Post by angryumpire on May 25, 2011 6:11:22 GMT 2
The proverbial is hitting the fan in Turkey and Europe regarding the Govts. restrictions on internet access.
As of Aug. 22, all Internet users in Turkey will have to choose among one of four Internet filtering packages, under a regulation by the Prime Ministry’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority, or BTK. All of the packages will block certain websites, and the filtering criteria will not be made public.
Anyone caught caught using proxy servers to bypass the restrictions will be subject to heavy fines.
BTK's Internet censorship violates the European Convention on Human Rights and the Turkish constitution. And yet they're still trying to force it through.
The BTK claims they are providing families with an important service, and that if we choose the "standard" filter, our Internet access won't change. But this is clearly a lie to generate support for censorship. The filters are already readily available for download by anyone who wishes to install them -- this regulation will make filters mandatory. The BTK would have total control over which internet sites are blocked under the filters and could add or remove sites without our knowledge -- giving them the power to ban thousands of new websites without any good reason.
