Vietnamese Officials Say New Censorship Law Is About Protecting Copyrights
from the copyright-as-censorship dept
For years we've pointed out that copyright law is often used for censorship, and plenty of authoritarian governments figured that out a long, long time ago. So, when the US goes around strongly advocating for stricter copyright laws, it's really not that surprising to see some countries turn around and use that to justify censoring of political speech and free speech. Last week, we wrote about how Vietnam had passed an incredibly broad new censorship law, which says that blogs and social media cannot "quote, gather or summarize" information from the media or government websites. Instead, people using such social media can only talk about things having to do with their own lives, rather than the news.This is incredibly broad censorship, designed to massively stifle public participation, especially in the political process. So, wouldn't you know it? Among the ways that Vietnamese officials are defending this program is by claiming it's necessary to "protect intellectual property."
State media reported that the vice minister of information and communications, Do Quay Doan, said the curbs aren't designed to limit free speech but to manage the rapid growth of the Internet in Vietnam. Other officials said the rules also will protect intellectual property.Expect to see this more and more as authoritarian governments realize that US pressure to ratchet up copyright laws gives them the perfect excuse to hide behind when they focus on censoring the public: just say it's to protect intellectual property, and frame it in the same language that the US is pushing, and it's a free ticket to censor nearly anything.
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Filed Under: censorship, copyright, intellectual property, social media, vietnam
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Excuse for censorship: copyrights and trademark
Excuse for mass surveillance: terrorism (or the children if you think UK)
Excuse for economic capture: patents
Depressing.
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CLASSIC MASNICK STRETCH: "Other [Vietnamese] officials said the rules also"
There's almost less than nothing to this, so I'll have to offset with TWO taglines (yes, a world first innovation!):
Masnicking: daily spurts of short and trivial traffic-generating items.
Techdirt. It's where the wrongness is.
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Re: It's where the wrongness is.
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Re: CLASSIC MASNICK STRETCH:
Which is true
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Re: CLASSIC MASNICK STRETCH: "Other [Vietnamese] officials said the rules also"
And fyi your post makes almost less than no sense (again). Maybe try the preview button next time?
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Re: CLASSIC MASNICK STRETCH: "Other [Vietnamese] officials said the rules also"
Congratulations, dickwad, you just posted something alluding to your identity - that is, something that alluded more than the fact that you're a colossal chronic masturbator for the RIAA and their wallets.
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It's time to ban out_of_the_blue for life
It's time for Techdirt to stop suffering this fool AND to stop allowing this person to inflict their nonsense on the rest of us. It's time to ban them for life. (Yes, they'll whine and complain. Too bad. They add no value here, therefore they don't deserve to speak.)
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Re: It's time to ban out_of_the_blue for life
Although, Blue does derail conversations with his abusive, offensive and idiotic ranting, he has as much right to express his views as you or I. I may not agree with what he says, but I will fight to the death for his right to say them.
The correct response to incorrect, offensive, abusive or ignorant speech is to counter with more speech, not to suppress it.
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Re: Re: It's time to ban out_of_the_blue for life
What they do not have is the right to express them here. Neither do I. Neither do you. We enjoy this privilege by the courtesy of this site's operators/owners. That privilege may be revoked at any time for any reason they deem fit -- or even for no reason at all.
And I am asking that in the case of the out_of_the_blue that they revoke it permanently, because this person/persons are clearly not here to participate in discussion and debate; they're here to be a total asshole. There's simply no reason to tolerate that kind of behavior either in person or online. (I'm pretty surprised that it's gone on this long: I would have acted after a day or two of this obvious nonsense.)
It is, of course, the option of this site's owners/operators to do as they wish. But for the sake of civil, productive, readable, useful, enlightening, entertaining, educational discussion, I hope they'll act.
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Re: Re: Re: It's time to ban out_of_the_blue for life
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Re: Re: Re: Re: It's time to ban out_of_the_blue for life
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Re: Re: Re: It's time to ban out_of_the_blue for life
Yes, I am aware of all that. Mike has always tried to keep the comments here open to all and free from moderation because his beliefs on free speech. It's one of the main reasons I remain a part of this community.
AFAIK no one has ever been banned from Techdirt for any reason and starting now would only tarnish Mike's reputation and undermine the views he has expressed concerning free speech.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: It's time to ban out_of_the_blue for life
What OOTB is doing isn't speech: it's abuse. It is undeserving of the noble/lofty protections that you (and I) (and Mike) would accord to speech.
To illustrate that distinction: if someone stood on a streetcorner in my neighborhood espousing the most vile racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic garbage imaginable, I would find that very offensive -- but I'd defend it as free speech. However, if they stand on the sidewalk outside my house at 3 AM with a bullhorn, I will seek to have them arrested, shot, deported, defenestrated, remonstrated, castrated (as applicable) -- because that's not speech, that's abuse.
