[LINK] Wired - Germany Wants Hate Crackdown

[Hrebeniuk, Ellen]

Linkers,

Maybe it's the librarian in me, but I find the German justice minister very
scary and anti-information.  I have no problem with govts working together
to try to end hate speech, but there are difficulties with even this.

>Däuebler-Gmelin welcomed the fact that Internet retailer Amazon.com
>had agreed to stop selling Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf in Germany,
>where it is banned, but said the company should not sell the book
>anywhere in the world. 

When I was in high school, Mein Kampf was studied in Modern History as part
of study of WWII.  And I didn't see the sensitive little darlings all
turning into Nazis as a result (even if they were under age).  Maybe Germany
should consider the same approach, especially given the proliferation of
hate sites.  If MK's forbidden, it's tempting (and tempting to believe it).
And with the Internet, it's hard to prevent access anyway.  Sooner or later,
someone will do a Project Gutenberg on Mein Kampf.  And if I hear one more
person drivelling on about make-a-bomb sites on the evil Internet, I'll
scream.  Even I can make a Molotov cocktail, and I didn't learn about it on
the Internet.

Education, not Censorship!

Ellen Hrebeniuk
Librarian
Petersham TAFE College