I'm from the Netherlands. That may sound like a weird statement to start a column with-- don't worry, at the end of this week's Sunday Eve Column you'll understand why I put my nationality so bluntly up front.
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Member since:2005-07-06
"Web sites should be considered as press, and have all of the same rights (and obligations?)."
That's ridiculous. Seriously. That is ridiculous.
Not everyone IS created equal. I am a software engineer and I do not believe myself to be a journalist. I haven't the skill nor the common sense to remain 100% unbiased (not that journalists do these days). But why should BLOGs be considered journalism? They cannot even be considered private because the author has thrown them out onto the WWW for EVERYONE to see and read? They could write ANYTHING. People act oddly on the internet, they feel invulnerable or something, I don't know what it is...
On the issue of equality, there is also a law in the Netherlands that you cannot spank your potentially badly misbehaving child because (and this used to be on the actual, official website for the Netherlands - haven't checked lately - I found it while at an Oracle Portal class, they use Oracle's products) they are EQUAL TO ADULTS. Well, wrong. Physiologically speaking they are not "complete"... the brain CONTINUES TO GROW (ridges continue to form) until the late teens and in some cases the early 20's actually. Emotionally they are in turmoil as their bodies deal with constant growth and hormonal changes, and they haven't nearly the same knowledge and sense and established "id" (completely formed mental process of self and the realization of its relationship to the rest of the world around it).
So I have a hard time with any hyper-liberalized beliefs (whether born out of honest desire to "do right by everyone" or not) whether they be about human relationships, psychology or the definition of and application of law of said hyper-liberal source.
I am not an uncompassionate person, honestly, but there also has to be lines in civilization. Not everyone will always be pleased with the lines, they will always suck for someone, but we are not ready for "utopian society." We just cannot handle it. We need regulation, we need control, we NEED order.
Member since:2005-07-06
Not everyone IS created equal.
Unfortunately, most of the libral democratic constitutions in the world do not hold this view. If you don't like it, you're welcome to move to China, or Iran, Vietnam, or North Korea. There are lots of places that don't have such troublesome clauses in their fundemental documents...
Member since:
2005-07-06
In the Netherlands, those guys were killed by fanatics because of what they say.
In the US, Apple is trying to stop certain web sites that report their secrets?
Is this the same thing?
No.
Why?
a) Apple is not _killing_ the authors of said web sites.
b) The web sites are not expressing opinions about Apple, just revealing secret stuff.
c) Apple is trying to do this legally (although the legality can in deed be questioned)
Basically - what I think you meant to write is: "Web sites should be considered as press, and have all of the same rights (and obligations?)".
On that point, I'd be willing to agree with you.