause everyone is sharing , and as sharing is caring they DON'T CARE do they.
Prove that the candy bar is gone which it isn't. AND Prove why anyone should pay for tv and music and movies. WHY tell me really why they feel entitled to money for 50 years or more
let alone more then 5 years....DOES the factory worker get money for the life of your car all time you use it?
THe door makers?
THE SHOE makers?
See when you put copyrights to other businesses it suddenly looks realllllll
FUCKING EXPENSIVE DON'T IT
last i checked its a capitalist world
HOW ABOUT SOME COMPETITION and this is what ACTA destroys
COMPETITION
AS sarkozy got trounched in FRANCE so too shall ANY GOVT THAT TRIES THIS CRAP
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perhaps
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Business
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Disconnects
To me this suggests that there will be some sort of list of those not allowed to be removed or if you will, some people won't have to worry about having their net disconnected if they are in government. Most likely those same people in government will have access to more than one connection too, making sure that a disconnect will not affect them.
It is no stretch of the imagination to come up with above. Nor is any sort of mental wizardry needed to come up with the most likely answer to it.
The question will be how long will it take for this to come to light after it is put in practice?
Like some other organizations we know, it seems that the UK government is determined to increase household usage of the internet while at the same time, removing access. A strange duality isn't it?
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The message is quite clear
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Well
Step 2: Accuse someone three times of copyright infringement.
Step 3: Remove their internet access.
Step 4: Banned person says "But Internet access is essential!"
Step 5: Banned person goes to internet cafe to renew car tax etc.
Step 6: Government hears of this, demands internet cafes begin i.d. checks at door, those banned are refused service.
Step 7: This results in huge overheads for cafes. Prices soar, business drops off, most go out of business.
Step 8: Banned person loses car, can't access other information, can't renew passport, etc. Is stuck in the country, is not allowed to go on holidays.
Step 9: Banned person receives sub-standard treatment on NHS, because they weren't able to buy insurance online. They die because of sub-standard treatment.
Step 10: Government declares this whole sequence of events a complete success!
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the truth of "copyright infringement"
Software, media etc is so easy to copy because it is nothing more than information. Information of the exact sort referred to above. Computer programs help people organize and plan efficiently. Media carries important messages that can help people make the right choices.
Free flow of information is important because it allows people not to waste resources on unsuccessful ventures, thus improving the efficiency of the economy. Software and media does just that.
The truth is our concept of "intellectual property" is flawed. Most computer programs, media etc. are simple rehashes of similar concepts and nothing particularly new or novel.
In reality producers of such things are actually providing a service, not creating a product that they own. Those people who pay for that product pay to get something tailored to their needs and something well supported. People who go to movie theaters pay to get the whole experience and see the latest in entertainment. The end result however is information, which no one can own in any legitimate capitalist economy.
The current state of things is a pretty accurate reflection of the way things SHOULD be. "Piracy" is rampant, yet producers of media and software still make a profit off of the people who are willing to pay to get the best.
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