Monday, April 2, 2012

The End of Anonymous Comments?

From the web site McIntyre vs Ohio:

Joe Lieberman, it seems, is looking to crank up the anti-terrorism volume a bit further. I would have thought that with Bin Laden killed we’d be heading in the other direction by now.

But a friend of mine in the GPO let me know that Lieberman is proposing an amendment to section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. That is the law that gives immunity to information content providers for the conduct of others. In other words, a blogger or forum host isn’t responsible for defamatory comments by anonymous commenters.

This amendment to that law would change that, by stripping out the immunity and leaving web hosts potentially liable. Yuck. A draft of the bill, apparently to be introduced tomorrow, is here: Section 230 Amendment The act as it stands now reads:
No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.
The amendment reads (underline is an addition and strike through is a deletion in legislatureland):
No A provider or user of an interactive computer service shall may be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.

The Senator calls this anti-terrorism legislation, in that if web hosts can be held accountable, they won’t let folks like the Taliban uses their services. This disrupts their communications.

(htDGM)

While you might think this is far-fetched, Lieberman (in)famously asked Twitter late last year to kill the Taliban Twitter feed. He has also tried to make First Amendment inroads by stopping the media from publishing leaked documents with the Shield Act.

The effect of this, of course, is that forum hosts and blogs may not be too keen on having anonymous commenters anymore if the hosts might be held responsible for the comments of others, thus chilling the free speech of the internet. We’ve enjoyed a bit of a Wild West since 1996 when the law was passed. This would bring us back to the days of Stratton Oakmont v. Prodigy, which preceded Section 230, and held that a publisher might be liable for the conduct of its message board participants under certain circumstances.

Lieberman’s amendment to Section 230 will be referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, of which he is the chairman. I guess that is one of the perks of the job, you can get your bills into and out of committee pretty fast, assuming you have the votes.

18 comments:

  1. I've got a pretty low opinion of Connecticut as it is, but who are these people that continue to vote this asshole (he truly is one) in?

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    1. The same kind of a-holes that continue to vote Rockefeller (west virginia) in over and over and over...

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    2. Computer bots.

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    3. Are you telling me the voting is rigged??? Ok, no surprise.

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  2. Does Lieberman have any redeeming value at all?

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  3. For the longest time, I thought that in the title: Lieberman (I), the "I" stood for Israel.

    And NO!! I am NOT anti-Semitic!!!

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  4. I fucking hate Joe Lieberman.

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  5. The article is an april fool's jape.

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  6. The "stealth" in this amendment is that the anti-terrorists, who are actually the greatest threat to both the safety and the liberty of our citizenry, could use this back door to intentionally post offensive anonymous comments as a pretext to close down web sites they don't like, for reasons that have nothing to do with terrorism, except their own. Freedom of speech is the bane of tyranny, and the internet has taken communication to a level never imagined. The 1WG / NWO cabal are up against the people, now able to talk to one another instantly Around the globe. Makes it a bit harder to run the old divide-and-conquer scams. Even though Redshield owns the press, we have more real news available now than ever in history, and I haven't turned my TV on in several years.

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  7. When the Main Stream Media is not being held responsible for all of their lies and misrepresentation certainly web masters have no responsibility for the content of their Blogs. This is just another Socialist ploy. The Socialists are ruining the economy, and they know it, and they are scared of the fallout. They are establishing a Police State as rapidly as possible because they know their own actions are leading to rioting and a national crisis - maybe even Civil War. When the main stream media is whipped into line - never varying from the truth again we can take on the Bloggers. A good place to start with the Main Stream Media is the Trayvon Martin case. I have never seen such an over blown pack of lies in print before in my life. I hope Zimmerman sues their socks off.

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    1. you would feel different if it was your son who got shot. Quit watching hanitty and bill spread their hate and lies it is rotting your soul ; they are paid millions of dollars to spread drama to keep americans distracted from looking behind the curtain to see the great selfish oz. Lieberman did not get enough votes he was installed.

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    2. You don't understand who runs the economy my friend. Corporate lobbyists pay our dear politicians to write legislation for their benefit. When it all goes to sh.t we get to bail the same corporations. When corporations own the government and run the economy, that's called fascism. In socialist countries like Sweden Denmark Germany, the money goes back to the people in the form of health, education, and other. The Rockefeller, Morgan and Rothchild dynasties sit at the top of all these fascist regimes, funding both sides in wars and have been controlling the world through banking and finance for generations.
      End the Fed and break up the banks and you end the the tyranny. Vote Ron Paul.

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    3. Joe a socialist? Now that is a truly bizarre idea.

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  8. Joe Liebermean needs to be tarred and feathered!!

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  9. What scares Lieberman so much about freedom of expression?

    The way I read that... effectively even Google could be considered the publisher of information it showed in it's search results?

    Looking at the comments that precede this one - all are anonymous. Clearly Robert Wenzel would have to be held responsible for each of these comments in Lieberman-world. Realistically, of course, blog commenting and most self publishing would have to stop.

    It's sad that all that was so right & good about America is being so gleefully dismantled - if not desecrated - by 'government zealots' like Lieberman who are far more concerned with increasing influence & control than they are with 'protecting' anyone.

    It's ten years on from 9/11 and every opportunity is still taken to keep the memory fresh and the fear and paranoia alive. It's necessary, of course, because terrorism fear & terrorism paranoia are the constant rationale for extending govt powers while reducing individual freedom.

