A license to get on the internet is coming

[seeder]

Are You Ready for a Driver’s License for the Internet?

The White House is leading efforts for a new authentication system that would have users prove their identity with a single ID across the Web. And states are starting to pilot the system.

Such incarnations of online authentication technology are sprouting up in state government agencies around the country, led by a White House vision of a new, central form of identification, what some are calling “a driver’s license for the Internet.”

http://www.govtech.com/security/Drivers-License-for-the-Internet.html

and

States Quietly Gearing Up For Internet “Driver’s License”

http://newswatch.us/states-quietly-gearing-up-for-internet-drivers-license/#sthash.cRscyDHb.dpuf

[Lilly]

This is not a good thing at all...say goodbye to what remains of personal freedom.

[Space Commander Travis]

Is it enshrined in the principles of a "free" country that one should have to prove one's identity to the Government? Of course, the reason is that the only people who seem to express any concern about this do so on the Internet, so therefore it's a nice easy way for the Government to identify who these troublemakers are. But i suppose as usual, "if you're doing nothing wrong, you'll have nothing to worry about".

[Lilly]

..."if you're doing nothing wrong, you'll have nothing to worry about".

Tell that to anyone who was Jewish in Germany during the rise of the Nazi Party.

[seeder]

Tell that to anyone who was Jewish in Germany during the rise of the Nazi Party.

Very well said

[nosuchthing]

Is it enshrined in the principles of a "free" country that one should have to prove one's identity to the Government? Of course, the reason is that the only people who seem to express any concern about this do so on the Internet, so therefore it's a nice easy way for the Government to identify who these troublemakers are. But i suppose as usual, "if you're doing nothing wrong, you'll have nothing to worry about".

It's not about being able to keep tabs on troublemakers. It's about exercising more and more control over the people they govern. And it's wrong. It's been wrong for far too long though anyhow, which is part of the reason it continues to only get worse. As adults we slowly become conditioned to it to the point of acceptance. Younger generations simply grow up with it so they never knew any different to begin with.

[Lilly]

I guess just using social media like Facebook to keep tabs on us wasn't enough for the government. In the future people will become controlled to the point of having little choices in their own lives. Healthcare, where you can live, what job you can have, what opinions you can publically voice...it will all be controlled. Welcome to the future!

Edited April 27, 2014 by Lilly
typo

[seeder]

Lets all come together and start a revolution?

[Lilly]

Lets all come together and start a revolution?

I think it's already happening...it's called "Anonymous".

[Space Commander Travis]

It's not about being able to keep tabs on troublemakers. It's about exercising more and more control over the people they govern. And it's wrong. It's been wrong for far too long though anyhow, which is part of the reason it continues to only get worse. As adults we slowly become conditioned to it to the point of acceptance. Younger generations simply grow up with it so they never knew any different to begin with.

isn't it the same thing? How easy it is for Government to decide to label anyone they think is displaying signs of thinking for themselves as a troublemaker, and so give them (and everyone who believes "if you're doing nothing wrong, you'll have nothing to worry about") the justification for keeping tabs on them as a threat to Society. At the risk of provoking the good Dr. Godwin again, the analogy with the Nazis really isn't too far-fetched, I think.

[seeder]

[Lilly]

I don't think it's quite as bad as being tasered for refusing to show one's ID (yet anyway). But, when traveling by air get ready to be strip searched at the whim of airport security (even if you're 90 years old and in a wheelchair).

[Space Commander Travis]

But because the Governments of the "Free World" don't actually call themselves Fascist, and they aren't as crude as simply jailing people merely for voicing dissent against the Government or supporting "Opposition parties", and they still maintain the illusion of being able to choose between one lot with one letter after their name, and another lot with another letter after their name, every few years, people still believe that they live in a "free country" and that any measures that Governments introduce are there just to "protect" them.

[Lilly]

BTW. I don't have any problem with 'Uncle Sam' wanting me to get used to being a country with various cultures (hispanic and others). I do have a problem with the government thinking they should be allowed to control every aspect of my life though.

[Grandpa Greenman]

Just another layer of taxation and control. You know they are going to want you to pay for it.

[seeder]

Just another layer of taxation and control. You know they are going to want you to pay for it.

Well we already do dont we? My ISP costs £20 a month

[Lilly]

... My ISP costs £20 a month

Get ready to pay another 10 (or more) for the license.

[Hawken]

This country is getting more like the former Soviet Union everyday. Militia group membership has been on the rise.

It's laws like this that inspire anti government groups to form and cause chaos.

[questionmark]

I guess just using social media like Facebook to keep tabs on us wasn't enough for the government. In the future people will become controlled to the point of having little choices in their own lives. Healthcare, where you can live, what job you can have, what opinions you can publically voice...it will all be controlled. Welcome to the future!

Well, there are some reticent members of society who just refuse to make soul striptease on a social media platform... so how are you going to control those?

[Lilly]

Well, there are some reticent members of society who just refuse to make soul striptease on a social media platform... so how are you going to control those?

Exactly, and 'those people' are probably the very same people who tend to think about what's actually going on...all the more reason to desire to gain control over them.

[Wickian]

Exactly, and 'those people' are probably the very same people who tend to think about what's actually going on...all the more reason to desire to gain control over them.

It would definitely be easier to know exactly what someone is reading or doing online by being able to type their name into a database and see every URL their license has been used on to access.

[Lilly]

It would definitely be easier to know exactly what someone is reading or doing online by being able to type their name into a database and see every URL their license has been used on to access.

Yep, and this is what the government wants to be able to do. Now, if I trusted the government to be benign, out for everyone's best interests, respectful of my privacy, tolerant of my opinions and so forth...but I don't. In fact, I think quite the opposite actually.

Edited April 27, 2014 by Lilly
typo

[seeder]

What if you had only three weeks before the Internet you know and love was about to disappear?

Would you spend your time binging on listicles or the final season of Breaking Bad? Or would you do something about it?

Would you email all your friends with the news? Blast your social media networks? Demand that Congress and the president keep this amazing invention from going away?

If the Internet had only three weeks left, would you take to the streets and raise hell?

I bet you would.

And here’s your chance to prove it: Because three weeks from today the Internet as we know it may not disappear, but it could be a lot closer to the precipice.

"In other words: Goodbye, open Internet. Hello, payola Schminternet."

On May 15, the Federal Communications Commission will propose a new set of rules that are supposed to stop big phone and cable companies from blocking websites or discriminating against apps and services they don’t like. Only as written the rules would do pretty much the opposite.

According to numerous sources, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s proposal would allow Internet service providers like Verizon or Time Warner Cable to charge extra fees to content companies like Google and Netflix for preferential treatment, guaranteeing their content reaches end-users ahead of those that don’t pay.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/04/25-4

[Space Commander Travis]

Whatever is binging on listicles?

[Lilly]

I think control of the internet will be gradual and insidious. I say this because if it was done all at once there would be repercussions. The freedom we currently have will simply be eaten away by 'this law and that fee' until it no longer exists.

I've glimpsed the future and I don't think I care for it all that much.