Conroy announces mandatory internet filters "to protect children"

[In_God_We_Trust]

How do you like that, Australia! First they take your Guns, now they take your Internet. Now, we all here NEVER saw this coming for them... Government NEVER encroaches into your personal lives...

Senator Conroy says it will be mandatory for all Internet service providers to provide clean feeds, or ISP filtering, to houses and schools that are free of pornography and inappropriate material.

Online civil libertarians have warned the freedom of the Internet is at stake, but Senator Conroy says that is nonsense.

He says the scheme will better protect children from pornography and violent websites.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/31/2129471.htm


Yes, they do supposedly have an "opt out" clause: But I wonder what you have to sign to get out of that service, given that this is a government run program? Not like you are not going to have a scarlet letter attached to your name...

Too bad they did not have an "opt out" for the gun grabbing... [sad2]

But remember...
Keep telling yourself it is for the "CHILDREN"

 

[Jose]

Australia stopped being a free nation a LONG time ago.

 

[gene]

[sad2]I would be willing to bet anything dealing with guns becomes filtered along with porn.

 

[JRyan]

No kidding. It;'s not about the children, its about control, as usual.

...for a living I do product photography and am basically the entire IT dept for a very large small business, I do not need the governments help to block anything, and with modern software neither does anyone else. Anyone who works in IT knows this, it's not like there is some amount of ignorance that the Aussie gov can claim. It's purely about control.

 

[In_God_We_Trust]

WOW...

In reading more about the filters, the Government was originally targeting just libraries:

"The welfare of children is the most important consideration and we do need to ensure that we err on the side of excluding access to things that may be harmful to them and certainly in public places such as libraries that protection should be available."

That was in June of 2006: Now, nearly a year and a half later, the "save the children" moved into the homes.

As JRyan said, I am SURE the parents can purchase software to filter what they want to filter out... No need for the Governmental overhead.

And as gene said, I am SURE sites like the NRA and others such as Northeast Shooters will be blocked: Put the blinders on the Children before the know what it is like to be free. That way, there will be no struggle years down the road when more liberties are stripped...

The citizens of Australia are the Children of the State now [sad2]

 

[matt]

wow... how sad.

 

[Admin]

And as gene said, I am SURE sites like the NRA and others such as Northeast Shooters will be blocked: Put the blinders on the Children before the know what it is like to be free. That way, there will be no struggle years down the road when more liberties are stripped...

The citizens of Australia are the Children of the State now [sad2]

+1

 

[chuck9899]

Alot of Providers already offer this service for free or for a small charge by either doing it directly or offering programs to do it.

 

[KMaurer]

I've got this wonderful filtering device on my web browser. If I don't enter the URL for a web site or click on a link to that site, my browser doesn't display it. It keeps me from seeing pornography, violence, cricket matches or even government sites unless I choose to do so, and it doesn't cost a penny extra or require a law mandating it.

Obviously far too complicated for Australians and other authoritarian control freaks of both the liberal and conservative variety.

Ken

 

[sig shooter]

i thought looking at free hardcore porn was part of childhood?

it was part of mine

 

[Ripach]

The best filter from such sites is readily available and free to all Internet users, It's called PARENTS. People need to start taking responsibility for their children, and monitoring what they do. If you have kids that need to be online for school or extracurricular activities, let them surf where you can see. I grew up with nothing more then a radio in my room, if I wanted to watch T. V. or play on the computer I did it in the family room or not at all. This is how my house was as a child and how it will be for my children. My friends say I will cave when I see that all of their classmates have that set-up, but I plan to use my Dad's logic, "I'm not Little Johnny's father, and if I was he wouldn't have it either". and like many of you have already stated if you "need" it, most ISP's provide free access to some sort of filtering program. Just my .02, sort if I ranted.

 

[Coyote33]

WOW...

In reading more about the filters, the Government was originally targeting just libraries:
...

i thought looking at free hardcore porn was part of childhood?...

I remember a bunch of kids taking the bus to the Worcester library and looking at Playboy magazines.

 

[chuck9899]

Heck my mom found my playboy collection and throw it all away then had a big talk with me about it years ago.

I believe its a natural part of a boy growing up. Like stealing your fathers playboy in his sock draw or something. Its something thats always going to happen and will continue to happen.