Internet censorship December 9, 2005

Internet censorship
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/
December 9, 2005 -- Internet censorship. It did not happen overnight
but slowly came
to America's shores from testing grounds in China and the Middle East.

Progressive and investigative journalist web site administrators are
beginning to
talk to each other about it, e-mail users are beginning to understand
why their e-
mail is being disrupted by it, major search engines appear to be
complying with it,
and the low to equal signal-to-noise ratio of legitimate e-mail and
spam appears to
be perpetuated by it.

In this case, "it," is what privacy and computer experts have long
warned about:
massive censorship of the web on a nationwide and global scale. For
many years, the
web has been heavily censored in countries around the world. That
censorship
continues at this very moment. Now it is happening right here in
America.

The agreement by the Congress to extend an enhanced Patriot Act for
another four
years will permit the political enforcers of the Bush administration,
who use law
enforcement as their proxies, to further clamp censorship controls on
the web.



Internet Censorship: The Warning Signs Were Not Hidden

The warning signs for the crackdown on the web have been with us for
over a decade.
The Clipper chip controversy of the 90s, John Poindexter's Total
Information
Awareness (TIA) system pushed in the aftermath of 9-11, backroom deals
between the
Federal government and the Internet service industry, and the Patriot
Act have
ushered in a new era of Internet censorship, something just half a
decade ago
computer programmers averred was impossible given the nature of the
web. They were
wrong, dead wrong.

Take for example of what recently occurred when two journalists were
taking on the
phone about a story that appeared on Google News. The story was about a
Christian
fundamentalist move in Congress to use U.S. military force in Sudan to
end genocide
in Darfur. The story appeared on the English Google News site in Qatar.
But the very
same Google News site when accessed simultaneously in Washington, DC
failed to show
the article. This censorship is accomplished by geolocation filtering:
the
restriction or modifying of web content based on the geographical
region of the
user. In addition to countries, such filtering can now be implemented
for states,
cities, and even individual IP addresses.

With reports in the Swedish newspaper Svensa Dagbladet today that the
United States
has transmitted a Homeland Security Department "no fly" list of 80,000
suspected
terrorists to airport authorities around the world, it is not
unreasonable that a
"no [or restricted] surfing/emailing" list has been transmitted to
Internet Service
Providers around the world. The systematic disruptions of web sites and
email
strongly suggests that such a list exists.

News reports on CIA prisoner flights and secret prisons are
disappearing from Google
and other search engines like Alltheweb as fast as they appear. Here
now, gone
tomorrow is the name of the game.

Google is systematically failing to list and link to articles that
contain explosive
information about the Bush administration, the war in Iraq, Al Qaeda,
and U.S.
political scandals. But Google is not alone in working closely to
stifle Internet
discourse. America On Line, Microsoft, Yahoo and others are slowly
turning the
Internet into an information superhighway dominated by barricades, toll
booths, off-
ramps that lead to dead ends, choke points, and security checks.

America On Line is the most egregious is stifling Internet freedom. A
former AOL
employee noted how AOL and other Internet Service Providers cooperate
with the Bush
administration in censoring email. The Patriot Act gave federal
agencies the power
to review information to the packet level and AOL was directed by
agencies like the
FBI to do more than sniff the subject line. The AOL term of service
(TOS) has
gradually been expanded to grant AOL virtually universal power
regarding
information. Many AOL users are likely unaware of the elastic clause,
which says
they will be bound by the current TOS and any TOS revisions which AOL
may elect at
any time in the future. Essentially, AOL users once agreed to allow the
censorship
and non-delivery of their email.

Microsoft has similar requirements for Hotmail as do Yahoo and Google
for their
respective e-mail services.

There are also many cases of Google's search engine failing to list
and link to
certain information. According to a number of web site administrators
who carry anti-
Bush political content, this situation has become more pronounced in
the last month.
In addition, many web site administrators are reporting a dramatic
drop-off in hits
to their sites, according to their web statistic analyzers. Adding to
their woes is
the frequency at which spam viruses are being spoofed as coming from
their web site
addresses.

Government disruption of the political side of the web can easily be
hidden amid
hyped mainstream news media reports of the latest "boutique" viruses
and worms,
reports that have more to do with the sales of anti-virus software and
services than
actual long-term disruption of banks, utilities, or airlines.



