Bye, Bye Internet!
Manny
Surprise!
Good Morning Breakfastpoppers. Today is Thursday, March 20, 2014. Our friend, Manny, is with me this morning. He brought over enough bagels and cream cheese to feed an army. Please join us for breakfast and a chat. Manny has a surprise for you and you are not going to like it.
Hello, my dear human family. I have asked you here today to make you aware of a new outrage perpetrated by your President Obama. Your government has had control of the internet from its inception. The United States made sure that the internet functioned smoothly and that it was completely free from political pressures from all nations. It is with deep regret that I inform you that all of this is about to change.
Bowing to Pressure
The Obama administration just announced that it will give up its oversight of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, better known, or not known at all, as Icann. Authoritarian governments have been hard at work trying to "change" the internet to benefit their interests. President Obama has just given governments like Russia and China the green light to fulfill their dreams. He has "graciously" gotten out of the way. The internet that you have come to know and appreciate as a vehicle of communication without interference will be no more. What this amounts to is that countries like Russia, China and many others will be able to ban groups from using the internet to express their opinions and to publicize their causes.
Do As We Say!
Freedom of the internet will fast become a relic of the past. The ugly, intrusive fingers of government will point at a citizen or a group of individuals and forbid them to use the internet to express themselves. Russia and China have been engaged in an effort to challenge the internet through a United Nations agency called the International Telecommunication Union. For many years, they have made it quite clear that they wanted this group to replace the United States in terms of internet oversight. It is chilling to realize that it may soon be extremely easy to identify individuals that challenge unpopular government decisions. Russian and China want to impose a fee to providers when people access the Web internationally. Their aim is to stop global internet companies from granting equal access to the internet.
This hideous and dangerous move by the Obama administration must be addressed and reversed. Relinquishing oversight is akin to putting a muzzle on free speech. It is completely unthinkable that any American president would think that this is a good idea. On the other hand, it is not so much of a stretch when it comes to President Obama. He began his presidency by apologizing to the world for the actions of your nation. This latest move may just be another continuation of his apology tour. It is imperative that you kick up some dust and light a fire under the lazy rears of your representatives. I don't know if this fiasco can be reversed, but it is worth a try.
Do not let the world silence you. The internet that you have come to know will be gone. Your voices will be monitored and silenced when the powers that be decide they don't like what you said.
Manny's Song
The moment I wake up
Before I brush my wings
I say a little prayer for you
Manny....