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Thread 7241

Thread ID: 7241 | Posts: 5 | Started: 2003-06-10

Faust [OP]

2003-06-10 09:19 | User Profile

**Europeans Outlaw Net Hate Speech

By Julia Scheeres | Also by this reporter Page 1 of 1

02:00 AM Nov. 09, 2002 PT

The Council of Europe has adopted a measure that would criminalize Internet hate speech, including hyperlinks to pages that contain offensive content.

The provision, which was passed by the council's decision-making body (the Committee of Ministers), updates the European Convention on Cybercrime.

Specifically, the amendment bans "any written material, any image or any other representation of ideas or theories, which advocates, promotes or incites hatred, discrimination or violence, against any individual or group of individuals, based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin, as well as religion if used as pretext for any of these factors."

It also obliquely refers to the Holocaust, outlawing sites that deny, minimize, approve or justify crimes against humanity, particularly those that occurred during World War II.

"The emergence of international communication networks like the Internet provide certain persons with modern and powerful means to support racism and xenophobia and enables them to disseminate easily and widely expressions containing such ideas," the council's report on the amendment states. "In order to investigate and prosecute such persons, international cooperation is vital."

Many European countries have existing laws outlawing Internet racism, which is generally protected as free speech in the United States. The council cited a report finding that 2,500 out of 4,000 racist sites were created in the United States.

Critics say that the measure may push hate groups to set up virtual shop in the United States, pointing to a decision last year by a U.S. judge who ruled that Yahoo did not have to block French citizens' access to online sales of Nazi memorabilia, which are illegal in that country. The judge determined that U.S. websites are only subject to American law.

"This could lead to a clash of cultures," said Cedric Laurant, a Belgian lawyer and staff counsel with the Electronic Privacy and Information Center. "What will happen if the French police start asking local U.S. police to give them information about the people running a site?"

European countries may decide to censor U.S. content themselves, as Spain has done, suggested Carlos SÃÆÃÂ¡nchez Almeida, a cybercrime lawyer located in Barcelona.

Spain recently passed legislation authorizing judges to shut down Spanish sites and block access to U.S. Web pages that don't comply with national laws.

"If European countries adopt the (anti-racism) amendment of the European Council in their legislatures, they'll also be able to block websites from the U.S.A., despite the First Amendment."

Representatives of the 44 European countries on the European Council must decide whether to adopt or reject the measure during the next Parliamentary Assembly session in January. Countries who support the amendment will then need to ratify it in their national legislatures before making it law. End of story

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Faust

2003-06-10 09:22 | User Profile

**EU Law Turns ISPs Into Spies?

By Julia Scheeres | Also by this reporter Page 1 of 1

02:00 AM May. 29, 2002 PT

A broad coalition of civil liberties groups is urging the European Parliament to reject a proposal that would require European countries to retain detailed information on citizens' phone and Internet use for policing purposes.

The 626-member assembly is scheduled to vote Thursday on the Communications Data Protection Directive, which is part of a larger overhaul of Europe's telecommunications laws.

If approved, the legislation would require the European Union's 15 member countries to draft laws requiring ISPs and telephone companies to keep track of phone calls, Internet surfing, e-mails, faxes and even pager messages, for an unlimited time period in case the data is needed by law enforcement authorities.

The proposal has been attacked by 40 different civil liberties groups in Europe and the United States, and an online petition has gathered over 16,000 signatures urging parliament members to vote against the data-retention measure.

"This proposal would allow European governments to put ISPs and phone companies in the spy business," said Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), which is based in Washington, D.C. "This basically means open-ended surveillance of all users."

European telecommunications companies have also opposed the measure, which they say will be costly to implement.

An amendment by parliament member Marco Cappato to eliminate the data retention clause from the telecommunication legislation altogether will also be considered on Thursday.

Current EU telecommunications law requires customers' data to be eliminated shortly after the billing cycle expires.

The European push to track communications gained speed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack in the United States. In October, President George Bush sent a list of 47 recommendations to the Parliament that would align Europe with the U.S. war on terrorism, including longer retention of communication data.

If the European Parliament approves the directive, the 15 member states would be required to pass national legislation in accordance with its provisions, legal experts said.

Ironically, similar efforts to track communication data in the United States as part of the U.S. Patriot Act were rejected by U.S. legislators.

End of story

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Lady_America

2003-07-02 05:02 | User Profile

Didn't Socrates commit suicide because he 'corrupted Athenian youths'? European philosophy is rammed down the throats of everyone and noone is allowed their own free thought.

Back in the 1970's when in Jr. High and while studying the Soviet Union and their lack of freedom, she made a comment that seems to reek truth. She said about the Soviet Union that they may not have the freedoms today that you and I have, but one day, they will and we won't.

Perhaps that day is here. The freedoms of expression of thought are not permitted anymore because they clash with the ruling party. The ruling party have definitely learned to keep the masses under control, or they'll lose them like with the fragmentation of the Soviet Union. The ruling party and their clowns are out to save their jobs and stature in the world.

Conservative

2003-07-02 10:20 | User Profile

Interestingly, such laws would not hold if the majority of Whites themselves were opposed to it. But this is not the case; quite interestingly, most European Whites support racial self-destruction. Sometimes I tell myself, if Whites want to engage in racial suicide, then let them carry out their dreams.

We could of course blame the Jews, but the fact that virtually every European White is so willing to let Jews lead them by the nose to self-destruction, puts a huge chunk of the blame on Whites themselves for being a door-matt race. Maybe we should just let natural selection take its course.

Regards,

Ares

iwannabeanarchy

2003-07-02 14:28 | User Profile

Ares, surely the efforts of non-mainstream whites to renew white racial consciousness is also part of this 'natural selection' of which you speak?

In any case, your points would be more cogent if whites had arrived at their opinions on the worth of continuing our race via non-coerced means. Since this debate has actually been carried out under the gun of left-leaning goverments, we might want to ask if the elites running or colluding with these governments properly represent 'the white race.' Now I am glad that you do not want to simply blame the Jews (although I would not that Jews have traditioanlly formed the core of anti-white leftist movements). But even putting aside the question of anti-goyim influence, it still seems pretty plausible that there has been a massive disjunct between the views of the overall white population and the views of statist elites, with the latter consistently using violent coercion to distort free debate, and impose their views on the majority. Since these statist elites by and large acquired their power over the masses through deception--and not honorable combat, as in the case of white dominance over non-whites--we are duty bound to oppose their projects with all means necessary, even by now they have coerced the majority to mouth their views.