The defense of free speech is a worthy goal. I've put my job on the line for it. But there's no point in defending abuse, it just encourages assholes like OOTB to do more of it.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: It's time to ban out_of_the_blue for life
No offense, but that is only your opinion and everyone's opinion of what may constitute abuse are different. I'm sure that Blue feels what he is saying is valid and important. We should strive to allow all speech unless it will cause demonstrable harm to others. Period. Full stop. Your judgement of another's speech isn't really relevant to the discussion of whether it should allowed or not.
To illustrate that distinction: if someone stood on a streetcorner in my neighborhood espousing the most vile racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic garbage imaginable, I would find that very offensive -- but I'd defend it as free speech. However, if they stand on the sidewalk outside my house at 3 AM with a bullhorn, I will seek to have them arrested, shot, deported, defenestrated, remonstrated, castrated (as applicable) -- because that's not speech, that's abuse.
First off, this example isn't relevant. We are commenting on a website, not via bullhorn on the street corner.
Secondly, in your example the speech itself wouldn't be the problem. It wouldn't matter one bit if I was bellowing at 3am about inhuman treatment of fuzzy kittens or a desire to return to the ideals of the Nazis. It would be more of matter of violating local "disturbing the peace" laws than a free speech issue.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: It's time to ban out_of_the_blue for life
To be scrupulously fair, there have been a few times over the past year when OOTB has written something that has been reasonably insightful and not barking mad, and on those occasions his comments have been left unreported - and have even received some favourable responses. However, for several weeks now it's just been getting more and more bizarre (or out of the blue, if you will).
So leave things as they are, and just keep reporting the wilder flights of fancy and continual ad hominem attacks. Who knows: at some point this could be used as a case study in someone's PhD thesis on how to deal with attempted disruption to online discussion groups.
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Re: Re: It's time to ban out_of_the_blue for life
Besides, I think it's quite charitable of Mike to allow mentally ill people like OoTB an outlet to express themselves.
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Delete this post...
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Darkages
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The excuses !
It's only free speech we don't like that we censor.
Wouldn't it be nice to be able to block people all together !
Trouble is Mike wants to portray himself and the bastion of free speech and constitutional rights.
But when it suits him he allows and even promotes censorship, for no other reason then what is said is not agreed too.
Mike also like the excuse "It's not me, it's the users!", no it's masnick, he encourages this practice and designed it into his site for that purpose.
Now I could understand if it was used responsibility, but it is abused like so many other forms of power from censorship, something Mike constantly fights AGAINST. (except at his house).
As for blocking IP address, YES MASNICK ROUTINELY DOES THAT, not based on the comment, but based on the PERSON.
It is at least an interesting experiment in social behaviour, make a web site claiming being for free speech and against censorship, but provide a tool for users to choose power over freedom and see what happens.
It's clear when people are given the power to censor they will do so for their own gains, even if that gain is simply their opinion over someone else's.
So if people are given that power THEY WILL USE AND ABUSE it for their own gains. Even on a web site that claims to fight against that very thing.
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Re: The excuses !
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Re: Re: The excuses !
Intended to promote free speech, fight against censorship, and stimulate debate, and sell products and make money.
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Re: Re: Re: The excuses !
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Re: The excuses !
Or are you masking your IP address to post here? You know that that's considered morally reprehensible by copyright supporters, right?
But then, we wouldn't expect you to be moral. Your country has 1984 in its public domain and your government encourages its citizens to lie about their location for cheaper Photoshop.
You're a lying, thieving freetard, just like your filthy public domain government.
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Re: Re: The excuses !
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Re: Re: The excuses !
I guess not..
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Re: Re: Re: The excuses !
Just goes to show that you're as filthy and immoral as your government is, masking its citizens' IP addresses to get cheaper Adobe Photoshop.
You're a freetard and according to you, you should be ashamed of yourself.
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Do as we say, not as we do
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3 Monkeys of Government: See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil
Society is everything but polite these days and the internets have taken that to levels I didn't expect back when I used BBS via acoustic modem to post comments. What is interesting is the growth to forums via dialup allowed every person who could master the tech a voice on any subject; it also allowed me to IP ban idiots. Today I am here via 16Mb/s cable with software my non-tech mother can use. Has this had the effect of presenting human nature unfiltered? Pretty much.
I was called an elitist in a forum post in the early 1990's by someone who felt forums did not need policing. Right, thread locked. This site, techdirt, is not a forum it is OP-ED with comments. Ban one wingnut and it subverts the message that all points of view need hearing.
Lastly, if some comments are psychotic just click report and hope it gets hidden. If that fails do what I do -- Up the dose man.
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