Blogging Ministry » -Internet Security

-Sec. Clinton: “Three Internet Freedoms”

Dr.D — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 07:04:11 +0000

: (Sec. Clinton via Wikipedia)

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared in a speech that unrestricted Internet access was a top priority of the Administration. In the process she took on China and a number of other countries around the world including Egypt for the recent cases of Internet censorship.

In her speech Secretary Clinton built stressed the importance of “Three Internet Freedoms”:

The right of all peoples to have access to an uncensored Internet.
The right of individuals to exercise free speech on the Internet
The right of businesses and other organizations to have access to uncensored information on the Internet in order to compete fairly.

Response: Wow, this is way more understanding and wisdom than I would have ever expected from Washington. Especially since some rumors had the Obama Administration looking for way to take control of the Internet using security as an excuse. *Top

-Google vs. China on Internet Censorship

Dr.D — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 23:43:42 +0000

: (Image via CrunchBase)

Google email accounts were presumably hacked by the Chinese government in December. Since the victims were primarily Chinese human rights activists this resulted in a strain between Google and the Chinese government.

Now Google is saying that they may quit China over censorship of search results.

For once Google is on our side. China is known to have a wall of censorship in place limiting search results and access to Christian sites around the world.

It is said that nearly 340 million Chinese use the Internet so the implications are huge. The government’s penchant for control is well known and Yahoo along with Google have been criticized in the past for going along with some of the Chinese regulations and requests. *Top

Dangerous ‘Cyberbullying’ Bill Before Congress

Dr.D — Thu, 07 May 2009 05:49:51 +0000

(Image by StephenMitchell via Flickr)

A new bill has been introduced in Congress addressing ‘Cyberbullying’- H.R. 1966. The dangerous part is the unforeseen ways the bill may ultimately be used by authorities and interpreted by activist judges in the future.

The ‘Cyberbullying’ bill revolves around using the Internet in particular—email, blogs instant messaging, websites, text messages and even telephones to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person. The penalty is up to 2 years in prison, a fine, and a felony.

It is the “cause substantial emotional distress” part that is wide open to conjecture and a variety of interpretation. Exactly what is ‘substantial emotional distress’?

What if…

-a gay person reads on a Bible study site that no one who practices homosexuality is going to Heaven—he is emotionally distressed by the teaching–would that be substantial enough?

-a Muslim sees the Danish Muhammad cartoon on your blog and claims to be emotionally distressed—would that count?

-a person comments on your blog that since you oppose Obama you’re a racist—you lose a night sleep–can you have them arrested?

-a person reads your blog and sees that you support Prop 8- the traditional Marriage amendment and uses your contact info. to send you a filthy email claiming that you and your family are going to be watched? Will the authorities act in your protection?

All of these ‘what if’s’ are not far fetched..believe me they have all happened and I have personally experienced some of these and worse. I believe that this bill could be used to limit free speech in unforeseen ways and might even be used against Christians and traditional Biblical teaching in particular.

Bills like this always start out with the best of intentions. In this case it is dedicated to ‘Megan Meier’, the young teenager who committed suicide when she was dumped on by someone pretending to be a boyfriend in a social network—who later turned out to be the mother of a former girl friend and rival.

The problem is—this bill is far-reaching and way too general. There is no possible way to predict how it will be used and who it will be used against. It really is time to stand up now and let your Representative know how you feel before it’s too late and precious rights are forever lost in the process.

Here’s that actual wording of the bill:

SEC. 3. CYBERBULLYING.

(a) In General- Chapter 41 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

`Sec. 881. Cyberbullying

`(a) Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person, using electronic means to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

`(b) As used in this section–

`(1) the term `communication’ means the electronic transmission, between or among points specified by the user, of information of the user’s choosing, without change in the form or content of the information as sent and received; and

`(2) the term `electronic means’ means any equipment dependent on electrical power to access an information service, including email, instant messaging, blogs, websites, telephones, and text messages.’.

(b) Clerical Amendment- The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 41 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

*Top

Lies on the Internet from Christian Sites?

Dr.D — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 17:08:34 +0000

(-Map of the Internet via Wikipedia)

A couple of years ago I was checking out the Internet to see what there was on a church organization that I belong too. I was completely shocked to find so much inaccurate material, and some down right malicious statements about several key leaders that I have known for over 20 years–a bunch of lies mixed in with some nearly truthful highly slanted innuendoes. Amazing!

What was really even more disturbing, the organization has tried to get the offending parties to correct their articles to no avail–and these were ‘Christian’ websites.

We won’t even talk about politics and the Internet as a source of damaging fallacious rumor! Most everyone is already aware of the lies when it comes to politics on the web.

But Christian sites really do answer to a higher power and there is an inherent expectation for truthfulness. Yet I do run across inaccurate ungracious and some downright mean stuff all the time, mostly on blogs. It always makes me wonder how visiting unbelievers react to all of our Christian ‘dirty linen’?

Here’s an interesting article by Doug Wead that got me thinking about this issue: “Glenn Hauman and lies on the internet“

A fascinating article about Wead trying to get inaccurate statements against him personally on the Internet corrected with little or no success. Also, the saga of several others in the same boat—an incredible story! Well Worth a read. *Top

Facebook Jihad

Dr.D — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:25:43 +0000

(-Image via Wikipedia)

I found this on the Persecution blog, originally posted on Jihad Watch:

Muslims hack “Christians on Facebook” site, change its name to “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet”

Todd Snider, whose pro-Israel site on Facebook was hacked and destroyed by Hizballah supporters, is not alone: the Facebook Jihad is breaking out all over.

“UPDATE #2: Religious hack attack against Christianity seen on Facebook,” by Rick C. Hodgin for TGDaily, March 11 (thanks to Religion of Peace):

Chicago (IL) – The Facebook group, Christians On Facebook, has become the latest target of attack for hackers who are posting pro-Islam messages. At 11:15am CDT today, the group’s name was changed to “La ilaha illallahu Muhammadur Rasulullah”, which means “There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” Since then the name has changed no fewer than ten times.
The Christians on Facebook group itself has over 327,000 members from all variations of the Christian faith. This channel or group hack appears to have been designed to replace the fundamental tenants of Christianity with those of Islam.

Response: A rather sinister reminder that Christians are not the only ones hoping to spread their message on the Internet. Facebook in particular seems to be vulnerable to these kind of attacks. I have heard of at least one other ministry that lost control of their Facebook page and the Facebook folks were not very helpful at all.

Also, this points out the importance of coming up with hard to hack passwords. Christian sites are famous for using New Testament names and verses. *Top