Actually a victory for people who know stuff as opposed to those who don't.
Conroy says filter demise a win for community consultation
Stephen Conroy, Australia’s Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, as spun the decision not to introduce a comprehensive internet filter as a win for child protection advocates. Speaking to ABC Radio’s AM program, Conroy said “we've actually reached agreement with the industry to block child …
-
Friday 9th November 2012 01:56 GMT Anonymous Coward
So Conroy has "...successfully negotiated banning child pornography...". I was under the impression that this was already illegal. Does he really think that banning something that is illegal is a win or am I missing something?
Rather than wasting money on attempting to introduce mandatory blocking of sites on a secret list, wouldn't it be more fruitful if the various enforcement agencies cooperated on an international basis to identify these sites, monitor who is using them (if possible - I know you'll only catch the low-hanging fruit this way since anyone with half a clue will at the very least be connecting through a proxy of some kind), then shut them down. That would seem the sensible approach, assuming that "protecting the children" is your actual goal rather than gaining control over what your population is allowed to view on the web.
-
Friday 9th November 2012 11:51 GMT James 100
Slippery slope
The problem is this does not "ban" it - as you say, it's already illegal - but sets a precedent and puts in place a mechanism for *filtering* it.
"We only use the filter to block child pornography - that's ok, because the stuff's already illegal anyway, right?"
"Oh, we'll be using it to block pirated software, too, because that's illegal."
"This site's making adult content available to users without a DNA sample and triple proof of ID, and that's illegal now, so we'll block it too."
As soon as the government is able to filter *some* bits of the Internet, you cross the line - moving the debate from "should the government be allowed to control your private communications?" (Hell no!) to "which of your private communications is the government allowed to block?". In the UK, we've already reached the 2nd step above, with prudish Luddite MPs already demanding that we move to step 3. With hindsight, CleanFeed should have been fought off vigorously right at the outset, since it acted as the Trojan Horse for sneaking censorship into our ISPs to begin with.
-
-
-
Friday 9th November 2012 07:01 GMT Shane 4
Amazing
Well I am just....... Shocked!
I now have 2 reasons to vote for labor(usually my vote is just to get my name crossed off as both sides stink).
1. NBN yes it's expensive but some idiots out there don't see the big picture later on,It will even help you wireless freaks!
2. Uncensored net The way a democratic nation should ALWAYS be
By all means pump more money into Federal Police resources and more man power to shut the child abuse/animal cruelty stuff down and work internationally with overseas law enforcement, While they are at it could they go over to Nigeria and shoot whoever is sending me scam emails every friggin' day, Thanks in advance.
-
Thursday 15th November 2012 12:13 GMT silent_count
Re: Amazing
> I now have 2 reasons to vote for labor(usually my vote is just to get my
> name crossed off as both sides stink).
> 1. NBN yes it's expensive but some idiots out there don't see the big
> picture later on,It will even help you wireless freaks!"
a) how much does it cost?
b) is there a better way to spend that money?
> 2. Uncensored net The way a democratic nation should ALWAYS be
> By all means pump more money into Federal Police resources and more
> man power to shut the child abuse/animal cruelty stuff down and work
> internationally with overseas law enforcement, While they are at it could
> they go over to Nigeria and shoot whoever is sending me scam emails
> every friggin' day,
In one line you want an "uncensored" net and in the next you want to shovel money at the federal police to censor it.
-
-
Monday 12th November 2012 08:31 GMT bugalugs
All this on the day
the Prime Minister has announced consideration/planning of a Royal Commission into child abuse by " institutions". Fascinating that a story about NSW ALP politicians' buddies having well-in-advance information about which farms might be worth buying up prior to coal-mining exploration licenses being granted was shuffled off to be overwhelmed by the PM's announcement. ahem.
Damn them all.