Mobile filtering: ISPs choose technology, Gov set minimum level?
Hoping to ease concerns mobile service providers have about mandatory ISP filtering, a spokesperson for Senator Conroy said the Government does not anticipate prescribing what technologies can and can’t be used to filter Internet access, ‘rather it is anticipated that a minimum level will be set and ISPs required to meet it.‘ Australian IT writes:...
Outrage over Cocaine energy drink, Jim Beam chips
Firstly, the Queensland Consumer Association is enraged that an energy drink called Cocaine will soon be available in Australia (it’s already in stores in the US and Britain). The association’s state secretary Max Howard said calling a drink Cocaine is just wrong and trivialising an illicit drug is unethical. He’ll seek advice from the Australian...
Australian Customs seize adult Brady Bunch spoof
When it comes to videos being seized by Australian Customs, Refused-Classification remains the best source of information (if not the only). This week they write that Not the Bradys XXX and Learning the Ropes #1: Male Submissive have both been confiscated by the ACS: ‘…We can inform you that Will Ryder’s hardcore BRADY BUNCH spoof...
Latest Silent Hill game banned for high impact violence
Silent Hill: Homecoming, the latest game in the survival horror franchise from Konami, has been refused classification by the Australian Classification Board. The local distributor of the game, Atari, told GameSpot that the ACB found issue with the high impact of Silent Hill’s violence. Examples used by the board in its report include copious blood...
Intergalactic Censorship Patrol – Comics, Uncle Sam and Aunty Sarah
I come across heaps of great censorship related websites and blogs each day, but I don’t post about them because they aren’t about Australian issues or because I don’t have time. 99% of the time it’s the latter. So instead of keeping them to myself, I’ve decided the best thing to do is share them...
Van Heusen underwear ad banned: Too racy for Brisbane buses
Details are sketchy, but this advertisement for fashion label Van Heusen will not be allowed to run on the rear of Brisbane City Council buses. It’s been deemed too racy. Even us precious Brisbane folk can tolerate some clothed ass. Anyone in the CBD passes giant posters of scantily clad women daily when we walk...
Anti-gay bumper sticker: Free speech, hate speech?
The ugly side of free speech: This sticker was stuck on a car driven by Ron Owen, a gun lobbyist and publisher of ‘pro-militia’ magazine Lock Stock & Barrel. Understandably, lesbians from Gympie weren’t too pleased when they saw it so they took Owen to Queensland’s Anti-Discrimination Tribunal. The Tribunal found Owen guilty of inciting...
New Zealand OFLC teaching kids how to censor
New Zealand’s Office of Film & Literature Classification is teaching school students the fine art of classification and censorship. Michelle Baker from the OFLC said their Censor For A Day program is an opportunity for students to learn how censorship really worked and to apply it to future films. Bay Of Plenty Times writes: Around...
Michael Atkinston sixth most hated person
South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson has landed himself spot number six in Zoo Weekly’s annual Top 50 People We Hate List. I wonder why. Atkinson outranked accused child sex offender Dennis Ferguson, Toadie from Neighbours, and Corey Worthington. Good effort.
Nick Minchin new shadow communications minister
Nick Minchin has replaced Bruce Billson as shadow minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. News Report. In 2003 Minchin, Tony Abbott and Alan Cadman (amongst others) formed the ‘Family Policy Group’ to persue the interest of families in parliament. All three are linked to the Lyons Forum who in 1997 attempted to ban...
Alan Jones is thinking of the children
Alan Jones has only been back at work a week and he’s already whipping up a parental fear frenzy: Children at risk from every angle Alan Jones We need to reflect on the dreadful story of a young 19-year-old woman being raped in a taxi in November last year, twice indecently assaulted as she drifted...
Is Malcolm Turnbull the answer to a censorship-free Australia?
Malcolm Turnbull may not be the silver bullet that kills censorship in Australia, but he does provide a better shot at it than Keven Rudd and the ALP. At his first media conference as leader of the opposition, Turnbull commented on something that lies at the heart of what makes the current Government and censorship...
