9.1: "Public" Creates Concerns

Americans take freedom of speech for granted. It's amazing when you start looking at international access to information, or lack there of, just how lucky we are and how hypocritical. We talk about bringing democracy to the rest of the world but we are too focused on our own agenda to pay attention to real human rights violations around the world. In fact, it is American companies aiding foreign governments in shutting the door to information deemed controversial or against government standards of decency, "It's sort of sending a message to the regime that it's OK if you are repressing your own people, just don't threaten us and we won't disturb you."

But the system isn't perfect. If you open the doors to information and advocate for universal access you let the good in with the bad. This country has struggled with notions of decency for years and the highest courts have left it up to "community standards" but how does that translate to countries with wide variances in community values.

In my personal opinion, universal access to information is a necessary human right. At the same time information should only be made available with permission from the writer. There will always be questions regarding "public domain" and whether we have any right to privacy. It's a difficult question to answer. People are concerned whether third parties can view internet activity but the truth is we are already being tracked in a variety of ways. While we believe we are leading private lives, our actual "expectation of privacy" is quite low.