mrdecent Posted March 8, 2011 Report Posted March 8, 2011 that, if you are living in these countries, you are no longer a free person.5.GmailHated By:IranWhat Happened?On February 10th, the day before the anniversary of the Iranian revolution’s anniversary, Gmail was banned by the Iranian telecommunication agency.It wasn’t temporary, either. According to the Wall Street Journal, the ban is to be permanent – i.e. forever.But Why?Apparently, there were to be major protests in Iran on the anniversary of the country’s revolution. Such a banning of an important internet feature was supposed to be a way to prevent the protest from happening. Our sources don’t tell us whether or not it worked, but that isn’t completely relevant. The point is, the Iranian government clearly thought that banning Gmail would work.[img]http://media.weirdworm.com/img/misc/google-vs-civilization/gmail.jpg[/img]Why It’s RidiculousGmail is not the only email service in the world. In fact, the top two email providers are Yahoo! Mail and Windows Live Hotmail. They have the most users. It would be slightly less ridiculous if the government had banned both of those, but no, they chose Gmail.Further, banning the spread of messaging the day before the protest would occur would probably not stop the protest from happening. Maybe if it was done a week or two in advance it would work, but everyone probably already knew where to go by the time the email service was banned.4.Google Street ViewHated By:Austria, and pretty much all of EuropeWhat Happened?Throughout 2008 and 2009, countries all across the world (but mostly in Europe) complained about Google Street View, a service that lets people see a street as if they were standing on it themselves. But, these complainers decided that they didn’t want Street View in their country. So, either temporary or permanent bans were placed on the Google service, making it that much more difficult to view nude beaches in France.Aww, shucks.[img width=250 height=334]http://media.weirdworm.com/img/misc/google-vs-civilization/view.jpg[/img]But Why?Because it broke privacy rules.No, seriously – that’s their reason. They didn’t want photos being taken of public places because there were some people that didn’t like pictures showing up on the internet. As per Wikipedia, “Privacy advocates have objected to the Google Street View feature, pointing to views found to show men leaving strip clubs, protesters at an abortion clinic, sunbathers in bikinis, cottagers at public parks, people picking up prostitutes and people engaging in activities visible from public property in which they do not wish to be seen publicly.”Also, this.[img width=400 height=250]http://media.weirdworm.com/img/misc/google-vs-civilization/view01.jpg[/img]Why It’s RidiculousNote that, above, we say that people didn’t want photos being taken of public places. A public place is, by definition, a place where you can go out and, you know, be. So whereas people are against there being photos taken of these locations, they are perfectly alright with others being able to see, hear, smell, taste, and touch the things located there.But okay, so people don’t want others to know that they are soliciting prostitution. Well, then don’t go out when they are taking pictures. There is only one day that pictures are taken of an area, and it probably will be updated as often as a satellite photograph, i.e. once every couple of years or so.3.YouTubeHated By:TurkeyWhat Happened?In early 2007, Greeks and Turks were fighting over the internet, something which probably resembled two four-year-olds arguing over who won the Special Olympics that year. Nonetheless, the bickering devolved into attacking YouTube videos.Namely, Greek videos “reportedly accused the founding president of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, of homosexuality”. So, Turkey decided to ban the whole of YouTube.How many Halo players will be deprived of this amazing piece of art?![img width=350 height=257]http://media.weirdworm.com/img/misc/google-vs-civilization/tube.jpg[/img]But Why?According to the Times Online, it is illegal to insult either Ataturk, Turkey itself, or just Turkishness. Despite the ridiculousness of this law, it seems to hold, because prosecutor’s office in Turkey took action because of these “nationally threatening” videos. So… what did they do? They prevented all of YouTube from being viewed in Turkey. If it was our decision, we would have just nuked the damn Greeks.Why It’s RidiculousThe fact that free speech is limited so much in Turkey is astounding to Western readers. But, in the Middle East, it shouldn’t be nearly as surprising. What’s amazing, however, is that Turkey essentially removed one of the least used websites for attacking varying governments.Removing /b/ would have made a lot more sense, but, despite the attacks on Turkey after the act, Turkey still allowed /b/ in their country. Don’t get us wrong, /b/ should be removed everywhere, but free speech is free speech, and should remain as such.2.AndroidHated By:South KoreaWhat Happened?Since the Android came out, there has been a lot of debate (well, we don’t really know) about the ratings of games on the Android Market. The point is, though, that some of them are unrated in some countries, which has managed to piss off a lot people.Specifically, it has pissed off South Korea. They have threatened Google that, unless the games get rated by the country’s rating board, they will permanently shut down the Android Market, effectively destroying all of Google’s dominance in South Korea.Wait, who are we kidding?