Boobies for Liberty

delacroix-liberty

I'm posting this (beautiful) picture for two reasons. [1] I like boobies and [2] this should get my site blocked by Smartfilter. ''Secure Computing'' is a US-based censorware company that makes products used by totalitarian governments and certain private organizations in an attempt to control people's exposure to ideas.

It's a bit of a misnomer, the software is certainly not smart, and the wholesale blacklisting it does shouldn't really be called filtering. Evilcensor would be a better name, maybe their PR guys wouldn't go for it.

So... if you live somewhere like Tunisia, the UAE or a conservative christian university, you probably can't access this site anymore. Acces to photographs of Michaelangelo's David (nudity), the works of Shakepseapre (God knows) or the Koran (unorthodoxy) is probably also blocked.

This painting - Liberty by Eugene Delacroix - represents an idea. Liberty is beautiful, and sometimes you must fight for her. For yourself and your peers. You owe nothing to those who would keep you from her.

If your government wishes to restrict your ability to think and learn, they're still your government, their power is that which people have given to them. If your school or workplace has a bad internet policy, it is your place to tell them.

Which is why I'm blacklisting my site, I want to encourage people to learn to get around the filters, or to do their bit to change policy where possible. There are many ways to frustrate censorship online, a good introduction is BoingBoing's Guide to Defating Censorware. With only a little knowedge even the best censorship machines become useless.

My most devout wish is that more people will learn and risk to free themselves this way. Whether you're a citizen of a musilm country who can't access the Bible or a kid with christian parents who can't get hold of good, unbiased sex-ed online, you have a right to expose yourself to whichever ideas and material you choose. I hope you won't let anyone stop you.

I am always willing to help people who email me about this. I've overcome all filtering systems I've encountered so far.

Just in case my site's not blocked yet, lets add one more count of obscenity:

FUCK CENSORSHIP.

and have a wonderful day.