Are we all that free on the Internet? 

Consider this: two years ago, a few students took photos of Singapore ladies and posted them on the Net. It was not pornography; in fact, the girls were pleased and flattered that their photos appeared on the web.

Once the news was out, Singnet, the Internet service provider swiftly booted the site out of its domain, citing its objectionable materials.  

Certainly, some ISPs are right to remove pornography and hate groups from their websites but what about websites which criticise  governments' policies? 

This is especially pertinent to countries such as Singapore and Malaysia where governments have control over the major ISPs. Anything can be objectionable in the eyes of government-controlled ISPs.

Another relevant issue is that of privacy. 

Singnet embarrassed itself when it scanned its 200,000 subscribers' computers for a virus without permission.This incident made people realise that their civil liberties can be violated on the Net. 

Recently, the US Senate approved a bill to allow the government to obtain, from ISP,  email headers, web-surfing trails, downloads of users. If it becomes a law, it will have much implications for the privacy of individuals. 

Will it further curtail the freedom of Netizens?