By “voluntary” they mean that the ISPs are filtering content identified as child abuse material voluntarily, not that they are giving their customers who don’t want to look at child abuse material anyway any choice about being gifted with a false sense of cybersecurity.
Sen. Conroy announced today that the mandatory filter is going to be put onto the back-burner until an independent inquiry has been held.
While my wonkish side is partly thrilled to see so many people critically engaged with public policy for once, for them to come to it from a place of disappointment, suspicion and resentment over a previous incomplete understanding of the system is far from ideal.
I love the new Filter Stephen Conroy site, and I’m keen to put up a similar site aimed at people who very much want their own family’s internet access to be filtered and who have bought into the idea that Conroy’s filter is going to be the easiest way to do it (and that it will work).
Government Overreach Edition – what the hell is the Rudd government up to? Read’em and weep.
Items of interest found recently in my RSS feed. What did I miss? Please share what you've been reading (and writing!) in the comments.
The government’s compulsory internet filter will not make the internet any safer for children to use unsupervised, nor will it make police detection of users of illegal content any easier.
For those interested in Minister Stephen Conroy’s plans to introduce mandatory internet censorship to Australia, check out Wendy Carlisle’s show on the Background Briefing. ABC Radio National: Conroy’s clean feed It’s well-researched, and it explains the issue from square one,… Read More ›
The weather is clearing here in Sydney, just in time for the marches against Conroy’s ham-fisted plan to cripple internet access for ordinary Australians. There are marches organised for all capital cities, the earliest will be Brisbane’s starting at 11am… Read More ›
Clive Hamilton, “public intellectual”, has been banging on about how wrong wrongitty wrong anti-censorship advocates are. Clive has been stampily regurgitating the mantra of the censors: “I have heard no one argue that films, television, books and magazine should be… Read More ›
Hoyden About Town 