[img width=456 height=398]http://media.weirdworm.com/img/misc/google-vs-civilization/android.jpg[/img]Google’s dominance.But Why?It’s really pretty obvious. South Korea has it in its head that these “unrated” games are dangerous to children around the tiny country of South Korea. They figure that it will scar, damage, hurt, etc. kids across the country who are unfit to play the games that may be “too mature” for them.Why It’s RidiculousRemember which country we are talking about. This is the same country that has Professional Starcraft Tournaments and is infamous (along with Japan) for its love of tentacle-flavored pornography. While there are age restrictions on porn in America, kids bypass it all the time just by clicking, “Yes, I am over 18.”“I am watching the librarian, too.”[img width=400 height=278]http://media.weirdworm.com/img/misc/google-vs-civilization/android01.jpg[/img]Due to the nature of their country, then, why wouldn’t the kids do that? Hell, they aren’t getting any action because they are playing Starcraft for 10 hours a day. What else would they do with their breaks?1.Google EarthHated By:BahrainWhat Happened?In 2006, Bahrain, randomly banned the use of Google Earth, or as it is called in Bahrain, [Gwgl] [aayrth]. But, what’s the background?Apparently, the government of Bahrain decided to ban Google Earth directly after they banned any form of pornography in the region.But Why?Their reason is that they thought that the poor Bahrainians were going to get upset after viewing the property of the rich.[img width=468 height=247]http://media.weirdworm.com/img/misc/google-vs-civilization/earth.jpg[/img]Home of the king’s uncle.And that’s exactly what they did. According to one blogger, it became a popular pass time in Bahrain to view the homes of the rich and famous (or just of the monarchs…).Why It’s RidiculousWhy wouldn’t it be popular? Window shopping is popular, and that is just looking at things you can’t afford, too. Are they going to ban window shopping in Bahrain now, too?[img width=300 height=450]http://media.weirdworm.com/img/misc/google-vs-civilization/earth01.jpg[/img]“No, if you want to look, you have to buy first!
weirdthinker Posted March 8, 2011 Report Posted March 8, 2011 *=: *=: *=:[quote author=mrdecent link=topic=164601.msg1976956#msg1976956 date=1299552755]that, if you are living in these countries, you are no longer a free person.5.GmailHated By:IranWhat Happened?On February 10th, the day before the anniversary of the Iranian revolution’s anniversary, Gmail was banned by the Iranian telecommunication agency.It wasn’t temporary, either. According to the Wall Street Journal, the ban is to be permanent – i.e. forever.But Why?Apparently, there were to be major protests in Iran on the anniversary of the country’s revolution. Such a banning of an important internet feature was supposed to be a way to prevent the protest from happening. Our sources don’t tell us whether or not it worked, but that isn’t completely relevant. The point is, the Iranian government clearly thought that banning Gmail would work.[img]http://media.weirdworm.com/img/misc/google-vs-civilization/gmail.jpg[/img]Why It’s RidiculousGmail is not the only email service in the world. In fact, the top two email providers are Yahoo! Mail and Windows Live Hotmail. They have the most users. It would be slightly less ridiculous if the government had banned both of those, but no, they chose Gmail.Further, banning the spread of messaging the day before the protest would occur would probably not stop the protest from happening. Maybe if it was done a week or two in advance it would work, but everyone probably already knew where to go by the time the email service was banned.4.Google Street ViewHated By:Austria, and pretty much all of EuropeWhat Happened?Throughout 2008 and 2009, countries all across the world (but mostly in Europe) complained about Google Street View, a service that lets people see a street as if they were standing on it themselves. But, these complainers decided that they didn’t want Street View in their country. So, either temporary or permanent bans were placed on the Google service, making it that much more difficult to view **** beaches in France.Aww, shucks.[img width=250 height=334]http://media.weirdworm.com/img/misc/google-vs-civilization/view.jpg[/img]But Why?Because it broke privacy rules.No, seriously – that’s their reason. They didn’t want photos being taken of public places because there were some people that didn’t like pictures showing up on the internet. As per Wikipedia, “Privacy advocates have objected to the Google Street View feature, pointing to views found to show men leaving strip clubs, protesters at an abortion clinic, sunbathers in bikinis, cottagers at public parks, people picking up prostitutes and people engaging in activities visible from public property in which they do not wish to be seen publicly.”Also, this.