censored-russia      putin

Whodathunk?  Imagine: my blog blocked in Russia!  143.5 million Russians won’t know what’s going on in my little corner of Nelson County!

This Breaking News insight comes from an interesting article in today’s New York Times, The Future of Internet Freedom, by Eric E. Schmidt and Jared Cohen, about government censorship of the internet and, more hopefully, the evolution of technologies and practices that can enable users to undermine and get around this censorship.  At one point the authors note that all WordPress blogs have been blocked at times by the Russian government.  Since my blog is a WordPress blog, that means me and Nelson County Rocks!  What a dastardly deed!

Seriously, another article in today’s Times points to what I fear may be an even greater threat, offering internet users fewer opportunities to resist.  In “As the Web Turns 25, Its Creator Talks About Its Future,” Tim Berners-Lee talks about the increasing corporate takeover of the internet and the increasing violations of the principle of net neutrality. Something that threatens us all.