I was hoping for some good news on my return, but unfortunately have come home to this: the Department of Justice subpoenaing Google, not in a criminal investigation, but in order to support a law that was already struck down by the US Supreme Court as unconstitutional. Worse, MSN, Yahoo, and AOL complied with the original request without hesitation — records for all search results in a one week period.

Here is were things really get messy. Yesterday the Wall Street Journal had an article on new internets created by other countries seeking more independance. If you have been following the news over the past few months, there had been a move, which was rejected, to ceed control of the Internet primarily from US hands to the United Nations.

I wish I had this article in front of me but I don’t right now. The best I can remember it, the Wall Street Journal article had quoted a US government official as saying one of the best reasons that the United States should keep control of the internet is because of freedom of speech and lax regulations which have allowed the internet to grow very rapidly. Many other countries, such as China, don’t take this same viewpoint.

No one wants China or any other country that suppresses free speech to have a say in how the Internet, world wide, is run. I believe that this move by the Department of Justice is purely political. Remember, this law was already struck down as unconstitutional. However, continued pressure will cast serious doubt on the United State’s ability to continue to allow for a free and open internet.

Read more about this over at Boing Boing.