Internet Censorship in the US: No Longer a Prediction

Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Cisco Systems have honed their skills at
Internet
censorship for years in places like China, Jordan, Tunisia, Saudi
Arabia, the United
Arab Emirates, Vietnam, and other countries. They have learned well.
They will be
the last to admit they have imported their censorship skills into the
United States
at the behest of the Bush regime. Last year, the Bush-Cheney campaign
blocked
international access to its web site -- www.georgewbush.com -- for
unspecified
"security reasons."

Only those in the Federal bureaucracy and the companies involved are in
a position
to know what deals have been made and how extensive Internet censorship
has become.
They owe full disclosure to their customers and their fellow citizens.


------------------------------------------

Censorship tactics on THE INTERNET
When you are a member of an egroup,
you can watch the censorship happen before your very own eyes.
HERE IS What is SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN:
You send a message to the group, and you get your own message back,
because you are one of the members of the group.
HERE IS What DID HAPPEN:
I sent a message to the group, and did NOT get that message back.
I checked to see if it was a moderated group,
and the message HAD not yet been approved.
Sometimes I sent a test message, and the test message was delivered.
Then I found that the censored message had been marked as "spam",
and put into the "spam" folder.
Now what about the strange problem in just getting the message OUT?
FIRST I sent a message ANNOUNCING that the censored message was
about to be sent, within five minutes.
THEN I sent the censored message.
I got LOTS of emails back from people;
who got the announcement,
but did NOT get the censored message.

Below you will see a few of the problems,
that I encountered trying to sent the censored message
NONE of the things, that you see below, EVER happened,
while sending the ANNOUNCEMENT.
THESE THINGS HAPPENED ALMOST EVERY SINGLE TIME,
THAT I TRIED TO SEND
THE CENSORED MESSAGE.
Just a few of the censorship tactics that I saw:
1. AFTER SENDING A FEW OF THESE MESSAGES, WHILE TRYING TO GO BACK TO
http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups

I GOT THIS:
We're Sorry... The database is unavailable at the moment.
Please try again in a few minutes. If you continue to experience
trouble, please contact our Customer Care team. We apologize for this
inconvenience.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THEN AFTER I GOT BACK IN I RAN INTO TO NUMEROUS OTHER
DELAYS, AND FRUSTRATIONS.


Here are a few examples:

Send - Verify To finish sending
this message and help us fight spam, please enter the character string
as it is shown in the box below.
Trouble seeing this image? Character string shown: [input]
Why do I have to do this? This step helps Yahoo! prevent spammers
from using Yahoo! Mail, and helps to ensure that your email will be
delivered.
Character string verification technology developed in collaboration
with the Captcha Project at Carnegie Mellon University.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Character String Verification Error You need to pass the
verification test to send any more email.
Your message has not been sent and will not be saved.
Back to Mail Home


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Message Viewing Error Sorry, but we can't display
the message you are trying to view. This error usually occurs when you
are trying to access a message that has been moved or deleted.
Please return to the appropriate folder view (Inbox, a personal
folder, etc.) and try to select the message from there.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Send - Verify
To finish sending this message and help us fight spam, please enter
the character string as it is shown in the box below.
Trouble seeing this image? Character string shown: [input]
Why do I have to do this? This step helps Yahoo! prevent spammers
from using Yahoo! Mail, and helps to ensure that your email will be
delivered.
Character string verification technology developed in collaboration
with the Captcha Project at Carnegie Mellon University.
---------------------------------------------------------------
From: Administrator (AT) hcm-pg (DOT) com.my To:
savefreed0m2003 Subject: Symantec Mail Security detected prohibited
content in a message sent from your address


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Send - Verify
To finish sending this message and help us fight spam, please enter
the character string as it is shown in the box below.
Trouble seeing this image? Character string shown: [input]
Why do I have to do this? This step helps Yahoo! prevent spammers
from using Yahoo! Mail, and helps to ensure that your email will be
delivered.
Character string verification technology developed in collaboration
with the Captcha Project at Carnegie Mellon University.






-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Send - Verify To finish
sending this message and help us fight spam, please enter the character
string as it is shown in the box below.
Trouble seeing this image? Character string shown: [input]
Why do I have to do this? This step helps Yahoo! prevent spammers
from using Yahoo! Mail, and helps to ensure that your email will be
delivered.
Character string verification technology developed in collaboration
with the Captcha Project at Carnegie Mellon University.






