The only thing they can't do is watch you sleep - for now. The Government's eye is on you.

[Justice Shades]

"Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither." - Benjamin Franklin

Yeah, it's not a great situation. I don't think people are overreacting at all, they're underreacting if anything. I would like to say I'm surprised by this new law, but sadly that's not the case. Our undemocratic, authoritarian government has been surreptitiously passing laws like this for years under the pretext of protecting us from terrorism.

The only way this could possibly be thought of as okay would be if the government in question were one hundred per cent trustworthy, if we could be absolutely sure that they were taking care of our best interests. This, of course, is very unrealistic. As the Labour government have been shown to be deeply dishonest and frankly couldn't organise a piss-up at a brewery, I think people have every right to be concerned.

 

[curty129]

Orwell's greatest dystopian novel is slowly becoming a reality,har har har!

And it's a shame,since two of my good friends are in England. I can't imagine how people are not flipping out over it. 1984 should be made a mandatory read in schools,i say.

Oh Comon, is there no Privacy in the world now

Nah,there still is. A lil' bit. But i'd like to keep it. Just for the novelty value.

So you've read at least one of Orwell's books, and it was recommended that I read books by the authors Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Warren Ellis and Orwell (George, i assume? >>').

I was wondering if you could recommend the best books you've read by any of these authors? ^^'

Also, he claimed that they'd "blow my mind" xP So I'm wondering if he was talking about non-fiction, or fiction books. Preferably non-fiction, but either'll be good for me

So yeah.

tl;dr - Recommend any good books by Orwell?

Err OT: Um. I'm not too bothered as long as they don't come personally questioning me about my conversations.

"I heard you mention the word 'bomb'?" "Er.. Yeah. I was saying that the pot noodle i was eating was 'tha bomb'.." "...We've got our eyes on you."

 

[Rolling Thunder]

I need me an AR-15....

 

[chronobreak]

No individual really has any rights. You are subject to the whims of whatever Government you reside under, and barring that, the people with the guns. Feel free to create your own internet that isn't monitored by the Government, but other than that there is really nothing you can do, besides raise your voice and fists in opposition, but the concept of "rights" is nothing more than a concept in the end, right?

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

I'm pretty sure this plan was scrapped by ministers today

Source? Even a source confirming the OP would be good.

 

[zyoto12]

Bwah ha ha ha?

 

[Kriptonite]

Hmmm...I guess that thing I was reading about basic human rights was in the correct section at Barnes&Noble. The Fiction section.

 

[Kollega]

-snip-

Orwell wrote a lot of essays - As I Please,Politics in English Language,and so on. He wrote an account of his action in Spanish civil war (where he got promptly shot in the throat). He also wrote Animal Farm,a satire on Russian Revolution and how it gone horribly wrong.

Here's an online library of sorts. As for Alan Moore,he was probably recommended to you because he made a graphic novel,V for Vendetta,which deals with the same issue - totalitarian Britain.

 

[Stabber1010]

The government knowing about all these useless forum posts will totally stop someone from bombing subways.

 

[Dark Knifer]

I don't care.
Why?
I'll leave the country if it gets too bad, and not look back.

Wow... Your avatar is really distracting...
But that's sounds like the best idea if I wanted to leave. At it hasn't happened here in Austrlia... I think... _>

 

[Pimppeter2]

Well I guess the goverment knows that I had sex with natalie. And I'm underage. Must run for my life to avoid the feds!

 

[vampirekid.13]

Not as much as the media claims. The wiretapping thing has been over for a long time.

A snowball starts small but once set rolling gains great momentum.

the better question is why does that upset you so much? it pretty much only affects you if you take part in illegal activities on the internet and over the phone. so providing you are a fine upstanding brit this really shouldnt matter to you at all.

... This is exactly why things like this come to pass, because the majority are too institutionalised (I want a better word but this is all that comes to mind for now) to do anything different than acquiesce.

As long as I do nothing wrong, I shouldn't be bothered about ANY of my privacy being breached? Do you realise how absolutely ridiculous that is?

The ball has begun rolling, and as long as they time it right, and have groomed the public to roll over and accept it enough there's absolutely nothing they won't be able to do.

Not as much as the media claims. The wiretapping thing has been over for a long time.

