If Obama Gets His Way, Efforts to Snuff out Pro-gun Internet Speech Could be Expected
Springfield, VA -(AmmoLand.com)- Whatever you think about Barack Obama, he is endlessly clever and aggressive in pursuing his political agenda, particularly the elimination of the private ownership of guns.
So we have been watching, with increased concern, Obama’s plan to give up U.S. stewardship over the Internet at the end of the fiscal year — on September 30.
At stake in the internet controversy is responsibility for an organization called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). This corporation oversees internet domain names — who gets them and what they consist of.
After September 30, if the UN assumed effective control over ICANN, it could use its position to ban pro-gun speech on the Internet.
(Already, the UN is pushing massive gun bans and universal gun registration.)
When the government’s contract with ICANN ends, Obama has promised that the UN would not take over its role. But, like virtually everything else coming out of Obama’s mouth, that is a lie.
According to the former publisher of the Wall Street Journal, L. Gordon Crovitz, ICANN would lose its antitrust exemption once its contract with the U.S. ended. (This is also a huge concern amongst Senate Republicans like Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and others.) If this happened, an antitrust lawsuit could blow ICANN out of existence.
So to avoid extinction, ICANN would have to affiliate with a “government-like” organization like the United Nations. And this is what it would be expected to do.
Already, totalitarian regimes are licking their lips at the prospect of using UN control to ban anti-government speech in their countries.
But there is an easy solution: The upcoming continuing resolution (to fund the government for 2-5 months) should contain language blocking (or withholding funding) from Obama’s efforts to terminate its relationship with ICANN on September 30.
Congress must act in the next three weeks, or the very freedom of speech on the Internet is in grave peril, particularly pro-gun speech.
Internet Transfer Imperils Free Speech Online
On Wednesday, September 14, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) chaired a subcommittee hearing which investigated the potential problems with relinquishing the US’ stewardship of the Internet.
In his opening statement, Senator Cruz explained the main problems with Obama’s plan to hand over effective control of the Internet:
Because of the First Amendment to our Constitution, which affords more protection for speech than anywhere else in the world, the United States Government — as long as it has authority to oversee the infrastructure of the Internet — has a duty to ensure that no website is denied Internet access on account of the ideas it espouses…. Once the government is out of the picture, First Amendment protections go away. The First Amendment by its term binds the government, it doesn’t bind private individuals. That means that when ICANN escapes from government authority, ICANN escapes from having to worry about the First Amendment, having to worry about protecting your rights or my rights.
Sen. Cruz has introduced legislation — along with Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) — to protect the freedom of the Internet. Not surprisingly, Obama has promised to veto this kind of legislation.
And that’s why putting a “defunding” amendment in the continuing resolution is the best approach — given there’s a very low chance that Obama would veto a government spending bill for this issue alone.
So please email Rep. Christopher Smith (R), Sen. Robert Menendez (D) and Sen. Cory Booker (D). Tell them to tack language onto the continuing resolution prohibiting Obama from effectively turning control of the Internet over to the UN.
Sincerely,
Michael Hammond
Legislative Counsel
Gun Owners of America
P.S. It is imperative that Congress blocks any potential UN censorship of the Internet. So please email Rep. Christopher Smith (R), Sen. Robert Menendez (D) and Sen. Cory Booker (D) — and tell them to tack language onto the continuing resolution prohibiting Obama from effectively turning control of the Internet over to the UN.
About Gun Owners of America (GOA):
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1975 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. GOA sees firearms ownership as a freedom issue. `The only no comprise gun lobby in Washington’ – Ron Paul.
For more information, visit: www.gunowners.org.
This is how you let Other silence free speech and truth and hold your hands up as if you did nothing…
There is a cliff coming up and I guess we will just watch them take us over it…. should be a war already people vs gov……
The un is a terrorist org that should be removed by force….. its the only way and you know it. whoever let it in and keeps it in should also be executed for treason….. their (gov) fighting us to destroy us….
When do the people get fed up and say no more crooks and thief’s and MURDERERS running america…
GET THE US OUT OF THE UN!!! I did not elect any one in the UN, I don’t care what Obummer says. the UN does not speak for me, the UN does not represent me. Why hasn’t anybody brought Obama up on charges of violation of his oath of office? You know the one where he swears to uphold the Constitution of the United States. So far the only thing he has done is trash this once great country, render aid to people sworn to overthrow us. All that I see is a traitor, a liar, a coward, someone pissing… Read more »
It is clear that our President does not consider the impact of this. I’ve been using the Internet from the days of the ARPANET, and back then we knew that it was a US Department of Defense project that was made available to the academic research community at the major universities in exchange for the DoD to be able to commandeer mainframe computing power should some catastrophe occur that would render their computers inoperable. Since then, the net was developed further into the internet we know today, and is generally available globally. All of this has happened without the international… Read more »
I’ve said it for years and forty years ago I saw a sign along a roadside that said “Get us out of the U.N.” My age at that time did not demand that I pay attention to the sign. It was there for years and might still be there. As time has gone by I know what the sign means. It means we have a bunch of third world dictators that meet in N.Y. behind their twisted barrel revolver, which I would bet our tax dollars paid for, and vote against U.S. interests on the world stage. We are the… Read more »
Support #Amexit to Get US Out! of the UN: https://www.votervoice.net/iframes/JBS/Campaigns/47237/Respond
Want to Own a Gun? Get US Out of the UN: https://www.votervoice.net/iframes/JBS/Campaigns/42251/Respond
The toothy moron can’t seem to find enough American stuff to give to his real friends — er, that wouldn’t be us. If he gets away with this latest nefarious damage to our nation, we need to counter it with a separate set of domains. Simply close the U.S. internet and let the freekin’ world market trade with itself. No king, monarch, dictator, prince, et al., is a friend to the U.S.
One statement destroys the whole issue. In the 6th paragraph. The article says “When the government’s contract with ICANN ends, Obama has promised….”
That statement tells me the issue is BS. Do you expect anyone other than a complete moron would believe anything that SOB says? Name one thing he has done that improved the American way of life. He is a traitor and should be arrested and tried for treason.
@J D, Yep he is a traitor and wants to destroy American exceptionalism, American influence, and Americans as a people. Giving away control of the internet is another way of doing that. How will we Americans investigate hacking if the U.N. controls the internet. How will America protect itself from cyberwar, if we do not control the internet? This proves that Barry Soetoro is a bigger idiot than Jimmy Carter because giving away control of the internet is a bigger mistake than giving away the Panama Canal.
Bigger idiot? This is the agenda…. when you follow an agenda as the one world government it would seem idiots are running it but when you know its based on an agenda then you just see men selling out american as traitor scum….. i could never figure out why they would do some of the things they did until I found it was the agenda that is against american’s and america, reason why bush or obama didn’t close our borders as its part of the plan BOTH MEN FOLLOW…. As robert kennedy said: we will all one day be judged… Read more »
Booker and Menendez, both Democrats, will probably go along with anything Obama proposes. Loyalty to the leader of the Party and Obama’s legacy. Do you really believe they represent their constituents once they’re in office?