"Cyber Security Bill S.773" - What does it mean for gamers and the United States?

As I promised, a follow up to the Internet Bill recently passed.

The recent revision of S.773 is not only vague but a bit terrifying when you look at it in a very broad spectrum. I'm going to break down what I can and explain what this means for our country and for gamers alike. But for me to explain all this we need a bit of back story.

As just about everyone has heard from main stream news the recent elections caused quite a few problems for the country. People were speaking out and saying that the election was bunk, their leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won the election illegally. At 1:30pm (their time) their entire internet structure was turned off for several hours for what is "speculated" time their government needed to put filters into place. Some would ask what type of filters? Well think of it. If the government is trying to control the content that is available you would have filters against blogs, the search of certain subjects, etc. Ultimately control over any information they wanted. 


A couple of other good examples. The military regime in Burma completely shut down its internet and communication avenues (phones, etc) for a solid 6 weeks to control their public and to this day is considered one of the most controlled sources of information. Yahoo and Hotmail and 85% of all webmail sites are completely blocked because "they allow an avenue for freedom of expression which cannot be monitored by the state." (Taken from...) Where as Burma is policed almost completely allowing very little in or out China has quite the opposite. China's filtering allows a very open and secure program allowing traffic in and out but at the same time controls certain websites and search subjects.

So as you can see the control of information goes a lot further than just television. Our freedoms that we have and are allowed in the United States with our web are quite "Free" and we can express anything we want, play any games we wish. With this new bill there is quite a bit at stake.

What S.773 means for this country: It means a lot. There are very very vague words used in the revision and pretty much the President of the United States of America has the keys to our web freedoms. I'm not saying it will happen but it could. They claim the purpose of the bill is to secure our safety an deter against a cyber attack. But its vagueness allows the government and our President to more or less set the parameters for what is "considered" a cyber attack.

What S.773 means for gamers: More or less guys and gals ... we could lose our internet gaming fun time. Its a sad thought but something we need to come to a conclusion about.

Hopefully this article enlightens some and teaches others. My next post will be more gamer oriented I promise. I'm going to do a few reviews and talk about how gamers have aged with our demographic and why this isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Until next time ... The Conservative Gamer signing off.

Just a note ...

I've heard mentions about a bill or law passed back in March of this year 2009, that would pretty much give the keys to the internet and any internet access to the White House. I'm going to be doing a bit of research over the next day or two (work allowing) to figure out what this means to the gaming community. I'll post what I find of course.

Till then ... The Conservative Gamer

And so the journey begins ...

Just as any "Role Playing Game", "MMO", or "Epic Adventure" starts you are introduced to your hero/heroine, you equip yourself for battle and make some friends before embarking. So it is that our hero leaves on his journey to fight for what is right. To some, the definition of what is "right" and what is "wrong" is all in the eye of the beholder. In most cases that is true, but what is happening in our country "The United States of America" is pure ignorance. We are walking most assuredly towards our demise if we continue down the path our representatives and leaders are blindly taking us.

So here I am ... an unknown hero of sorts trying to fight for what is right. And my goal and attempt here is to share the knowledge I have, what little it is. I don't claim to be an expert on politics. I definitely know that I am quite ignorant when compared to some better than me sharing the truth on public radio. But ... what I am is an AMERICAN and a GAMER. I'm proud to be able to enjoy such entertainment as video games, no matter what console or computer they are on.

My goal through as many avenues as possible is to share the "truth" as it is to my fellow demographic. "Gamers". Hopefully spreading both the love of this country and the love of this past time with as many as I can. Be they older, or younger we all have a right to know what our country will be like, if the actions we are taking continue down this path. And yes I'm saying that its quite possible that we "gamers" may lose a few rights as well.

I hope that some of you will read this and find a like minded individual within my rants and raves. But I acknowledge and understand wholly that there are some that may not see in the same light. I'm willing to fight back though. Not with any conventional weapon of this modern era. Oh no a much more old fashioned weapon will be of my choosing. The written word. Be careful though ... I may not be a high level "hero" in this game of life, but my skill with the "pen" (or keyboard) is leveling up on a daily basis.

Until next time ... this has been "The Conservative Gamer"