Nick Xenophon withdraws all support for filtering
Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has withdrawn all support for the Government’s mandatory ISP filtering scheme according to SMH. Asher Moses reports: Senator Nick Xenophon previously indicated he may support a filter that blocks online gambling websites but in a phone interview today he withdrew all support, saying “the more evidence that’s come out, the more...
Video of the Kickstart 2009 ISP filtering debate: McMenamin still doesn’t get it
You can now watch the filtering debate between Bernadette McMenamin (Childwise), Anthony Pillion (Webshield), Geordie Guy (EFA), and Mark Newton which took place at the Kickstart 2009 media conference on the weekend. Check out the debate here. McMenamin still doesn’t understand why so many are opposed to mandatory ISP filtering if they know it doesn’t...
Australian Government will block RC content under mandatory ISP filtering
In response to questions from Senator Cory Bernardi during a Senate Standing Committee today (transcript here), Senator Stephen Conroy confirmed that the Government intends to block Refused Classification (RC) content under their mandatory ISP filtering scheme. He said there is a strong, overwhelming case for blocking RC content and other types of content will be...
Edith Cowan University research to inform cyber-safety policies says Gov
The DBCDE has commissioned the Child Health Promotion Research Centre at Edith Cowan University to conduct a ‘major review’ of Australian and international research on cyber-safety. Here’s a snippet from the Government’s press release: “The Rudd Government has committed to a comprehensive and evidence-based approach to cyber-safety policies and it is important that this is...
Clive Hamilton accuses critic of trying to silence him
In response to Clive Hamilton’s recent article in Australian IT, Kieran from Websinthe.org sent an email to Charles Sturt University suggesting there needs to be more peer review of Mr Hamilton’s media commentary. Here’s the email: While Clive Hamilton is obviously a greatly respectable academic there really needs to be more peer review of his...
Australian Christian Lobby responsible for increased pro-filtering comments?
If you were wondering why the opinion pieces from Clive Hamilton and Stephen Conroy on Australian IT were suddenly receiving an extraordinarily huge spike in the number of comments from those supporting mandatory ISP filtering, it’s probably a result of the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) requesting their members make themselves heard. According to a post...
Senator Conroy keeps telling the same old story: It’s not about free speech
Everybody remembers when their granddad would sit them on their knee and enthusiastically recall a crazy story that happened to them in 1939. It was likely a ripper of a yarn. Unfortunately for you, Granddad probably forgot he’d already told you the same story the last fifty times you visited. Senator Conroy is a lot...
You know your argument for filtering falls flat on its face when…
You use any of these same tactics Clive Hamilton used in his opinion article for Australian IT, the Web doesn’t belong to net libertarians. Such as: You need to spend the first 271 words, or 5 paragraphs, brewing up a completely fictional situation involving a boy looking at “weird-looking vaginas”, upskirts and amputees… golden showers,...
Conroy names ISPs in filtering trial, No iiNet or Optus
Senator Conroy has released the names of which ISPs will be participating in round one of his live filtering pilot. They are: Primus Telecommunications Tech 2U (care for a trip back to 1992 anyone?) Webshield (already offers filtered service) OMNIconnect Netforce Highway 1 Optus and iiNet are not in this first round and whether they...
Safer Internet Day 2009 is February 10
School students across the country (anyone know if all school’s participate?) will again take part in Safer Internet Day this year. Organised by ACMA in Australia, Safer Internet Day (SID) is an International event to promote safe and responsible use of the Internet, and unlike some of the Government’s other so called ‘cyber-safety’ initiatives this...
More op-eds from Australian IT ‘super bloggers’ on filtering
As we’ve all noticed, Australian IT’s ‘Super Bloggers‘ aren’t really bloggers, they’re just people writing opinion pieces on filtering. Neither super or new. Nevertheless, I can’t help but imagine Cory Bernardi (who shared his opinion on filtering in Aus IT last Friday) throwing on a spandex green super hero costume and battling Conroy on the...
Bernadette McMenamin’s argument for filtering hinges on one very big ‘if’
Guest opinion article by Sunili Govinnage I’ve always thought that the title of this blog, Somebody Think Of The Children, was mostly a tongue-in-cheek dig at the use of the “child protection” argument by people who oppose freedom of speech but don’t have any logical arguments to defend their view points. I know some of...
