Oz Internet Filter In Place

[Plan C]

That sp*z Conroy has done it:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8413377.stm

Millions of Australian taxpayers' dollars have been flushed down the drain. Again.
Seriously - how can you allow so much money to be simply thrown away in the name of populism...
Shame on you, Oz, shame on you for allowing people like Stephen Conroy to dictate your lives.

I can see the UK jumping on this bandwagon of doom soon enough. See you in the streets when that happens

[Dr Zoidberg]

Was just about to post on this too.
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/tec...s=210#comments

Im in the process of donating to the GetUp campaign to for their 'Censordyne' ad against the scheme: https://www.getup.org.au/campaign/SaveTheNet&id=684

What me the most is that the legislation won't be introduced until just before next years election; in a not so covert attempt to have it swept under the rug. I hope this convinces enough people this is what happens when you vote for Labor. You get a pack of intellectual-hollier-than-thou s who think they know whats best for the entire country.

[Don in the North]

im not a socialist either. and i have to say these censors will do more harm than good, and conroy will feel empowered by this win and push his BS agenda forward in other areas

[Enemy of the State]

So incredibly wrong... Poor Australia. This is proof that insane people can get to power.

[removeduser_487563287433]

I don't have much background knowledge on this but so long as the process of selecting what sites contain criminal content is transparent I do not see the problem.

[Plan C]

I don't have much background knowledge on this but so long as the process of selecting what sites contain criminal content is transparent I do not see the problem.

Filtering "criminal" websites is not a problem in itself as you obviously know.
The issue is that of criminal wastefulness of taxpayers' money and serious decrease in performance.
In essense, Australian ISPs have many a time illustrated how the planned filter impacts network speeds and how woefully ineffective it is, ergo how irrelevant the cost of the project is. Cost shared by the government (i.e. taxpayers) and ISPs (i.e. their customers => taxpayers).

Despite several months of talks with the ISP's and several trials which proved that the projects is bonkers, Stephen Conroy has pushed ahead into the execution phase.

I know, I know, I always use the same excuse but that's because it's true - I'm at work and I can't link you to much ATM but I do encourage you to dig around and find out some more, Ferrets.

[Exarch]

this is bull

it doesnt matter who the aus gov is, labour, liberal, greens etc, they're all a bunch of nanny state bull- crats who constantly pine for an 1950s australia.

- A site debating the merits of euthanasia in which some participants exchanged information about actual euthanasia practices.
- A site set up by a community organisation to promote harm minimisation in recreational drug use.
- A site providing a safe space for young gay and lesbians to discuss their sexuality.
- A site that includes dialogue and excerpts from literary classics such as Nabokov's Lolita or sociological studies into sexual experiences, such as Dr Alfred Kinsey's famous Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male.
- A site devoted to discussing the geopolitical causes of terrorism that published material outlining the views of terrorist organisations as reference material.
The Australian Sex Party said today that blocking RC websites would cut off access to 95 per cent of the world's 4 million adult websites as many overseas porn sites have much broader parameters in their X-rating than the classification system in Australia.
"The biggest selling porn movie in the world, Pirates, has been given an RC rating in Australia because it featured an animated duelling scene with two skeletons," party convener Fiona Patten said.

for anyone who hasnt seen it, i recommend Pirates for the comedy lol

and serisouyl, nabakov's lolita??!!
that's a literary masterpiece and they're wanting to burn that boook??
damn philistines

[removeduser_487563287433]

Oh for heaven's sake don't let him derail another thread.

[The Devil's Sergeant]

What exactly is this criminal content? Kiidy porn? gambling? How common household chemicals can make explosives for entertainment and educational purposes?

Given the the social stock of Australia it is rather easy to understand why the government fears its people having access to such material.

[removeduser_487563287433]

Without being an expert in Australian law, child pornography yes, gambling, probably not. I would imagine criminal content is what is illegal in Australia, since I have lost faith that stupid questions are intended rhetorically.

