| 21st century eugenics (this is a re-post of my comments on an earlier thread.)
This bill is "eugenics for digital media."
Back in the 1960's, the attitude that overpopulation was Earth's biggest problem was quite prevalent. One proposed solution was to add contraceptive agents to the water supply, effectively sterilizing the entire population. Then, anyone who wanted to get pregnant would petition those in charge for the antidote. This way, those in charge could control population growth by only releasing so many doses of antidote.
Of course you can see the problems with this scheme. Not everyone uses the public water supply. Everyone's system would react to the contraceptive agents in different (and sometimes undesirable) ways. People dislike being manipulated against their will. Other antidotes could be produced without the consent of those in charge.
And here's the best part: those in charge could decide not just HOW MANY can reproduce, but also WHO is allowed to reproduce. The undesirable elements can be engineered out of society. (Anybody see the movie Gattaca?)
Flash-forward to 2002. All digital media (the public water supply) will be encrypted (the contraceptive agent). All media players (people's bodies) will honor the encryption and will prevent unauthorized copying (reproduction) and playback of unencrypted media.
Here's the best part: those in charge can choose NOT to license the encryption scheme to producers of undesirable media, like: sexually explicit video; music with profane lyrics; digital books whose content is uncomplimentary to those in power; etc.
The big unanswered question: who gets to decide what I can read, listen to, think, feel? The only acceptable answer is "me." Not government, not the church, not you. Me.
The experts (Stalin, Hitler, The Ayatollah, The Taliban) agree: censorship works. For a while, anyway. |
| And here's the best part: those in charge could decide not just HOW MANY can reproduce, but also WHO is allowed to reproduce. The undesirable elements can be engineered out of society. (Anybody see the movie Gattaca?)
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actually I'm of the belief that some people should be sterilized (I say this in jest only) |
