regulating the internet chatter in Singapore?

Darkness: Gentlemen, I don’t think we should waste our time debating this nonsense in the Imperium. As far as I am concerned the Singapore government can do anything it likes – that is the prerogative of any sovereign state and it’s really a matter that should be left to it’s legislature, executive and judiciary to sort out. Only they have to understand one condition so very clearly that there is no ambiguity concerning our views regarding this attempt to regulate the internet – otherwise, I believe the relationship between the government and netizens will continue to deteriorate.

If they want to legislate, they can, if anyone in blogosphere wants to buy into their manifesto or new rule book, then I don’t think we should stop them either -as I said, we should respect the views of others. Having said that, every netizen should also have the prerogative to say fuck off any regulation that is rolled out by any government. The internet is after all a free domain – it does not have any fixed geographical footprint – neither does it belong to any sovereign state – so we are very clear Gentlemen. As far as we are concerned we do not recognize any attempt to regulate the internet by any government, except maybe the right honorable Gentlemen who claims to represent the planet of the Apes ( laughter from the house). It is for this reason that I do not see why we should even waste time debating this whole matter. We can only sensibly debate the full implications of this latest development, if the Singapore government can first establish as a matter of law, they have the locus standi to legislate on the internet and secondly what they are doing is not ultra vires to existing laws and regulations that already exist in the virtual. As I see it, what they are doing is in direct contravention of the Arullian Protocal signed in the year 903992.

Let me reiterate our position once again providing the government of Singapore can establish as a matter of priori that they have every right to impose their views in the virtual with the force of law – then I don’t think we should waste time speculating whether this possible, the onus is really on them to establish this burden of prove. However, let me just say, I am not very optimistic that any government can even fulfill this burden of proof satisfactorily. They should not regard this matter as a fait accompli – they (the government of Singapore) should try to reason with netizens and use their flair to explain to others how and why they can regulate the internet – they should if possible even try to do the impossible by trying to explain satisfactorily to others how, if for instance, I decide to write an article in Stockholm and post it at 6.00 am Greenwich Mean time and I am somewhere in International waters in my plastic boat – then how is it possible that the government can even claim to have the right to regulate anything? Gentlemen, I think it’s fair to say this is unadulterated nonsense. Just as there is no snakes in Finland, we should not waste our time debating whether it is a good idea for any government to roll out a internet regulation. The onus is on them to establish this as a priori condition – I think we should give them a reasonable time to do this – once this period has lapsed, then I don’t think, our position towards this matter will change. Thank you Mr time keeper. Gentlemen can we now move on to more pressing issues?”

Darkness 2011 – a recent sitting in the Imperium in Primus Aldentes Prime – The Brotherhood Press 2011 – catch the full video in holovision.

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Controller: DZ01, please be informed, you are entering a restricted area. Please key in your access code.

Unidentified space vessel: We are not the DZ01. We represent the People’s Republic of China. We are on a peaceful voyage. The name of our vessel is the Tai Cheing. We repeat. We are on a scientific voyage.

Controller: DZ01, Please be informed your current heading will take you to the next stargate in sector 9210. Please be informed under the Arullian accord, if you do not provide us with an access code, you will have to stop all engines and stand by for boarding.

Unidentified space vessel: Stop our engines! We are a vessel from the People’s Republic of China.

Controller: DZ01. we acknowledge. Please be informed, you have 5 minutes to initiate forced evacuation of your vessel – we have just launched 3 turbina Photon Torpedoes – the estimate time of impact is 9 minutes and 26 seconds – a mercy vessel, the KDD Majestic will pick up any survivors. Message out.

Unidentified space vessel: Stop, please stop. We are on a peaceful scientific vessel. We are coming on a diplomatic mission.

Controller: DZ01. You have 8 minutes and 15 seconds to initiate a full evac.

Incident known as the Tai Cheing 0992 – no survivors were ever picked up from sector 16 – the chronicler of the Brotherhood -2011