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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 20.06.13 18:10, michael gurstein
wrote:<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal">For example, do you believe the
Bulgarian Government has any right to regulate the actions
and behaviors of the fellow USA citizens? Or the fellow
China citizens? Because, those citizens too are part of
the Internet, not only Bulgarian citizens. <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">[MG>]
true, but they do have the right to regulate their
own citizens and collectively they have the right to
regulate the collective actions of all citizens of
all countries (again of course in theory) and this
would be my understanding of, for example the UD
Human Rights and say the International Court (at
least for those countries which have signed on to
it… And I think it is this kind of approach which we
are discussing in this specific context is it not…</span></i></b></p>
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<br>
We just observed this with the request by the "Commission of
Gambling" (for lack of better translation), requesting the filtering
of some 21 gambling sites by Bulgarian ISPs. (*)<br>
<br>
Now, while I have no problem personally to see this implemented - I
am never interested in gambling and those customers who are and feel
betrayed, can unfortunately leave or find some other (easy) way to
access those sites. This is a "small" cost to pay, for not breaching
the law and not being used as a scapegoat for someone's political
agenda.<br>
<br>
But I have wider problem, related to Internet neutrality and free
flow of communications and ultimately human rights. Let me try
explaining it.<br>
<br>
Here we have, several parties.<br>
<br>
A. The Government via it's Commission of Gambling.<br>
B. The non-conforming web sites.<br>
C. The end users who access those web sites.<br>
D. The ISPs who provide communications between D.<br>
<br>
In essence, <b>A is asking D to prevent any communication between B
and C, because B would not agree to pay taxes and obey whatever
regulations A deemed appropriate</b>.<br>
<br>
Therefore, in order to comply with it's Government regulation, D is
going to breach their contract with C and knowingly cause harm to B.<br>
<br>
Now, the premise is that B is an non-Bulgarian entity. Say, an US
corporation (Zynga is a good example, although they are not in the
list --- even if they do offer an Poker game -- gambling, without
question :))<br>
<br>
You still with me? You still think it is ok for the Bulgarian
Government to cut off the US corporation from the Bulgarian Internet
user, because the US corporation does not want to pay additional
taxes in Bulgaria AND they also do not want to be subject to an (not
yet existing) licensing regime...<br>
<br>
My concern is that if we support behavior like this, we will end up
in an very interesting world.<br>
<br>
As a side note, the law in question is so absurd, it says that
commission can put a list of web sites on their web site, and that
ISPs are obliged (or they are criminals) within 24 hours to
implement the filtering. As you can imagine, that web site could end
up with any web site listed there.....<br>
(sorry to sort of merge this discussion with the other one)<br>
<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:065b01ce6dc8$535e0340$fa1a09c0$@gmail.com"
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span>By
the same measure, does the Bulgarian Government have any
say about the behavior of the Bulgarian citizens that
happen to live say in the US? What if this contradicts
with the requirements the US Government has for that same
Bulgarian citizens while they do reside in the US?<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">[MG>]
as above although (I`m not s a lawyer) the Bulgarian
government would I imagine have some residual rights
with respect to it`s overseas citizens (as for
example with respect to taxation) as long as they
retain their citizenship, passport, and the
``privileges`` that go along with that citizenship.
</span></i></b></p>
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<br>
In any case, I am quite sure the Bulgarian government cannot ask
Bulgarian citizens to break the laws of the country they reside in
or visit, just because they happen to posses Bulgarian passports.
This does not seem related to Internet in any way, but considering
that Internet information "travels freely" worldwide, it is very
much related.<br>
<br>
Daniel<br>
<br>
(*) We know why this is happening and why it is happening now. It is
happening because a well known businessman with well known
connections with the just elected political parties owns two of the
three licensed gambling enterprises in Bulgaria. But even if this
was not the case, it is a dangerous precedent.<br>
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