A screen capture of the ACB website at 8:19AEST.

The website of the Australian Classification Board was hacked this evening. The identity of the individual or group responsible is unknown. At 8:19PM AEST the front page reads:

Welcome to the Classification Website
This site contains information about the boards that have the right to CONTROL YOUR FREEDOMZ. The Classification Board has the right to not just classify content (the name is an ELABORATE TRICK), but also the right to DECIDE WHAT IS AND ISNT APPROPRIATE and BAN CONTENT FROM THE PUBLIC. We are part of an ELABORATE DECEPTION from CHINA to CONTROL AND SHEEPIFY the NATION, to PROTECT THE CHILDREN. All opposers must HATE CHILDREN, and therefore must be KILLED WITH A LARGE MELONS during the PROSECUTION PARTIES IN SEPTEMBER. Come join our ALIEN SPACE PARTY.

I condemn this attack.
Hacking a website does nothing to bring about social change. Those who believe it does are mistaken. These attacks can potentially damage the hard work done by those campaigning to reduce censorship.

In the past, politicians have been able to monopolise the debate by having disproportionate access to media. Not so for Mr Conroy, who has been so thoroughly discredited by the controversy that his press office has refused to comment to media outlets since October 24, while the new media represented by the blogosphere is atwitter with fulminating dissent.

Peter Black also has an op ed piece in the Courier Mail today. Read that one here. Peter writes:

It can be argued that free speech is never absolute and that there is always a role for government intervention. That is why, after all, we have defamation and obscenity laws. However, those laws do not impose prior restraint on publication.

As a matter of principle I am personally affronted by the notion of any government censorship of information, but it is perfectly legitimate for people to believe that the government should regulate access to information in certain circumstances.

However, even if we accept that censorship is legitimate in certain circumstances, the current Government’s policy of mandatory internet filtering is practically flawed for several reasons.

And remember to listen to the Media Report’s interviews with Senator Conroy and Mark Pesce from this morning. A transcript is now also availble.

It’s not all net censorship news though: Jason Hill at The Age has a story about SA A-G Michael Atkinson withdrawing his support for a discussion paper and public consultation process on introducing an R18+ game classification. It’s been delayed indefinitely as a result.

Apart from Computerworld and Crikey, Australian media remains alarmingly silent on the latest development in the Government’s mandatory filtering plan: There is no way to completely opt-out. The good news is international outlets understand the importance of stopping what’s about to take place and are picking the story up. It’s also quickly climbing the ladder on Digg.

Jacqui Cheng at Ars Technica writes:

‘Assuming this is in fact the way the scheme is implemented in practice, it raises plenty of troubling questions. “Illegal” is a broad definition, leaving users wondering exactly what kinds of content will end up falling prey to the government’s apparently mandatory filtering restrictions. Will Big Content be ringing up the Aussie government soon to have tracker sites added to the blacklist? What about sites that discuss topics like at-home bomb making, or something a little less explosive, like DVD decryption tools? And how about those sites that advise users on how to get around the filters? Will various Wikipedia pages be blocked?

Australia continues to ignore its own government-funded studies from 2006 that show ISP-level filtering to be ineffective and costly. The Australian government’s disregard for those prior studies suggests that the driving force behind the current plan is more political than technical.’

Karl Bode from Broadband Reports:

‘So far similar efforts here in the States have either been simply too stupid to work or ruled unconstitutional. But as we mentioned yesterday, with child porn used as a rallying cry, there’s a growing push in the States to use Deep Packet Inspection to monitor each and every packet you send and receive for legality. At the heart of most of these efforts? The entertainment industry, who wants ISPs and government to protect their failing business models.’

Duncan Riley for Crikey:

‘Imagine owning a physical shop, to go to work one morning to discover the Government has closed down your business because someone spray painted “illegal” words on your door overnight. No one would stand for this, but this is exactly what the Government is saying it will do to Australian businesses online under this proposal.’

But my favourite of the bunch has to come from Nick Farrell at The Inquirer:

‘Internet Service Providers have warned that the glorious filter will slow Australian internet speeds down to that of a three-legged dingo dragging a baby up Ayers’ Rock.’

