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Baldwinsville — To the editor: Censorship can be defined as “suppression of speech or other public communication which may be considered objectionable.” In this case, open and honest public communication, my recent letter to the editor, YMCA – Why Lysander, was found objectionable and suppressed by the RCA board. This is censorship plain and simple. The RCA board continues to block anything and everything, with a hint of negative connotation toward the YMCA or their open support of the Y, from reaching Radisson homeowners.

My letter, both factual and non-inflammatory, provided insight about the YMCA and logical “food for thought” regarding a possible reason for their tenacious drive to build at the Drakes Landing site. Its intent was to reach the mailbox of every homeowner in Radisson, exactly like Cindy Dowd Greene’s YMCA letter, “willingly” published by the RCA board in the Dec. 2, 2011 Reflections.

On Dec. 28, 2011, prior to the Jan. 3 online and subsequent Jan. 4 printing of my letter in the Messenger, I e-mailed Reflections requesting my letter be published. On Jan.11, 14 days later, I received a reply “committing” to publish my letter in the Jan. 27 Reflections. On Jan. 26, 15 days later and one day prior to promised publication, I received an e-mail from RCA’s executive director stating my letter was “discussed by the RCA board” and would not be published in Reflections.

The RCA board stated, “it was posted online as well as printed in the Baldwinsville Messenger, and it has also been shared via various social media websites” and “the BoD believes that it has been sufficiently shared in the public arena.” Without question, already shared in the public arena; however, not remotely finding its way into every Radisson mailbox like Cindy Dowd Greene’s YMCA letter. This intentional and biased suppression of “equal access” to Radisson homeowners can be described only as censorship and abuse of power.

It begs the question, what took place in that 15-day period between acceptance and denial. Readers, I am confident, can connect the “2-dots.”

Of greater importance and concern, the RCA board took legal action on Jan. 27 to suppress and shut-down the very same “social media websites” referenced in their denial to publish my letter. This legal action, involving trademark infringement, seeks to deny the word “radisson” in the domain name and websites of online community forums like Families for REAL, created by “Radisson” residents on Feb. 16, 2010, and used almost exclusively by “Radisson” residents.

This attempt to intimidate and suppress the free flow of information within the Radisson community is based on a claim of “domain name ownership” that does not exist; it was just applied for on Dec. 23, 2011. Application for a trademark does not necessarily guarantee approval. One can assume, this is a move on the part of the RCA board to move from verbal support to an increasingly active role. After all, the majority of the RCA board has staked their reputations on “pushing through” YMCA’s plans for Drakes Landing.

In roughly 34 years, no prior RCA Board found reason to seek trademark protection, apparently not finding it necessary or worthwhile. If the RCA board’s Dec. 23, 2011, trademark application is not Y-motivated censorship, then what is it and why now?

One can only imagine the egocentricity driving the RCA board to use HOA fees, to pay attorneys for legal action, against the same homeowners who pay those fees. One can only imagine the egocentricity driving their continued abuse of power and censorship against the same homeowners they are morally and ethically expected to equally represent. Censorship is ugly, alive and well in Radisson.

James R. Kocik is a Radisson homeowner.

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LETTERS: Censorship rears its ugly head

27-01-2012 19:40 Twitter agreed to delete tweets within countries that request it. Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur discuss this government requested censorship on The Young Turks. http://www.cnn.com Cenk's new personal Twitter account: twitter.com TYT Media updates on Twitter: twitter.com Subscribe to The Young Turks: bit.ly Find out how to watch The Young Turks on Current by clicking here: http://www.current.com The Largest Online New Show in the World. Google+: http://www.gplus.to Facebook: http://www.facebook.com Twitter: twitter.com

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Twitter Censorship - Video

28-01-2012 18:06 TRANSCRIPT AND SOURCES: http://www.corbettreport.com In recent weeks the general public has mobilized to face US legislative threats to Internet freedoms. Far from a conclusive victory, however, the death of SOPA and PIPA only highlight the latest in a series of measures that are seeking to create a legal framework for government-administered Internet censorship. Find out more about this contentious topic in this week's GRTV Backgrounder on Global Research TV.

