Doug PollardNO INTERNET CENSORSHIP
October 28th 2008 11:40
The Australian government is about to introduce a two tier internet censorship regime.
Filters will be applied to block content the government deems to be illegal. You CANNOT opt out of this filtering - these sites will not be available to Australian residents (until your children teach you how to circumvent it)..
A second filter will provide what is called a 'clean feed' - websites will be filtered based on key words etc., so for example no pornography will get through. You can REGISTER to opt out of this level of filtering. The idea is to protect children from content the government deems 'inappropriate'.
You can register your opposition to this proposed legislation by joining this group on Facebook Really Long Link or go to nocleanfeed.com.
There are several things wrong with BOTH parts of this proposed censorship.
Although the 'illegal' blocked content will be based on a published list of material that contravenes Australian law, there is nothing to prevent this or any future government from adding to that list, or changing the criteria for what will be permanently blocked. Once the principle is admitted, it is open to abuse in future. It sets a dangerous precedent.
The inappropriate content filter is an opt-out system, not an opt-in system, meaning the government will have a list of everyone who wants to receive content the government deems inapropriate.
This too is open to future abuse.
The justification for this is to protect children. That is the responsibiloity of the parents, not the government. Only lazy parents cannot or will not manage their childrens internet use. This allows them to abdicate responsibilty for protecting their own child.
Furthermore, the filter is easily circumvented, meaning any parent relying on it to protect their child will have a false sense of security.
It also slows the already pathetically slow (by international standards) Australian 'broadband' network.
Let Minister Stephen Conroy know you oppose this measure and why. It shall not pass.
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Comment by katyzzz
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MS Paint Art
Kill off the perverts, the exploiters, the improper persuaders and kill the crimes. And there's more......
Comment by Cheryl J
Rhythmatism
Budget Centsability
Perhaps they should spend money teaching some of the idiots that have children how to be a parent. You need a license to own a dog but any idiot can (and do) have babies to collect the baby bonus and that's when they think their responsibility ends.
Doug, if you find another petition site please print it. I am thoroughly opposed to Facebook but would like to put my John Hancock on this petition.
Comment by Doug Pollard
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Comment by Cheryl J
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I'm on it!
Comment by Doug Pollard
Current Affairs
Rainbow Reporter
* there's no problem to solve because actual illegal material on the Internet is so rare that nobody ever finds it;
* even if there was a problem to solve, there's no serious public demand to solve it;
* even if there was a public demand to solve it, none of the solutions proposed by the ALP will be effective, and the Government has handily provided original research to decimate their own case;
* even if they were effective, they'll slow down Internet access and reduce Internet reliability, as shown by the same original research released by the Minister on July 22;
* even if the proposed solutions had perfect performance and reliability, none of them are affordable;
* even if they were affordable, they'll be implemented terribly by the same underclass of bureaucrat that deemed Mohammad Haneef a terrorist, or Bill Henson a pornographer. The salivating of hangers-on like Family First and Nick Xenophon, lobbying to have the blacklist expanded before it's even in force, demonstrate perfectly how open the system will be to political manipulation and lobbying;
* even if they were implemented perfectly by perfect administrators, the blacklists will inevitably leak, be published on the Internet, whereupon they'll fall into the hands of nefarious individuals and consequently enable child abuse all over the world, with the direct assistance of the Commonwealth of Australia; and
* there's no possibility that the blacklists won't leak. Finland's list has already leaked, CyberPatrol's encrypted blacklist is cracked every six months or so. It's delusional to believe that Australia will be any better at securing its officially sanctioned list of Child Porn and Terrorism sites than anyone else. It might take a month, a year, five years, ten years, or two hours. But it will leak, secrets always do. Pressing it into service will be like setting a ticking time bomb, and when it explodes there'll be a thronging multitude of critics pointing at Senator Conroy and saying, "I told you so, you were warned, but you did it anyway".