> Don't just moan about it online

I think the problem is that not enough people moan/know about it. With this, putting my money where my mouth is may be a very terrible investment.

When I read things like this, I think "geez, I'm glad I'm not having children" and "geez, I hope I'll be dead before this actually affects me"

(keep in mind, these lines of reasoning are exactly why this will be a problem; so far, nothing has been done to make everyone really angry).

People do know about it, but they have the concentration span of a gnat here in the UK.

Seriously, whoever is winning one of Cowell's shite-shoveling programs or which piece of dirt is most popular on the reality show of the moment is an instant distraction from having to think about anything or act upon it.

The worst bit is these things promote surveillance and make it morally ok.

The rest seem to contract our their thinking to the daily mail. No comments needed there.

So long as there's bread and circus and most Brits are comfortable, they'll happily embrace censorship, surveillance, or whatever else. The only trouble is, The Great Firewall of Ol' Blighty might just trample all over the circus component. At the very least, this is likely to cause younger and traditionally apathetic voters to become more engaged.

I doubt it. The media have already started the conditioning.

You know the conditioning that suggests if you're against it, you must want child porn.

What do you think could be done?

Probably nothing. The human race will quite happily walk off a cliff together, apart from a few of us that is.

Perhaps we need to just step back and watch it happen, then say "I fucking told you so".

I'm not particularly happy with that idea, but I see no other option.

This is a very defeatist attitude! There's always strategies and tactics that work within legal frameworks to defeat censorship. Look at what happened with SOPA in the US. It started with outraged nerds and became embraced by regular people as something sexy to vocally and publicly oppose.

Beginning a media campaign in the UK is a good first step. When people understand that The Great Firewall of Ol' Blighty does nothing to stop kiddie porn but instead stops you looking at any site that the current ruling party frowns upon, it falls apart.

The "think of the children" and "teh terrorists" arguments need to be universally rejected. Trouble is, this requires one hell of a paradigm shift from the voting public. That begins with soundbite education, and arguments that are easily digestible and repeatable. Look at how evangelicals equip their congregations with soundbite ideas and faulty logic, and then use these strategies for good. (For example, the best I came across was "It's hot today, but hell's hotter!")

Perhaps we also need to begin our own political parties, ones unlike the Pirate Party that are not only capable of upholding privacy rights, but are also competent enough to run a democratic government. A less inflammatory or whimsical name would be nice too. Joe Average isn't going to take politicians that call themselves pirates seriously, any more than they'd take a Hacker Party seriously because of its more widespread and incorrect definition! A Snowden Party, perhaps? The logo could be a purple mountain much like the Welsh mountain, Snowdon!

I think it's a realistic attitude. The legal system that you place so much faith in has already shown that it no longer respects logic and freedom and is basically backed by government and corporate interest. We have secret courts, we have courts issuing orders in support of the censorship regime and we have people thrown in prison with unfair sentences en masse without fair trial after the London riots.

The moment you start a campaign, you are a state target. The press will dig out dirt on you to start a smear campaign so they can push their corporate backers' agendas and the government will mark you as a trouble maker. at that point your life ends. One parking ticket and they will descend.

I've watched two people "end" this way. One of them is now the "crazy guy" who lives on the A4/A205 roundabout. He was one of the most credible and logical individuals I've ever met. Now people throw rubbish at him because they think it's funny.

The voting public are lost. They are too polarised to supporting the main two parties and the system is broken enough that a majority on either side is inevitable. The result is that the conservatives or labour will always win. Their agenda, despite words either way, is the same. We didn't vote them in - we watched the election theater at work.

You strike me as an idealist and I really wish this was possible but i don't think the system supports fair resolution.

To be honest, it's not a democracy any more. This is not what the majority want but they are unaware of the consequences of voting or don't care. Whoever holds their coloured flag will do and won't make them "outside the club" when it comes to social matters.

I'm not an idealist by far, but I'm not defeated either. I know it's an uphill battle, but it's nowhere near as grim as you're making out. A career in politics is unlikely to be in my future though!

Nobody is going to start a smear campaign over a parking ticket. C'mon! Being political isn't a one-way ticket to indefinite detention in the UK either! We're not in a totalitarian dictatorship or police state, and the UK is still a functioning democracy. There are plenty of upstart politicians whose lives haven't ended; look at the UK Pirate Party! If I were to become an independent politician in the UK, or found a new party, I'd not live in fear of shadows coming to get me in the night because that fear would be wholly unfounded!

Someone also doesn't go from political candidate to homeless on a roundabout without there being something seriously wrong with them, possibly some kind of mental illness! Bear in mind, someone with a mental illness might still be capable of rational thought but might be deficient in other aspects of their functioning. Who is this wrecked political candidate, anyway?

"Mental illness" can be induced by outside pressure. There are circumstances under which anybody would crack.

And as a short term solution (assuming VPNs will also be outlawed or otherwise made unattractive), take your pick:

http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-that-take-your-anonymit...

My personal favorite is https://mullvad.net/en/ because:

a) not US based, therefor not subject to US laws (both known and secret laws/courts)

b) you can send them cash as your payment method (every online payment method such as Paypal, credit card, etc. will establish a link back to you)

c) they don't keep logs

c) you can easily set up multiple "exit" countries (good for circumventing geoblocking)

I'm surprised that hide.io isn't on the list. I've been using it and it's extremely fast, has dozens of servers across the world, and is a Hong Kong based company, thus not subject to US laws (but, I suppose can possibly be queried from Beijing).

> send them cash

Or Bitcoin, for that matter.

Except bitcoin establishes a public, permanent and irrefutable link between yourself (or at least information that, except in specific circumstances, can be linked back to yourself) and the provider.

That's easy to avoid - just send the money through a mixer like this one https://blockchain.info/wallet/send-shared . Or any Bitcoin exchange or gambling site. Or a combination of three or four. Or you can just buy the bitcoins in person.

I've joined with financial support. This is the first time I've heard of these guys, but they look to be doing some great work. Thanks for posting this.

Thanks for the link - it was exactly the prompt I needed. I've just joined up, with a monthly donation.

No, the ORG are not the answer.

To the outside world they look like a bunch of nerds who refuse to pay for movies online.

This may be unfair, sadly perception is 9/10th of fact.

You need to write to your MP and tell him/her that its is insecure, undemocratic and will endanger kids.

You do need to write to your MP.

Is the ORG the answer? In part, of course we are: without us, this discussion wouldn’t be happening. ORG has done the leg work over 2 years on this so has been able to demonstrate that this is more than porn.

It isn't either/or. Do both. Give money and moan.