The government us not going to make a tv channel dedicated to broadcasting your emails and phhone conversations therefor your concerns are irrelevant just because an extra party sees the material does not make it public

A snowball starts small but once set rolling gains great momentum.

the better question is why does that upset you so much? it pretty much only affects you if you take part in illegal activities on the internet and over the phone. so providing you are a fine upstanding brit this really shouldnt matter to you at all.

... This is exactly why things like this come to pass, because the majority are too institutionalised (I want a better word but this is all that comes to mind for now) to do anything different than acquiesce.

As long as I do nothing wrong, I shouldn't be bothered about ANY of my privacy being breached? Do you realise how absolutely ridiculous that is?

The ball has begun rolling, and as long as they time it right, and have groomed the public to roll over and accept it enough there's absolutely nothing they won't be able to do.

Internet posts being monitored is one thing, I posted in a public domain so that's fine. Private transactions is completely different.

 

[ethaninja]

This is fucked.

 

[Jekken6]

That's just as bad or even worse than Australia's Classification board.

 

[bluepilot]

There is so much infomation produced everyday that I doubt most of it will be read. I can suspect that most of the infomation gathered will be used to make links, see who criminal suspects are dealing with e.t.c. Phone calls are monitered too you know

We shall just have to protect our privacy by using constant internet speak so whoever tries to decifer it will just get a headache.

Or, we could do what the Smurfs do and replace every Proper noun and verb with the word `smurf`

I feel sorry for the poor cop stuck with 4 chan

 

[LiftYourSkinnyFists]

Today, in the UK, a law was passed that allows the government to monitor (we know they did this anyway) and store for a year all electric transactions you participate in. By this I mean, text messaging, e-mailing, even me; posting on this forum, is now to be collected and stored to "protect" me against apparent terrorist threats or other such political bullshit reasoning.

Never has something had such a profound affect on me, and at the time of writing this I have no desire to live. This isn't a cry for help or something idiotic like that, it's the potential, long reaching consequences such an item can have on our society.

The government now have free reign to collate data from the public, to gauge their reaction to anything they now do, no matter how personal the method of exchange is.

It can be argued that if you type on a forum it is free knowledge, everyone has every right to do what they will with it. However, what about e-mails and other one-to-one communications, do third parties have a right to this as well?

I'll give you a scenario. A child at school has a risk of being bullied. The school has a proposal; all conversations, interests, habits and interactions of this child are to be recorded under the promise it may help to reduce the threat of bullying.

Would this be an acceptable arrangement? So why the hell is something that is a lot more serious just allowed to exist?

The amusing thing is, the headlines of the Sun (a British tabloid, i.e. news for idiots) today has the front page emblazoned with Gordon Brown's satanic (read: sarcasm) act of misspelling a troop's name. I'm not taking away from the fact that it is indeed a tragedy, but it is merely being used as a screen to cover something far more serious.

If you're watching the pinstripes, you won't be paying attention to the bat.

Going further into this, where is our "freedom"? Isn't it meant to be protected? Or is it only meant to be protected from certain people? Parents can know what makes you tick, as long as they promise to keep the front door locked, so to speak.

What happens when the government deems this as not enough? "We need cameras in people's houses to make sure there are no terrorists in people's houses" and the public will lap it up, as they've been groomed to do so.

Its times like this I genuinely can understand why people believe governments attack their own soil, their own people. People crave safety, and it seems are more than willing to give up other basic rights to attain it. I discussed this at work, and the response: "As long as it helps them prevent terrorism". A well educated colleague no less, but completely brain washed, and completely accepting of something that is quite clearly wrong.

Attack someone with a knife, and they'll desire "knife protection", as sure as the Sun will set tonight. "If you want to make an omelette, you have to break some eggs"; if you want to create a big brother society, you have to make some sacrifices.

The Iron Fist has tightened at an alarming rate over the last few years, and I fear where we will be in twenty years. And the best thing about this? This post will be collected as data, under the topic "Reaction to Big Brother: Phase 1"

.... If you have no reason to live, what in gods name provoked you to write this?

 

[benylor]

Well, I'm going to go and live on a hill somewhere the moment this gets bad enough.

From the looks of things, though, that hill's going to be in France, Holland or Swedenland. I can't trust my own government not to decipher where I've gone, drag me back to civilisation and grill me on why I've taken an unconventional lifestyle choice and why I've refused to contribute to society.