By Vaughan A. Holding
Introduction
In the last few years the Internet has borne witness to and facilitated a great deal of social and societal change. From Hilary Clinton's positive 2010 address; ‘Remarks on Internet Freedom', to the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions that showcased the power of social media, the internet, its use and power, has been at the forefront of recent news.1 However, equal to, if not overtaking the positive and enabling factors of the Internet in recent years are the many controversies surrounding it. While undoubtedly carrying the potential to do great good, the Internet has been plagued with numerous impediments, setbacks and controls that greatly damage its offered freedoms. ACTA, SOPA, PIPA, Tempora, Prism, DMCA and adult content opt in, are all examples of recent controversies surrounding freedom on the Internet.2 What is particularly surprising is that all of these restrictions to freedom stem from the very states that laud Internet freedom so highly.
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