Net Censorship
Fri, 28 May 1999, 07:57 amGrant Malcolm1 post in thread
Net Censorship
Fri, 28 May 1999, 07:57 amWell, it finally happened. Our federal politicians finally proved how totally clueless they are and have passed ridiculous legislation to try and police the Internet.Effectively the situation with the Internet was (until this legislation was passed) a little like that with Australia Post or a commercial courier. If i send something illegal through the post or via courier, I am to blame. If the person on the other end receives it and doesn't report the illegal contents they may also be liable. There are already laws in place to deal with these eventualities.You don't expect that the postie will go through all of your mail, opening it and deciding whether or not it may be "offensive" or illegal. Well, that's what this legislation provides for. Your Internet Service Provider can now be held responsible, so they'll need to check every website you visit and every piece of mail, every download - or they may be held liable.The new laws will fail on two grounds. Firstly, the Australian Broadcasting Authority simply is not in a position to police the traffic currently flowing through Australian Internet connections. The explosive growth of the Internet will ensure that they can never keep up with the technology.Secondly, devices to block access to "offensive" material will invariably end up restricting access to the innocuous. As an example, the following site is a page for people playing a strategy game over the internet. They call themselves the Swedish YankSpankers because they have beaten the US playing the game on many occasions.http://welcome.to/yankspankersMy ISP is currently displaying the following warning page when i try to access the site:**********This Site could be BLOCKED !!Click here to go to the page you requested, or wait 30 seconds.Emergency Action Alert - The Australian Government intends to pass draconian Internet content regulation today that could stop you seeing this site you requested! You are experiencing what it may be like to have Internet access under new Government regulations. This primitive blocking mechanism is in place in order to protest censorship and increase awareness of how the Government's proposed legislation is likely to affect you.*********You need to act now to preserve the freedom of the Internet and keep the responsibility rightly where it belongs - with you, the individual.Access the site below for more details.CheersGrant
Grant MalcolmFri, 28 May 1999, 07:57 am
Well, it finally happened. Our federal politicians finally proved how totally clueless they are and have passed ridiculous legislation to try and police the Internet.Effectively the situation with the Internet was (until this legislation was passed) a little like that with Australia Post or a commercial courier. If i send something illegal through the post or via courier, I am to blame. If the person on the other end receives it and doesn't report the illegal contents they may also be liable. There are already laws in place to deal with these eventualities.You don't expect that the postie will go through all of your mail, opening it and deciding whether or not it may be "offensive" or illegal. Well, that's what this legislation provides for. Your Internet Service Provider can now be held responsible, so they'll need to check every website you visit and every piece of mail, every download - or they may be held liable.The new laws will fail on two grounds. Firstly, the Australian Broadcasting Authority simply is not in a position to police the traffic currently flowing through Australian Internet connections. The explosive growth of the Internet will ensure that they can never keep up with the technology.Secondly, devices to block access to "offensive" material will invariably end up restricting access to the innocuous. As an example, the following site is a page for people playing a strategy game over the internet. They call themselves the Swedish YankSpankers because they have beaten the US playing the game on many occasions.http://welcome.to/yankspankersMy ISP is currently displaying the following warning page when i try to access the site:**********This Site could be BLOCKED !!Click here to go to the page you requested, or wait 30 seconds.Emergency Action Alert - The Australian Government intends to pass draconian Internet content regulation today that could stop you seeing this site you requested! You are experiencing what it may be like to have Internet access under new Government regulations. This primitive blocking mechanism is in place in order to protest censorship and increase awareness of how the Government's proposed legislation is likely to affect you.*********You need to act now to preserve the freedom of the Internet and keep the responsibility rightly where it belongs - with you, the individual.Access the site below for more details.CheersGrant