Browsing forums and blogs today, it’s surprising to see how many Australians are only just becoming aware of the Government’s censorship plans. I haven’t seen anyone happy about it though. More and more people are penning letters to Conroy and other politicians to express their outrage.

Tonight we hear from connoisseurs of porn, and people who hate it. We’ll meet people who film their own, and others who’ve had to seek counselling because of it. We follow this debate through the eyes of nineteen-year-old Matt.

Michael Flood, who alongside Kath Albury is a guest, says the show focuses on youth and pornography.

Watch it ABC2, 8:30pm Monday, 13 Oct 2008 or on the Hack Website from 9PM.

Update 9PM: You can now download the episode here.

The sticker.

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 hatred against homosexuals and awarded two of the women who were offended $5000 and a third $2500 in damages.

But is throwing money around the answer? Who wins? Retaliating with alternative speech is a better start.

News.com.au writes:

Mr Rangiah [a Tribunal member] acknowledged Mr Owen’s right to free speech, but said he had gone too far with the bumper sticker and in ensuing comments made during a television interview, in a report to a subsequent council meeting and in a letter on his website.

“Ron Owen is entitled to be a homophobe and he is entitled to publicly express his homophobic views,” he said. “That much is required in a society that values freedom of thought and expression. However there are limits.”

If the Tribunal says the sticker incites hatred and causes offence, what do they think Leviticus 20:13 does?

‘If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.’

Alexandra Greene

I just made my first post on NoCensorshipAus (a new collaborative blog) about News Ltd’s puff piece on Australian Classification Board member Alexandra Greene.

Greene told the paper that she doesn’t consider her role at the ACB to be that of a censor, she merely informs people about what they are about to watch and if necessary restrict the content from being viewed.

That’s right. In the world of the Australian censor, banning (or ‘restricting’) films like Baise-Moi and Ken Park is not censorship. Protection no doubt?

Greene also says adults get offended because they’re worried their kids might understand double entendres in films. I think it’s more likely that those adults are simply offended themselves. Imagine a kid who got offended by a line in Shrek. I can’t.

Also, remember to check out the NoCensorshipAus YouTube Channel (there’s a condensed version of Salo and Baise-Moi, historical extracts from “The Book that Shook the World”, the Q&A games debate and lots more).

Insight: The Naked Eye
SBS 7:30PM
Tuesday, 24 June, 2008
Jenny Brockie brings the Bill Henson debate to our TV screens. Guests include The Incredible Hetty, Tony Bond from the Art Gallery of NSW, Tamara Winkoff from NAVA, Connie Petrill, and model, Zoe Bailey.

Jennifer Byrne Presents Sex and Romance (likely not about censorship, but prob worth a look)
ABC 1 10PM
Tuesday, 24 June, 2008
‘Jennifer Byrne is joined by some special guests to investigate both the phenomenal popularity and bitter controversy associated with sex and romance.’

Boob Tube: Sex TV And Ugly George
SBS 10PM
Friday, 27 June, 2008
A documentary that explores censorship and public decency on television using the example of the infamous 1970s filmmaker, Ugly George. God, he’s ugly.

The Womp also alerted me to the first episode of Penn and Teller’s Bullshit series 6 which deals with the War on Porn: ‘the crusade by various special interest groups to restrict free speech and regulate the Internet.’ I don’t think channel 9 airs it here anymore so you may need to get in touch with your American allies online.

Police blocked all exists from the building and conducted bag searches on those leaving.

David Cohen from the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance called the raid a “fucking outrage.” That’s the spirit!

“It’s hard to believe that 16 policemen, 16 armed policemen with handcuffs, in uniform, and plain clothes have had to go into the building on someone’s order and look for a file or a document or to question a journalist.”

“This is the sort of thing that happens in Zimbabwe or Russia or Cuba or Iran, this is seriously bad news for free speech.”

Full story can be read here.

Video footage of the raid taking place is also available.

Now if we can just persuade all News Ltd journos to get riled up like this every time OUR speech is inflicted upon.