[img width=400 height=250]http://media.weirdworm.com/img/misc/google-vs-civilization/view01.jpg[/img]Why It’s RidiculousNote that, above, we say that people didn’t want photos being taken of public places. A public place is, by definition, a place where you can go out and, you know, be. So whereas people are against there being photos taken of these locations, they are perfectly alright with others being able to see, hear, smell, taste, and touch the things located there.But okay, so people don’t want others to know that they are soliciting prostitution. Well, then don’t go out when they are taking pictures. There is only one day that pictures are taken of an area, and it probably will be updated as often as a satellite photograph, i.e. once every couple of years or so.3.YouTubeHated By:TurkeyWhat Happened?In early 2007, Greeks and Turks were fighting over the internet, something which probably resembled two four-year-olds arguing over who won the Special Olympics that year. Nonetheless, the bickering devolved into attacking YouTube videos.Namely, Greek videos “reportedly accused the founding president of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, of homosexuality”. So, Turkey decided to ban the whole of YouTube.How many Halo players will be deprived of this amazing piece of art?![img width=350 height=257]http://media.weirdworm.com/img/misc/google-vs-civilization/tube.jpg[/img]But Why?According to the Times Online, it is illegal to insult either Ataturk, Turkey itself, or just Turkishness. Despite the ridiculousness of this law, it seems to hold, because prosecutor’s office in Turkey took action because of these “nationally threatening” videos. So… what did they do? They prevented all of YouTube from being viewed in Turkey. If it was our decision, we would have just nuked the damn Greeks.Why It’s RidiculousThe fact that free speech is limited so much in Turkey is astounding to Western readers. But, in the Middle East, it shouldn’t be nearly as surprising. What’s amazing, however, is that Turkey essentially removed one of the least used websites for attacking varying governments.Removing /b/ would have made a lot more sense, but, despite the attacks on Turkey after the act, Turkey still allowed /b/ in their country. Don’t get us wrong, /b/ should be removed everywhere, but free speech is free speech, and should remain as such.2.AndroidHated By:South KoreaWhat Happened?Since the Android came out, there has been a lot of debate (well, we don’t really know) about the ratings of games on the Android Market. The point is, though, that some of them are unrated in some countries, which has managed to piss off a lot people.Specifically, it has pissed off South Korea. They have threatened Google that, unless the games get rated by the country’s rating board, they will permanently shut down the Android Market, effectively destroying all of Google’s dominance in South Korea.Wait, who are we kidding?[img width=456 height=398]http://media.weirdworm.com/img/misc/google-vs-civilization/android.jpg[/img]Google’s dominance.But Why?It’s really pretty obvious. South Korea has it in its head that these “unrated” games are dangerous to children around the tiny country of South Korea. They figure that it will scar, damage, hurt, etc. kids across the country who are unfit to play the games that may be “too mature” for them.Why It’s RidiculousRemember which country we are talking about. This is the same country that has Professional Starcraft Tournaments and is infamous (along with Japan) for its love of tentacle-flavored pornography. While there are age restrictions on **** in America, kids bypass it all the time just by clicking, “Yes, I am over 18.”“I am watching the librarian, too.”[img width=400 height=278]http://media.weirdworm.com/img/misc/google-vs-civilization/android01.jpg[/img]Due to the nature of their country, then, why wouldn’t the kids do that? Hell, they aren’t getting any action because they are playing Starcraft for 10 hours a day. What else would they do with their breaks?1.Google EarthHated By:BahrainWhat Happened?In 2006, Bahrain, randomly banned the use of Google Earth, or as it is called in Bahrain, [Gwgl] [aayrth]. But, what’s the background?Apparently, the government of Bahrain decided to ban Google Earth directly after they banned any form of pornography in the region.But Why?Their reason is that they thought that the poor Bahrainians were going to get upset after viewing the property of the rich.[img width=468 height=247]http://media.weirdworm.com/img/misc/google-vs-civilization/earth.jpg[/img]Home of the king’s uncle.And that’s exactly what they did. According to one blogger, it became a popular pass time in Bahrain to view the homes of the rich and famous (or just of the monarchs…).Why It’s RidiculousWhy wouldn’t it be popular? Window shopping is popular, and that is just looking at things you can’t afford, too. Are they going to ban window shopping in Bahrain now, too?[img width=300 height=450]http://media.weirdworm.com/img/misc/google-vs-civilization/earth01.jpg[/img]“No, if you want to look, you have to buy first![/quote]
Deletedid1 Posted March 8, 2011 Report Posted March 8, 2011 [quote author=samantha. link=topic=164601.msg1977130#msg1977130 date=1299554176] *=: *=: *=:[/quote] %<>(
pillabachapk Posted March 8, 2011 Report Posted March 8, 2011 *=: *=: *=: *=: you rock you rock you rock
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