The latest version of Smith's bill would require American IT companies that do business with countries known for clamping down on free speech to keep records on and notify the Justice Department of demands for personal information about Internet users. The legislation also would give the attorney general authority to order tech firms not to comply with those demands if there is a reasonable likelihood that the request is not made for legitimate law enforcement purposes. Additionally, the bill would require the U.S. firms to disclose data they block when asked by foreign governments and disclose how they filter search engine results.

Smith's measure would prevent U.S. IT firms from blocking U.S. government Web sites and would create an Office of Global Internet Freedom within the State Department to promote freedom of expression online. "The reality is that dictatorships need two pillars to survive -- propaganda and secret police," Smith said in a press release. "The Internet -- when misused by authorities --gives them both in spades." He added that it is "unconscionable that American businesses... would even consider enabling repressive governments that seek to stifle basic freedoms."

--

team england

US companies are making millions selling software to repressive governments, software that inspects each packet, which counteracts what little "security" proxy servers may provide. This software doesn't just block access to particular websites, it identifies the sender of an HTTP request, logs the information, and then turns those logs over to the government. Yahoo recently admitted that information of this type, provided to the Chinese government, allowed that government to arrest a pro-democracy user. Is that legal in China? You bet. So what? It's still not right. 

America is not about capitalism, it's about freedom. If the message we send to the world is that we believe in freedom of speech unless it gets in the way of US companies that sell software designed to abrogate that freedom of speech, then we are unmasked to the world as hypocrites. It's long past time for our government to step up and set a better standard, and to uphold the ideals those Congressmen have sworn to defend: freedom of speech.

Jouer au poker en ligne sur poker770 et remportez un package WSOP gratuit