    America is still in an official State of Emergency dating from 9/11. (actually from 9/16, but it was made retro-active to 9/11). Conveniently, being in a State of Emergency gives the government special powers - special powers they obviously enjoy far too much to give up.

    A 10 year State of Emergency...! Holy sh*t America - you're being played and manipulated like a sorry bunch of Goldman Sachs's "muppets".

    Egypt had an actual revolution, and still managed to end their State of Emergency in 12 months.

    So ask yourselves just who really benefits from repressive, suppressive, legislation of the type Lieberman proposes.

    Guess what? It ain't you.

    Now, I better post anonymously so I don't get added to some list of potential enemies of the state for speaking against the ineptocracy.

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    1. So true... This goverment... Pres & co. Are tearing our country apart as fast as possible! Years ago, before 9/11 when I believed McCain was an honorable man, I used to corispond with him regularly. I told him of my fear of an immanent civilwar. Then 9/11 was allowed to happen and I believe that the Pentagon was hit by a guided missle. I was Ship's Boatswain on a guided missle friggate and have knowledge that joe american does not! I also know what buildings look like when being "pulled" I'm retired USN and worked at a fire dept. that investigated tge Oklahoma Fed bldg. after got own up. The BATFE Gebts tried to keep the investigators from different depts. apart. There were a total of 4 bombs found in the rubble... None of the BATFE agents were in thee bldg. when it was blown up. Bldg. 7 at the American trade center was "pulled" within hours of the Towers being pulled... crumbling from the planes hitting them. Does anyone remember when a USArmry Air Corpss hit the Empire State Building? It's still standing! Am I a Conspiracy theriorst? No... I'm a conspiracy realist! What happened on 9/11 was a combination of letting things happen and being done to unite the country so it would not be in another civilwar, or revolution! The annoited one has set himslf up to controll all aspects of our lives on 3.16.2012. He has already set up to arrest any American citizen and make them disappear, or kill them outright. He has also done most unconstitutional acts and flonts it in his unconstitutional presidency (his birth cert. and draft cards are forgeries) furthermore, he is not a Christian--he only started going to a Christian church when he was told by the Chicago political mob that he had to--but a Muslem, which the rest of the world sees him as. This regime is full of his old terrorist friends and other subversives, who's agendas are to make this once great country just another 3rd world one. He's smart as the devil, 'cause he is one! Do any of you think if he were white he would not have been impeached by now? Our first black pres can't be impeached. I'm not a bigget, I'm native American! a Red Nigger, as we have been called! Get the blinders off! Get the real big picture! Get a global picture! Get a long gun, a shot gun and a hand gun and lots of ammo before the UN DISARMAMENT TREATY is brought up on July 2nd. You will need them if you want to stay out of the "Katrina" FEMA prisons that have sprung up around the country! I challenge all of you to check these things out for yourselves! Do what you like, but you'd better do it very quickly! May God bless this country! Vote the Islamic Fraud out of office this November! If we don't this country will be no better than a banana republic... but no longer a Republic! I am an independant democratic republican, Native American and very proud to say so!

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    2. So true... This goverment... Pres & co. Are tearing our country apart as fast as possible! Years ago, before 9/11 when I believed McCain was an honorable man, I used to corispond with him regularly. I told him of my fear of an immanent civilwar. Then 9/11 was allowed to happen and I believe that the Pentagon was hit by a guided missle. I was Ship's Boatswain on a guided missle friggate and have knowledge that joe american does not! I also know what buildings look like when being "pulled" I'm retired USN and worked at a fire dept. that investigated tge Oklahoma Fed bldg. after got own up. The BATFE Gebts tried to keep the investigators from different depts. apart. There were a total of 4 bombs found in the rubble... None of the BATFE agents were in thee bldg. when it was blown up. Bldg. 7 at the American trade center was "pulled" within hours of the Towers being pulled... crumbling from the planes hitting them. Does anyone remember when a USArmry Air Corpss hit the Empire State Building? It's still standing! Am I a Conspiracy theriorst? No... I'm a conspiracy realist! What happened on 9/11 was a combination of letting things happen and being done to unite the country so it would not be in another civilwar, or revolution! The annoited one has set himslf up to controll all aspects of our lives on 3.16.2012. He has already set up to arrest any American citizen and make them disappear, or kill them outright. He has also done most unconstitutional acts and flonts it in his unconstitutional presidency (his birth cert. and draft cards are forgeries) furthermore, he is not a Christian--he only started going to a Christian church when he was told by the Chicago political mob that he had to--but a Muslem, which the rest of the world sees him as. This regime is full of his old terrorist friends and other subversives, who's agendas are to make this once great country just another 3rd world one. He's smart as the devil, 'cause he is one! Do any of you think if he were white he would not have been impeached by now? Our first black pres can't be impeached. I'm not a bigget, I'm native American! a Red Nigger, as we have been called! Get the blinders off! Get the real big picture! Get a global picture! Get a long gun, a shot gun and a hand gun and lots of ammo before the UN DISARMAMENT TREATY is brought up on July 2nd. You will need them if you want to stay out of the "Katrina" FEMA prisons that have sprung up around the country! I challenge all of you to check these things out for yourselves! Do what you like, but you'd better do it very quickly! May God bless this country! Vote the Islamic Fraud out of office this November! If we don't this country will be no better than a banana republic... but no longer a Republic! I am an independant democratic republican, Native American and very proud to say so!

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