The news in July was that the Obama Administration had shut down 73,000 blogs. That story got covered up and died almost overnight. The official line was that the blogs were using purloined video and copyrighted content illegally. Now comes the latest assault on the Internet: the Department of Homeland Security has shut down 82 websites for allegedly selling counterfeit merchandise and copyrighted materials.
My initial reaction is: What does Homeland Security have to do with this? Doesn’t this fall under the territory of the Justice Department?
Let me say that I don’t think that blogs or websites which use copyrighted materials without permission or sell counterfeit merchandise should be allowed to stay on the Internet. However, there is the presumed right of the accused to have a hearing or a day in Court. There is the right called Freedom of the Press. The government can’t take a person’s property without due process.
Once again, these principles have not only been violated, but Administration officials are trumpeting their successes. None of those who lost their blogs or websites had a hearing of any kind. Presumably, some obscure government official in some obscure office in some obscure building popped up and said that these guys were violating the law and needed to be shut down. Remember the hordes of automobile dealerships that were forced to shut down last year without hearings and without recourse?
Does this not sound like Marxism, Communism, and the Gestapo?
The manner in which these actions are being undertaken is totally against every brick in the foundation of our national liberties. If they can use Homeland Security to shut down a website, they can use the new Health Care Plan to deny you medical care because you voted the wrong way. Do you suppose that the next move will be to shut down Fox News?
No comments:
Post a Comment