Daily Archives: January 6, 2014

Fair warning: This is about the Duck Dynasty controversy. Yes, I know. Im sick of it, too.

Still, relying upon my First Amendment right to freedom of speech, I will make a few observations about Phil Robertson, the grizzled Louisiana duck hunter turned reality TV star whose comments about black and gay people recently got him suspended and then unsuspended by A&E. If you find my observations disagreeable you may, relying upon your own First Amendment rights, protest to my employer. Assuming enough of you bring enough pressure, my employer may dump me. Feeling angry and betrayed, I might heres that First Amendment again blast my now-former bosses for defects of character, courage or cognition.

But one thing I could not say at least not credibly is that theyd violated my First Amendment rights. There is nothing in the First Amendment that says a private company cant fire you.

Well return to the First in a second. Right now, let me offer the promised observations about Mr. Robertson: Man really needs to wake up and smell the 21st century.

His comments, made in an interview with GQ, are almost cartoonish in their stupidity. They sound less like they were made by a backwoods ignoramus than by someone doing a takeoff on a backwoods ignoramus.

For instance, Robertson explains his aversion to homosexuality by discoursing on the comparative merits of the male anus and the vagina. For good measure, he invokes bestiality and the Bible. He also notes how black people were singing and happy when he was young. Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare they were godly, they were happy, no one was singing the blues.

Ahem.

So anyway, A&E was shocked shocked, I say, shocked! to learn that a self-described redneck from the Louisiana woods harbored such illiberal views. It suspended Robertson, thereby igniting a scrum of conservative pols jockeying to express newfound love for the First Amendment.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal says he can remember when TV networks still believed in it. Sarah Palin calls free speech an endangered species. Mike Huckabee says, Stand with Phil and support free speech.

Yeah. Because freedom of speech means you can say any asinine thing you want and nobody can call you on it or punish you for it. Right?

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Free speech: What it is — and isn’t

Sky Broadband Denies TorrentFreak Fundamental Right to Free Speech

January 5, 2014

Thomas Mennecke

This porn filter is generating a startling array of collateral consequences - such as the silencing of the popular technology and political news publication (or blog) TorrentFreak. TorrentFreak, as many know, is a purveyor of free speech, distribution of information, and minimal government involvement in those disciplines. You may remember that back in 1998, the United States tried passing its own "let's protect children with broad sweeping powers" legislation under the Child Online Protection Act, signed into law by then President Bill Clinton. The law was spectacularly shot out of the sky in the landmark 2007 Supreme Court decision, Reno v. ACLU.

Needless to say, pornography is protected speech under the First Amendment. Why? Because of the very reason that is now happening in the United Kingdom and TorrentFreak.

Here's the thing. The Supreme Court, and indeed much of the populace, realizes there's a balancing act that must occur when regulating speech - do we really want the government encroaching on various forms of expression, or are we willing to accept objectionable material in order to preserve our freedoms? Most people are willing to side with the latter. In other words, sure, people out there might find porn offensive, but there's always the on/off button if you don't like it. Without a logical stopping point to such laws, even the most ardent conservative is loath to accept government regulation in this realm.

From that stems the danger that we now see happening in the United Kingdom against TorrentFreak. Broad, sweeping legislation designed to "protect the children" usually goes far beyond those intentions. Taking a Gatling gun to a perceived illness not only hits the intended target, but just about everything else unlucky enough to be within the periphery. The problem isn't simply resolved by using TOR, proxies or other VPN service. Sure, they might help, but they are besides the point. The point is, the UK and UK ISPs have signed on to a dangerous piece of legislation, and in the process, have begun down a potentially devastating path of chilling speech.

We've tried reaching out to Sky Broadband on this issue, but have not received a response in time for publication. You can read more about this developing issue here.

You can discuss this article here

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Sky Broadband Denies TorrentFreak Fundamental Right to Free Speech