New Australian PM Sticks With Internet Filter Plans

[Andy Chalk]

New Australian PM Sticks With Internet Filter Plans

Julia Gillard, who took over as Australia's Prime Minister last month, says she'll push ahead with plans to censor the internet despite the "technical concerns" and other potential issues that lay ahead.

Australia's plan to filter the naughtiness out of the internet has been kicking around [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/87869-More-Internet-Woes-for-Australia] for awhile now and although it sounds silly and faces widespread opposition, it's somehow managed to maintain solid support from the powers that be. Despite hopes to the contrary, it looks like the recent departure of former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd won't do anything to improve the situation.

"Images of child abuse, child pornography - they are not legal in our cinemas. Why should you be able to see them on the internet?" Gillard, Rudd's replacement and Australia's first female Prime Minister, said yesterday. "I think that that's the kind of moral, ethical question at the heart of this."

"I understand that there's a set of... technical concerns about internet speed, and also concerns that somehow this accidentally doesn't move into taking away legitimate use of the internet," she added, noting that Communications Minister Stephen Conroy is working to "get a resolution" to the potential problems.

Mark Newton, a network engineer and "vocal critic" of the policy, dismissed Gillard's comments as a "silly throwaway line about child pornography," but Ros Phillips, a spokeswoman for the group FamilyVoice Australia [http://www.fava.org.au/], said she was "delighted" that the new Prime Minister is staying the course. "The underlying principle, you can't dispute - why should you treat the internet differently from any form of communications like films and books and so on," she said.

Consultations on how to implement the filter are still underway and it isn't expected to be brought before Parliament until after the next election.

Source: The Age [http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/gillard-to-stick-with-web-filter-despite-disquiet-20100707-100qe.html]


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[The_root_of_all_evil]

"I understand that there's a set of... technical concerns about internet speed,..."

/facepalm.

QUICK, SHUT IT DOWN BEFORE IT BEAMS THESE IMAGES INTO OUR DISKS!

If you're going to have a clear and concise plan for dealing with a visible threat, having basic technical information on hand is always a good idea first.

 

[awesomeClaw]

Im reminded of an old saying. "Those who sacriface liberty for safety deserve neither"

 

[Zenode]

Seriously? people were saying OMG she isnt like Rudd.....

This is why i vote liberal, they WANTED something like this, but they deemed it too stupid/idiotic/undemocratic to do....

 

[Colonel Alzheimer's]

So basically, if you mention that child pornography might be involved, you can do whatever the fuck you want.

 

[Outlaw Torn]

So Australia is going to be a safe haven for empty headed religious extremists and old people who think every generation after their own is the work of satan? I forsee Australia having a civil war or a mass evacuation in the near future.

 

[Woodsey]

Australia; land of the easy-going.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Sounds rather Orwellian to me. Glad I don't live in Australia.

 

[bladester1]

"Images of child abuse, child pornography - they are not legal in our cinemas. Why should you be able to see them on the internet?" Gillard, Rudd's replacement and Australia's first female Prime Minister, said yesterday. "I think that that's the kind of moral, ethical question at the heart of this."

but Ros Phillips, a spokeswoman for the group FamilyVoice Australia [http://www.fava.org.au/], said she was "delighted" that the new Prime Minister is staying the course. "The underlying principle, you can't dispute - why should you treat the internet differently from any form of communications like films and books and so on," she said.

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Makes me think of the banned book list...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_books_banned_by_governments

How about instead of banning this stuff, you try to change society so they do not want to view this material. Filtering content is not the way to go about it, people will find a way to find it if they really want it.

 

[James Hueick]

Australia; land of the easy-going.

I thought that was Canada.

 

[Loonerinoes]

I am reminded of Mr. Herriman from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends:

"You can't take the video down! It's on the internet!"
"Nonsense! Just show me where this 'net' is!"

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

I posted this before but

As the Americans learned so painfully in Earth's final century, free flow of information is the only safeguard against tyranny. The once-chained people whose leaders at last lose their grip on information flow will soon burst with freedom and vitality, but the free nation gradually constricting its grip on public discourse has begun its rapid slide into despotism. Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.

* Commissioner Pravin Lal, "U.N. Declaration of Rights"

I think it works here as well.

 

[Lizardon]

Well here's some survey results collected at the start of the year

http://hungrybeast.abc.net.au/stories/internet-filter-survey-results

Apparently the majority want this filter.

EDIT: Just want to point out that I don't trust the survey or agree with a filter.

 

[Woodsey]

Australia; land of the easy-going.

I thought that was Canada.

I was being iro-

Nevermind.

 

[Doug]

So Australia is going to be a safe haven for empty headed religious extremists and old people who think every generation after their own is the work of satan?

It'll be just like the US mid west. Only with more poisonous creatures.

 

[Loonerinoes]

Well here's some survey results collected at the start of the year

http://hungrybeast.abc.net.au/stories/internet-filter-survey-results

Apparently the majority want this filter.

Heh, I really don't trust surveys as much as I used to. And here is why:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yhN1IDLQjo

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Instead of fighting the internent, can't they crack down on pedophiles? The dangerous ones, though.

 

[Motiv_]

Okay, I can understand the Aussie's want to remove child pornography. I understand and sympathize, child pornography is a graphic and disgusting act that is illegal in just about every state and country that I would frequent.

BUT, how long is it going to be before the Aussie's start noticing free speaking websites blocked because the monitors see differently? Before the Prime Minister in office blocks the websites of his or her competitor to try and get more votes? Before Kangaroo Land turns into *Shudder* North Korea? Almost no access to any internet other than government propoganda, you can be executed for handing out a bible or a cell phone, and tourists are only allowed to be "Toured" through cities, not walk around in them.

 

[tehbeard]

Australian goverment,

Still convinced their citizens are all criminals.