------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There was a problem: There was a temporary problem in sending
your message. Please try again.
Your message has not been sent.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
The page cannot be displayed The page you are looking
for is currently unavailable. The Web site might be experiencing
technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your browser
settings.
---------------------------------
Please try the following:

Click the Refresh button, or try again later.

If you typed the page address in the Address bar, make sure that it
is spelled correctly.

To check your connection settings, click the Tools menu, and then
click Internet Options. On the Connections tab, click Settings. The
settings should match those provided by your local area network (LAN)
administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).
If your Network Administrator has enabled it, Microsoft Windows can
examine your network and automatically discover network connection
settings.
If you would like Windows to try and discover them,
click Detect Network Settings
Some sites require 128-bit connection security. Click the Help menu
and then click About Internet Explorer to determine what strength
security you have installed.
If you are trying to reach a secure site, make sure your Security
settings can support it. Click the Tools menu, and then click Internet
Options. On the Advanced tab, scroll to the Security section and check
settings for SSL 2.0, SSL 3.0, TLS 1.0, PCT 1.0.
Click the Back button to try another link.


Cannot find server or DNS Error
Internet Explorer

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Send - Verify
To finish sending this message and help us fight spam, please enter
the character string as it is shown in the box below.
Trouble seeing this image? Character string shown: [input]
Why do I have to do this? This step helps Yahoo! prevent spammers
from using Yahoo! Mail, and helps to ensure that your email will be
delivered.
Character string verification technology developed in collaboration
with the Captcha Project at Carnegie Mellon University.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Continue
Send - Verify To finish sending
this message and help us fight spam, please enter the character string
as it is shown in the box below.
Trouble seeing this image? Character string shown: [input]
Why do I have to do this? This step helps Yahoo! prevent spammers
from using Yahoo! Mail, and helps to ensure that your email will be
delivered.
Character string verification technology developed in collaboration
with the Captcha Project at Carnegie Mellon University.










---------------------------------

Did you know that AOL is even blocking email that comes from Google
mail?
That, after Google invests a billion dollars in AOL.
Strange.
My email to AOL just got blocked. Read about it here:
http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-censored2.html

Someone said to me:
++ AOL blocks almost all e-mail.
++ By default, the AOL user settings will only allow e-mail from
++ addresses in the recipients address book. I have
++ found that most AOL users are new to the net and have
++ no idea what settings are in there.

But here, AOL has gone a step further. Their mail handlers stop ALL
email from my domain, and from my Google Gmail account, no matter
what settings the user may have.

They return my email with an error code of:

Error RLY:B2
EXPLANATION:
This error message indicates that a block has been placed against your
IP address because we have received numerous complaints concerning mail
coming from that IP address.

Which isn't true. I have never ever sent offensive email or spam to
anyone there. It's just that somebody doesn't like my web site, which
the error code from Gmail reveals. All Gmail is returned with an
error code of:

Error 554 HVU:B1
EXPLANATION:
There is at least one URL in your email that is generating substantial
complaints from AOL members.

I investigated, and used Google to search for "AOL censorship" and
found out that it is old news -- that AOL has a very long history of
heavy-handed censorship. Two or three people saying that they
don't like your web site and are "offended" by the content is enough
to get you banned.

Well that is certainly true in my case. I tell the truth about cults,
so I get a lot of hate mail. Probably half a dozen cult members
complained.

Oh well, have a good day anyway.

--
* Agent Orange *
* ora... (AT) orange-papers (DOT) org *
* AA and Recovery Cult Debunking *
* http://www.orange-papers.org/ *
** Foisting ineffective quack medicine on sick people is not
** a wonderful noble act of self-sacrifice to help others;
** it is the reprehensible behavior of a damned fool.

TechSpot.Com reports:

Google's recent deal to buy a 5 per cent stake in AOL for $1 billion
could help it sidestep the litigation. Under the terms of the AOL deal,
Google Talk users will be able to talk to users of AOL?otalTalkl
system. Analysts noted that Google may also be able to licence AOL
VoIP (voice over internet protocol) technology.

It looks like somebody forgot to tell AOL that they are supposed to
communicate with Google.