So being in Asia, and being that in the Philippines, I thought of myself lucky that no faceless goverment body will pass a law for complete internet control...
Not too long ago, my local government decided to pass a Cybercrime Prevention Law that will deal with the obvious like hacking, cyber child pornography, what have you. Understandable...
But what strikes me strange and daunting is that even our comments/posts in social sites, if not well mannered in their distasteful palate, will earn us a free ticket to jail for a maximum of 12 years. Say goodbye to what was called freedom of speech.
And that isn't limited to the comments/posts/tweets after the law has been passed, even my very first post in Facebook can be used against me if they find it offensive...
Heck, even peer to peer file sharing may be a thing of the past in this country. And they think why isn't this country as good as other countries; simple, this country votes for officials that are not open minded, sensitive divas, that want everything their way at the country's progress' expense. They don't want freedom of speech in general since they will realize how smarter the general community is than they are, and this would warrant their own impeachment.
Hacktivists have taken aim at thwarting this law, and I am sure, that they and us netizens will prevail in sinking such a nuisance of a law. But to even have this law filed in the first place is crazy. They are obviously trying to take control of the internet...
I mean, why make a Cybercrime law, when, for example, sleazy comments will not directly hurt the receiving user in any physical way (yeah, I am aware of the psychological aspects, but if one can't take criticism, why post any content in the first place!?)
I understand the need for an anti cyber child pornography and any of the like, but the other parts of this law just plain sucks. It is taking away every right we have.
What they should be investing more time and effort on is the real, tangible, crimes; drug trafficking, etc. They should try harder to make the real world a better place.
However, if this gets accepted as a law, then by golly, my life as net junkie will die along with the Philippines' hope of being a better country.
I write this here so at least more people worldwide will know the current state of the internet here in my country. A Filipino version of SOPA and CISPA if you will. And hopefully, people even outside this country can support us in order to stop this law from being accepted.
Sorry if this is lengthy... this was a pseudo-rant. LOL
More info here:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/274656/cybercrime-law-violates-freedom-of-expression