It looks like citizens in the U.K. may soon be facing a censored Internet, courtesy of their government.
Just yesterday, April 7, 2010, the house of commons passed an Internet censorship bill that gives the British government wholesale control over what web sites their citizens can access.
But the U.K. isn’t the only country in trouble.
Government officials in Australia are actively censoring the Internet using a filter modeled after the kind used in Communist China.
And, in February 2010, New Zealand stealthily put into place a country-wide Internet filter. Citizens found out about the filter when they could not access web sites they were accustomed to visiting.
All of these political power grabs raise a couple important questions.
1. Could something like this happen in the U.S.?
2. If the U.S. did implement some kind of country-wide Internet filter, what would you do if your primary business site was blocked?
One way you could respond is by moving your online promotions to direct mail. At least that way the government wouldn’t be able to censor you.
Of course, I don’t recommend waiting until your business site has been banned before getting into direct mail. You want to have a head start on any draconian measures U.S. bureaucrats try to shove down our throats.
What’s more, using a two-pronged marketing approach — both online and off-line — protects you in case one medium gets shut down or is no longer viable.
So if you’re not doing direct mail right now… or if you just want to do more of it… contact us. We’d love to help you fire up a direct mail campaign. :-)
~Anna Mae
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