The Internet is a fund of And, as some say, the
Internet is free; grass roots democracy, freedom of speech in action.
You can say anything about anything. The fact is, this so-called
freedom is somewhat illusory. Freedom of speech implies the freedom
to be heard. Without that what have you got or as the British
philosopher Berkeley once asked: “If a tree falls in the forest and
there is no one to hear it fall, does it make any noise”?
The freedom to be heard, aye that is the issue! Recently the search
engine, Google, kowtowed to the China’s Communist government,
agreeing to restrict content available through Google’s Chinese
search engine. What do you suppose a Chinese citizen will get when he
googles “free speech?” What a perfect segue into a discussion of
online gem forums:
Gem/Jewelry Forums have been sprung up all over the net like brown
fungi after a summer rain. The major forums are; Pricescope,
Diamondtalk, Gemologyonline and Pearl-Guide. Each of these sites
claim to be online communities advocating the rights of the consumer
and promoting a free exchange of ideas and Some are
part of for profit websites and some are non-profit. Are they really
all they claim to be? What’s a consumer to believe? The quick answer,
like fungi some are edible and others will upset your tummy, lets
try and separate the mushrooms from their less palatable cousins, the
toadstools. Read on: