Terminally Incoherent

The Online Gambling Ban is the stupidest internet regulation initiative since “War on Pr0n”. I haven’t done any statistical research about this, but I think that next to pr0n and email, gambling is one of the major uses of internet for average Americans.

It’s a multi billion dollar online industry, with grows at the astonishing rate of $12 billion a year. There are literally thousands upon thousands of gambling websites out there - and most of them are located outside of US. Sure, we can close the gambling websites located within the country but how do you prevent people from using foreign websites?

The House bill would outlaw electronic money transfers by credit card or other means for betting purposes, and protect banks from being held liable for blocking transactions they reasonably believe to be outlawed. The bill would require Internet service providers to block illegal gambling Web sites.

Awesome! So if this legislation goes live, ISP’s will have to spend millions of dollars building sophisticated firewalls to censor their customers’ internet use! Banks and credit card companies will have to invest in creating a no-pay blacklists and take the heat from furious customers who suddenly can’t gamble online.

And since there there will be no legal way to pay for gambling, all the online bets will have to be channeled through unsecure, and shady payment sites. Net result - more internet censorship, allot of online shops will be accidentally blacklisted by credit card companies, and more people will be ripped off by shady gambling websites that slip under the radar.

I think UserFriendly described this situation really well:

comic © userfriendly - click to enlarge

Remember when EFF sued AT&T for allowing NSA to illegally wiretap it’s customers? After allot of dodging, and trying to brush off the case, the government now decided to go ahead with it… But in a secret, shadowy non public FISA courts. This is not cool! It is downright scary!

Go and check out the EFF action center page, and send a letter to your representative. Seriously, this is crazy.

Why is it that every time I read the news, they remind me of Orwell’s 1984? This can’t be a good thing, can it?

This might be the best summary of the Net Neutrality madness out there. It has everything including excerpts of Ted Stevens’ speech, animated illustrations of tubes, and witty commentary from John Stewart. Watch it:

I think that Ted Stevens single handedly created a case for net neutrality, while trying to argue against it. Most people have a shady idea what this whole thing is all about. But when you see that Stevens has no clue about how internet works, you must ask yourself: how good is the legislation he is proposing? How good can it be given his limited grasp of the subject matter?

Thank you Ted! Your internet illiteracy and your magical tubes may actually help us save the internet!

Big thanks to Ara who sent me this video

I made this sign to support Net Neutrality. If you don’t get it, please go and read about the speech given by Senator Ted Stevens.

Remember kids, save the internet!

Update Sun, July 09 2006, 02:51 AM

Heh, check out the ppt presentation made for Stevens’ speech. It also has a truck road-sign like image in it! Great minds think alike

Every time I rent a movie from blockbuster, I am forced to watch that fucking dumb anti-piracy advertisement. Thank you MPAA for reminding me how much I hate your guts. I really, really enjoy when you shove your crappy propaganda down my throat. I just gave you my money, and now you shit on me. Brilliant! Simply brilliant! If I was a part of a failing industry, I would fling poo at my few remaining clients too!

I think that advertisement is the most hateful, spiteful, annoying thing in existence. It was only a matter of time till someone spoofs it, and make it into something completely opposite. I just found first attempt to take the anti-customer propaganda, and turn it into a political statement. Awesome! Thank you youwouldnt.net!

found @ boingboing