Somebody Think of the Children
Monthly archive September, 2008

Why adult stores sell banned films and magazines

Two Brisbane adult stores have been fined for selling Category 2 magazines and films classified as X18+ and RC. Queenslander’s can legally watch and purchase such material, but it is illegal for QLD stores to sell it. That creates a big problem and not just for retailers in the Sunshine State — for stores in...

Inflight Internet access leads to inflight porn hysteria

American Airlines is under fire from customers and flight attendants because their inflight Internet service will give passengers access to pornographic websites (despite no recorded incidents of it happening). They want filtering software installed to keep all naughty stuff out of the air (Die Hard 4 as inflight entertainment not a problem though). If people...

Gordon Ramsay’s Hell Kitchen game rated PG

Gordon Ramsay now has a video game and it’s been classified PG for its mild coarse language. At least those people who complain that games are all violence and sex can now add roasting to their list. Cheers Ben.

Online freedoms and rights talk, Melb, 20th September

Dale and Colin from EFA will present a talk on online freedoms and rights at Melbourne’s Software Freedom Day this Saturday the 20th of September. Dale writes at NoCensorshipAus that they will be focusing on the Commonwealth government’s current Internet censorship agenda. Where: The Hub, 17 Waterview Walk, Docklands, Melbourne When: 20/09/2008 (EFA says 11AM,...

Want longer lasting censored? AMI’s new billboard

Advanced Medical Institute has begun rolling out their new billboards which will read ‘Want Longer Lasting Censored?‘ AMI CEO Jack Vaisman had this to say about the change: ‘We have to comply with the Advertising Standards Bureau regulations and we decided that we would change the message and we appeal to the public through our...

Hetty Johnston links young sex offenders to Internet pornography

Child protection campaigner Hetty Johnston says the reason the age of sex offenders and their victims is getting lower is probably because of easy access to internet pornography. The evidence to support such a claim — Either Hetty doesn’t have it or the media didn’t report it. I’m betting the first. ‘Easy access to pornography’...

Expressions of interest sought for live ISP filtering trial

Round 3 of Senator Conroy’s filtering plan is underway: The Government will seek expressions of interest in mid October from ISPs willing to test ISP level filtering in a real-world environment. AusIT story here. If you haven’t already done so, please read my analysis (and other people’s comments) of the closed filtering trial the Government...

New Zealand talks Aussie clean feed

Now New Zealand is making fun of us because of our looming clean feed. They’ve even reminded us that ex Tasmanian Senator Paul Calvert once said you have only got to press P on the Internet to get porn.

Australian Christian Lobby and the case of the entertaining cannibal

Those wacky folks at the Australian Comedian Christian Lobby have done it again. They’ve taken a jab at ABC for labeling last Friday’s episode of Wire In The Blood about a sex-crazed cannibal as ‘entertainment’ in their TV guide. Okay ‘drama’ may have been more appropriate, but we all know how petty the ACL can...

Aussie censors cause worldwide revision of Fallout 3

Watch out world — The reach of the Australian Classification Board now extends well beyond our sandy shores. The censored Aussie version of Fallout 3 will be the version of the game that is released worldwide. Gaming website Edge has the full details. Here’s what the game’s PR head Peter Hines had to say: Calling...

Sunrise talks Wikipedia censorship

Channel Seven’s Sunrise spoke with Media Studies Professor Karen Brooks this morning about the Wikipedia sex topic uproar. There wasn’t any web bashing or family frothing though as one comes to expect from morning tele. Brooks instead spoke about the importance of supervising children’s Internet use and the need for clear communication between parents and...

Wikiporn? Masturbation images on Wikipedia ‘crosses the line’

Wikipedia has come under fire from some users and child protection advocates because its pages about masturbation and ejaculation also contain ‘graphic’ images and footage (see here and here). Child Wise CEO Bernadette Mcmenamin told News Ltd that while she supports sex education, displaying sexualised images in a freely available online encyclopaedia ‘crosses the line’....