(i've always hated google, i think it's way too intrusive.)
Google will not delete an inflammatory video currently playing a role in Muslim protests around the world, in spite of a take-down request from the White House.
The search giant is only censoring Innocence of Muslims in India, Indonesia, Egypt and Libya, where violent and deadly protests have broken out following the video’s translation into Arabic. Reuters reports on the company’s legalistic explanation for not just wiping the video completely from the web:
Google said [it] was further restricting the clip to comply with local law rather than as a response to political pressure.
“We’ve restricted access to it in countries where it is illegal such as India and Indonesia, as well as in Libya and Egypt, given the very sensitive situations in these two countries,” the company said. “This approach is entirely consistent with principles we first laid out in 2007.”
Innocence of Muslims was online for some time before the offensive, dubbed-in English dialogue in the clip was translated to Arabic. Since then protesters have been attacking U.S. embassies in heavily Muslim countries, the worst assault ending with the deaths of four American foreign service officials in Benghazi, Libya earlier this week, including the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens.
Police in California are currently investigating whether the film’s alleged creator, ex-con Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, may have somehow violated his parole when he produced the video.
THIS WAS DONE ON PURPOSE.
You can hate on the Islamic fundamentalists who have reacted as they have - and yes all violence should be abhorred. But this was an INTENTIONAL MEDIA ATTACK on Islam.
The film's director and backers did all of this on purpose - and even deceived some of the crew and most of the actors, creating the real message of the film in post-production.
This whole thing was done ON PURPOSE. It was done KNOWING that the reactions would be angry, widespread and include violence. Violence which others could point at and say "look at the violent extremism in Islam". And yes, there is violent extremism in Islam. There is ALSO violent extremism in many other religions INCLUDING Christianity. The Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, conflicts in N Ireland - and of course the Fred Phelps types who use Christianity to justify their hate-mongering and gay-bashing.
So, who benefits from increased conflict between Christianity & Islam?
- Fundamentalists in both religion and in politics
- War machines (industry, political budgeting)
- Oil producers, refiners and distributors, who benefit from violence in the middle east through increased oil prices
So let's not be naive here and think this is simply about freedom of speech - it is about INTENTIONAL MANIPULATION for increase of power, influence and GREED.
Whatever one thinks of the film, it is not illegal in the U.S. I haven't seen it, but it supposedly doesn't break any of YouTube's rules. Muslim countries say we're insulting them, but they don't realize that their protests are in essence telling us that our national philosophy of Freedom of Speech, which, it could be argued, is every bit as sacred in this country as Allah is in theirs', isn't important. That's BS.
Notice that American Muslims aren't rioting. They realize that they also benefit tremendously from the First Amendment.
I have worked in the Medical field for well over 42 years and have developed many nice relationships with people of the Muslim faith (I know--some of my best friends are gay (black, Jewish, white, females, WHATEVER). Id be shocked if they were in any way supportive of the stuff that's going on in the Near East. My issue is that these moderate Muslims are SILENT! WHY?
I think one of the best commentaries I have read/heard was that much of the Muslim world does not distinguish between the government of the US and production of such videos. The thought is how could an all powerful country not reign in such blasphemy. There is little recognition about the notion of free enterprise. So goes the thought on this line which does seem to have great credibility (I think).
While despicable we must acknowledge that Google has every right not to take the video down...
Welcome to the world of commerce and free enterprise!
FWIIW
I am totally amazed that the White House, and domestically, by extension, O's Justice Department, is so concerned about offending Muslims, or rather, extremist Islamacists ,and invoke hate speach as its rationale to supress the video. The very same Justice Department, which when people in our country (much less the the active supression of religious freedom in Islam states) publish filth about Christianity or Judaism, are screamingly silent because IT IS now a freedom of speach matter (RATHER the nate speach) ! The duplicity is so fucking disgusting!
By the way, the idiot SHOULD NOT have published the film BUT, NOT BECAUSE the "prophet is never to be imaged" but because IT WAS HATEFUL!