Nude female sculpture in QLD is ‘offensive’
A nude female sculpture — in a park — in Queensland — Oh, the humanity! This sculpture by artist Antone Bruinsma (also from QLD) was removed from a park on Bribie Island on Wednesday because it was ‘not council’s job to deliberately go out and offend people.’ Yah… Moreton Bay Regional Council mayor Allan Sutherland...
Australia gets censored Fallout 3
Relaxing on my Brisbane Show Day holiday, I nearly forgot to write about the censored version of Fallout 3 that will be released in Australia. The original game (that everybody else sees fit enough to play) was Refused Classification by the ACB last month because of in-game morphine use. The for-Australian-eyes version no longer has...
How to outrage the Australian Family Association: A guide for the whole family
They’re our knight in shining armor — our Hetty in a time of Henson — they are the Australian Family Association. Always around when someone has crossed that line… as can be seen from these recent events. Step 1: If you run a multi-million dollar company selling burgers, you can make more money by selling...
China hums ‘Protect the Kiddies’ tune on net censorship
Hey, I’m sure I’ve heard this closer to home: Internet censorship is necessary in order to protect children. OLYMPIC Games organisers claimed on Saturday that the controversial decision to block Internet sites was taken to protect Chinese youngsters. Asked why sites such as Free Tibet and those covering the Tiananmen Square Massacre were not accessible,...
Space Chimps reclassified ‘G’
Space Chimp fans worried about the future of their beloved film have a lot to smile about today. The Classification Review Board has reclassified the animated ‘classic’ as ‘G’ and tagged it with consumer advice that ?some scenes may scare young children.’ If the PG rating and ‘threatening scenes’ warning was putting you off, now...
Will your blog be banned in Australia?
Pornographic websites won’t be the only sites blacklisted in Australia if mandatory ISP filtering is introduced. Your blog might be as well. The recent trial of ISP filters in Tasmania showed that at best 1 out of every 100 websites were incorrectly identified and blocked. That’s bad news for bloggers. The very nature of how...
Sophie Peer from Amnesty International talks about the Great Firewall
I love what Stilgherrian is doing with live video on the web. Today he had a chat with with Sophie Peer from Amnesty International about The Great Firewall of China and human rights. Watch below: You’ve probably noticed the big yellow Amnesty International Uncensor box on the right hand side of this blog for the...
Game Developers’ Association attacks censorship
Tom Crago, president of the Game Developers’ Association of Australia, doesn’t touch on much we haven’t heard before in his essay on the lack of an R18+ games rating, but he does set a fine example of industry going after the censors. When you combine take-no-shit leaders like Crago with the tribal characteristics of gamers...
Blogger reaction to filtering trial
It’s been nearly a week since Conroy hailed the Tassie ISP filtering trial a success. Here’s an overview of what other bloggers are saying about it: ‘The mainstream media in Australia has been outraged by the Internet censorship in China, but seems to be paying no attention to its rise in their own backyard.’ -...
Victoria Police blame Internet as kids turn to crime
When common contributors to youth crime like drug and alcohol abuse, poverty, and family dysfunction seemingly become impossible to combat, what can those responsible for fixing it do? In the Victoria Police’s case, you take a tired and unproven old excuse from the 90s and rewrap it: you blame the Internet. About 10,000 Victorian children...
Space Chimps under review, Two Hentai films banned
Does anyone have any idea why Space Chimps is under review (PDF) by the Classification Review Board? It’s currently rated PG (Mild threatening scenes) and though I’ve never seen the film, it seems like a reasonable rating for an animation about chimps in space. Maybe too harsh a classification, maybe not harsh enough? Who knows...
