Book-Burner Denied Top UNESCO Position

Looks like UNESCO dodged a bullet here:

In his lengthy political career, Hosni has often been accused of promoting anti-Semitism, in particular in 2008 when he told the Egyptian parliament: "I'd burn Israeli books myself if I found any in libraries in Egypt."

Hosni, who has been Egypt's culture minister for 22 years, insists his comment was made during an angry exchange with hardliners from the Muslim Brotherhood and had been taken out of context.

The last thing the UN science and education body needs is someone who threatens to burn books when the Islamists turn up the heat.

Net Neutrality

There has been a move among ISPs to reduce bandwidth for specific applications such as Skype or bittorrent files. This tactic may easily push internet users to paid services, especially those which encourage or induce ISPs to limit access to free services.

Fortunately the FCC is making a stand in favour of net neutrality which provides for non-discrimination against particular content. The internet is a relatively free, and as such is a tempting prize for potential monopolists who would like nothing more than to colonise it and ration it to users for a price.

Also, the Electronic Frontier Foundation site is a good source of information on freedom in the electronic age.

Don't Offend Muslims

Apparently if someone is offended because Muhammad is referred to as a 'warlord' the UK police will arrest the perpetrators.

Not with a bang but a whimper, European civilisation is now groveling at the feet of a hideous 7th century religion. This is what happens when a relativistic culture, not even sure of its own values, and without even the self-confidence to reproduce itself, meets a vigourous self-confidant cult.

A Triumph For Junk Science

English defamation laws are notoriously favourable to plaintiffs, and frequently used to silence debate. Debunking junk science there is a minefield for anyone brave enough to attempt it, as this article amply demonstrates.

Defamation law should be subject to a fair comment exception which requires proof by the plaintiff of bad faith on the part of the defendant.

The internet has only complicated this problem, as its global reach means that unscrupulous plaintiffs can sue in countries with the laws most favourable to them. An example of this is discussed here.

Copywriting The Law

In an interesting development some governments are starting to use copyright law to make money out of their laws and the guidance they publish regarding those laws.

This is bizarre. People are expected to obey the law, but must pay for the privilege of finding out what the law is and how it is administered. There must be better ways of raising revenue than this.

Scientology Secrets

The Scientology cult is quite happy to trash free speech to protect itself from scrutiny and criticism. Here are the recommendations in its submission to the Australian Human Rights Commission:

Recommendation 1: The implementation of Criminal and Civil Restrictions on Religious Vilification.

Recommendation 2: Restriction on Anonymity on acts of Religious Vilification:

2.1 Websites created with primary purpose of inciting religious vilification shall be removed or their access to the Australian public restricted.

2.2 Creators of websites whose primary purpose is the incitement of religious vilification shall be prevented from concealing their identity.

Recommendation 3: Restriction on Religious Misinformation and Misrepresentation known or reasonably known to be untruthful in the Media

Recommendation 4: Include a form of Bill or Charter of Rights into the Australian Constitution, which prevents the Commonwealth from making any law, which ‘directly, indirectly or incidentally’ prohibits the free exercise of religion to the extent of such prohibition.

This pathological perversion of religion wants to be left to fester in the dark recesses of society. The last thing it wants is informed discussion of its questionable methods and ridiculous doctrines.