[Sosobra]

The spice (data in this case) must flow.

[Dr Zoidberg]

Latest article out on the topic (whats all this chit-chat about prostitutes?). http://www.smh.com.au/technology/tec...1216-kw7d.html

They found that, if the filtering plan went ahead, Australian adults would not be able to access material that is completely legal to view under Australian law.

A list is included in the article about what sort of completely legal material could be blocked.

The more I read about this, the more I get pissed off.

[Plan C]

They found that, if the filtering plan went ahead, Australian adults would not be able to access material that is completely legal to view under Australian law.

Is there really no one to oppose this? I mean, surely, a hefty chunk of society (majority, I will hazard a guess) must be sick to the back teeth with this BS. Surely, there must be some kind of proper, legit opposition to this insanity?

[Exarch]

Is there really no one to oppose this? I mean, surely, a hefty chunk of society (majority, I will hazard a guess) must be sick to the back teeth with this BS. Surely, there must be some kind of proper, legit opposition to this insanity?

as it is, the opposition is composed of jesus freaks and christian fundies who also happen to deny climate change, abortion, etc etc.
the only reason they'll oppose it is out of principle as the opposition party-but with the likes of tony abbot, etc etc, i dont see it being taken apart once they're the ones in power

[Pontifex Maximus]

I don't know how socialism has anything to do with censors, so I have deleted all off topic posts dealing with it. Please respect the topic, if you want to rant about socialism make a new thread for it.

[The Devil's Sergeant]

Thats as accurate and fair as saying al lcapitalists want to force women to sell themselves in to prostitution thru poverty.

Did you know that in 1910 Chicago (at a time when it is was legal) the average prostitute earned the modern equivalent of over $76,000 a year. Top tier girls earned over $400,000. At the very low end a worker in the army of vice would earn $25 a week (about $25K in today's dollars) The average woman not in the sex business earned just $6 a day.




Today the average Chicago hooker earns $350 a week.

[aletoledo]

I think this is where "net neutrality" is headed in the US. The people that are crying for net neutrality are asking the government to regulate and control everything that ISPs are doing. This is the perfect cover for government to later establish a filtering regulation after they've gained control over ISPs.

[Phier]

Did you know that in 1910 Chicago (at a time when it is was legal) the average prostitute earned the modern equivalent of over $70,000 a year. Top tier girls earned over $400,000. Today the average Chicago hooker earns $350 a week.

Must be ugly.

I know a stripper who made $1200 a night, and thats not putting out.

[Plan C]

Nope just pointing out the irony of repressors getting repressed themsleves. It's damn funny to me.

It's "oppressors" and "oppressed", I'm sure you'll find. No matter, let's move on - does anyone, seriously, anyone here think this is a good idea?

I have yet to talk to anyone who would vote for such crazy, money-wasting schemes. How come, then, that advanced, democratic societies have such insane ideas forced upon them?

[Dr Zoidberg]

It's "oppressors" and "oppressed", I'm sure you'll find. No matter, let's move on - does anyone, seriously, anyone here think this is a good idea?

I have yet to talk to anyone who would vote for such crazy, money-wasting schemes. How come, then, that advanced, democratic societies have such insane ideas forced upon them?

Haven't met an Australian who thinks it is a good idea. Forgetting the whole freedom of speech thing; the sheer fact that the content this is meant to protect against - child porn etc - is illegal to begin with, so filtering the internet is completely useless. Unless they filter P2P, file-sharing, etc - this content will still be accessible by those who want it.

As for your second question - I believe this is partially to do with the ideology of the Australian Labor Party (which can be loosely classified as Centre-Left). Regardless of the individual personalities, the ALP have always had this 'we know best' attitude.

Additionally, at the moment we have two family values-based independent senators who, along with the Greens, hold the balance of power in the senate. So this sort of 'govie knows best, we're doing it for the children' attitude is quite pervasive at the moment.