Howard to "clean up the Internet" in Australia

[Scarlet Fever]

http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22218715-15306,00.html

Every Australian family will be provided with a free internet filter and the federal Government will enter an unprecedented partnership with service providers to filter pornography at the source.

Communications and Australian Federal Police resources will be boosted immediately to expand checks on internet chat rooms to detect child predators, and privacy laws masking sex offenders on the net will be altered.

The Prime Minister unveiled his new net commandments last night on a webcast to more than 700 churches and thousands of churchgoers around the country.

Is this the start of government-controlled public Internet access (a la China) in Australia?

What is pornography? Is it any image/video of breasts, penises and/or vaginas? That would filter out several non-pornographic sites, including health, education and art sites.

And really, in the end, what's going to be more damaging to a kid; seeing people having sex, or a video of people harming other people because of their race?

[Chundles]

Typical move of the red-faced, short, bushy, Little Johnny Howard just before the election. The usual "distraction, distraction, distraction" tactics of a man about to lose an election.

Just because LJH can't figure out how to get on "the broadbands" (him personally and the country as a whole) then he's decided nobody can the porn he's after.

*LJH Impression*
eeeh eeehh, awww geeze Pete where'd you get them nudey pictures? Holy moly that's a bit rude she's showing her knees.

Phwoar!
*/LJH Impression*

Oh by the way, that's the PM with his back to us.

[AlBDamned]

*/LJH Impression*

Oh by the way, that's the PM with his back to us.

Jokes aside, in Parliament here the way they sit down and turn their backs to whoever speaking is just pathetic.

[Scarlet Fever]

Typical move of the red-faced, short, bushy, Little Johnny Howard just before the election. The usual "distraction, distraction, distraction" tactics of a man about to lose an election.
Too true. The whole Haneef case was complete BS, and an attempt to make Rudd look 'soft on terrorism' if he argued against Howard & Co. Rudd isn't as leftist as I would like him to be, but he's a far cry better than Howard.

Oh by the way, that's the PM with his back to us.

that's how he manages to keep Costello from whining about not being PM ;)

[SMM]

Man, AU must really have some serious internal strife going on. I suppose that is the punishment for not invading their innocent neighbors, I bet they are whistling a different tune now. :eek: ;)

BTW - where did you folk dig-up Rupert?

[AlBDamned]

Man, AU must really have some serious internal strife going on.

Australian people do not know how good they've got it at the moment. They're bored with Howard and "want a change" - and a Labour government. These exact same things were said before Blair and Labour took over in the UK in '97....

[.Andy]

Is this the start of government-controlled public Internet access (a la China) in Australia?
Although it's a fantastic headline there's no body to this at all. They aren't censoring the internet a la china, they're planning on providing 'free' of charge net-nanny like software to people whom would like it. It's just a conservative christian vote grabbing attempt from a desperately failing government.



edit: the worst part of it is that tax dollars are being used to pay for christian votes when it should be going towards schools and hospitals.

[solvs]

We have that problem here too. But despite all our talk, God forbid anyone even talks about taking away our porn. They would lose by a landslide. Even among the religious types.

[Eraserhead]

Australian people do not know how good they've got it at the moment. They're bored with Howard and "want a change" - and a Labour government. These exact same things were said before Blair and Labour took over in the UK in '97....

Except that the Labour Government (minus Iraq) have actually been pretty successful.

[AlBDamned]

Except that the Labour Government (minus Iraq) have actually been pretty successful.

Sure it has....

[solvs]

Sure it has....

Compared to our screw ups, they're friggin geniuses.

[Scarlet Fever]

I thought I might update this thread.

The filter apparently cost $84 million to develop, and a 16 year old has already broken it.

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22304224-5005941,00.html

A MELBOURNE schoolboy has cracked the Federal Government's new $84 million internet porn filter in minutes.

Tom Wood, 16, said it took him just over 30 minutes to bypass the Government's filter, released on Tuesday.

Tom, a year 10 student at a southeast Melbourne private school, showed the Herald Sun how to deactivate the filter in a handful of clicks.

imagine what $84 million could have bought us. Research into alternative energy sources. Reduced uni fees. More hospital beds. A better transport system

Instead, its spent on preventing people who don't know how to use computers from going to 'naughty' web sites.

I s'pose I can be grateful that we can locate Australia on a map... :rolleyes:

[kretzy]

What a waste of money. Problem is, Rudd's planning/suggesting something very similar regarding the internet. Got to get those Christian votes somehow I guess. :rolleyes:

Honestly, they're both crappy candidates. Johnny's getting old, people are sick of him and he lacks any appeal amongst the youth. Kevin07 on the other hand is just trying too hard (wow, he has people run a MySpace page for him - he's really hip and up with the latest tech) with very little decent policy to back things up with (as is the usual trend from the Labour party).