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The Past, Present and Future of Internet Censorship - Video

27-01-2012 21:09 Twitter has refined its technology to censor messages on a country-by-country basis, raising fears that the company's commitment to free speech may be weakening. (Jan. 27)

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Activists and Bloggers Fear Twitter Censorship - Video

When student Nguyen Hong Nhung saw "Killer with a Festering Head" on someone's smartphone, she wanted the banned comic book too. Though Vietnam's censors had yanked it from stores, finding a digital copy wasn't exactly hard.

Nhung simply Googled the title, and with a few clicks was able to download a free bootleg copy of the book — a collection of one-panel cartoons illustrating the popular, sometimes-nonsensical rhyming phrases of Vietnamese youth slang.

Government censors had deemed some of the images violent or politically sensitive.

"The more the government tries to ban something, the more young people try to find out why," the 20-year-old said in the capital, Hanoi.

Vietnam's graying Communist Party is all about control: It censors all media, squashes protests and imprisons those who dare to speak out against its one-party system. But today, as iPhone shops rub shoulders with Buddhist pagodas, cultural authorities are finding it increasingly difficult to promote their unified sense of Vietnamese culture and identity — especially among the country's youth.

"This is a key turning point for the younger generation," said Thaveeporn Vasavakul, a Southeast Asia scholar who consults on public sector reform in Vietnam.

AP

In this Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 photo, Vietnamese youngsters play online games at Cyzone, one of the biggest game centers in Hanoi. Vietnam's graying Communist Party is all about control: It censors all media, squashes protests and imprisons those who dare to speak out against its one-party system. Censors still review books, films and foreign newspapers for sensitive content while bureaucrats try to curb, with varying success, everything from online gaming to motorbike racing. But today, as iPhone shops rub shoulders with Buddhist pagodas, cultural authorities are finding it increasingly difficult to promote their unified sense of Vietnamese culture and identity, especially among the country's youth. (AP Photo/Na Son Nguyen) Close

"Despite one-party rule you see pluralism in the cultural and political thinking. And the younger generation is standing there, looking around, and seeing a lot of options to choose from."

Propaganda posters and patriotic campaigns continue to urge young and old to emulate the ascetic lifestyle of the late President Ho Chi Minh. Censors still review books, films and foreign newspapers for sensitive content while bureaucrats try to curb — with varying success — everything from online gaming to motorbike racing.

Vietnamese youth of today are largely apolitical and chances of any mass uprisings remain remote for now, says Dang Hoang Giang, a senior researcher at the nonprofit Center for Community Support Development Studies.

However, the country's youth have a rich history of organizing and rising up, first to help overthrow the French colonialists and later to oust the Americans during the Vietnam War. Adding to Hanoi's jitters are last year's Arab Spring democracy movements that swept through North Africa and the Middle East, as well as growing protests among the poor in neighboring China.

Growing differences among Vietnam's generations worry its cultural authorities because "they are used to thinking that they have to be in the driver's seat," Giang said.

Although cultural bans have been watered down in recent years, the government's knee-jerk reaction is still to restrict youth behavior it perceives as a potential threat to the state's authority — even if such moves are ineffective.

But a 2009 ban on late-night online gaming hasn't stopped Vietnamese teens from patronizing Internet parlors where they sometimes play in the dark to avoid detection. Fines on motorbike racing have not deterred young violators, prompting police in northern Thanh Hoa province to snag speeders with fishing nets. Loose Facebook restrictions also do not prevent users from logging on to the popular U.S.-based social networking site.

The October ban of "Killer with a Festering Head" is another old-school censoring attempt that failed.

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Vietnam's Awakening Youth Circumvent Censorship