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[guiltyschu]

With all the fun of the upcoming Presidential election in the States, it might be easy to forget about politics on the other side of the planet. But this is an issue I feel needs more attention, not just because I'm Australian and it will effect me, but because if it happens in a country like Australia, I wonder how long before other advanced '

Comments

[wintersjuly]

I RAGED SO HARD WHEN I FOUND OUT ABOUT THIS. i mean, i cannot believe they're doing this. i cannot believe that the way everyone raged about china's firewall forcing chinese people into unable to search for things like tianmen square or taiwan or shit like that and now? Now they're doing it to us. I cannot believe they don't know what an offense to our right to look up dodgy porn sites or things like euthanasia or the falling economy it is. it should be my choice what i choose to look up/see on the internet, and if that's dodgy porn that give me viruses and random x-rated pop ups, or milliant vegan sites that send me spam mail to repent or die, that should be my choice. and i'm furious that the government is making this choice for me. D:<

I like my country because we aren't china, because we have rights and benefits and free health care and compulsory schooling. i like australia because while there's racism everywhere, we're getting so much better at being good about it, so much more accepting. we've been doing great, don't fuck it

[guiltyschu]

I can't believe there's not more outrage over it all. Most of the stuff I've found has been on blogs and forums. WTF. Is this story getting any coverage at home? People should be protesting in the streets by now!

I remember being kind of shocked when I was in China, because I'd heard the 'net was really terrible there, but apart from not being able to access BBC at the time, I never really had a problem with the Internet. It was about then I realised just how bad Australia's internet already was, and now they want to make it worse. What happened to the election promise for faster broadband that had all the first-time teenage voters creaming their pants as they filled out their ballot slips?

Rudd is a horrible little troll. I thought so at election time, and I still think so now. He's just a slightly more weak-chinned Howard with better eyebrows.

I was thinking of trying to make it back to Japan by next July, and worrying that it was too soon. But seeing as the filters are set to go into action then, maybe it's not fast enough.

[7lifeuncommon7]

I'm a Canadian citizen. Shout me a ticket back and you could have a marriage of convenience? ;)

[kegom]

This is seriously ...wow. What the hell is the Australian government doing? O_o It shouldn't surprise me, because all other media is censored in some way, in most countries of the world - but the thing about the internet is that it's more than just entertainment or information and news; it's also a way for people to connect to each other, and thus I really don't think the same kind of censorship should apply to it.

Also - the government wants to get rid of child pornography? They should give some unemployed people a job and make them browse the internet for the really illegal stuff! New jobs AND a safer internet! It should be totally popular with voters. ^-^

[guiltyschu]

Also - the government wants to get rid of child pornography? They should give some unemployed people a job and make them browse the internet for the really illegal stuff! New jobs AND a safer internet! It should be totally popular with voters. ^-^

Hahaha, agreed agreed agreed! Actually, I really hate that they're trying to convince people about the filters under the cover of "it's for the children!" And what the fuck are the parents doing while the government is raising their children? Geez.

[kegom]

Don't get me started on the "for the children" stuff, seriously. >.<" That's an argument that flies really well with a lot of parents and it makes me furious, not because the parents want a safer internet for their children, but because it reinforces a lot of parents' belief that showing children how to work with the internet is other people's (read: school's and government's) business, and it also - and even worse - reinforces the belief that the internet is a dangerous place that OTHER PEOPLE have to make safer for their children

[7lifeuncommon7]

I was just wondering how you were! So good to hear from you, especially to see the fire in your belly. :) Nothing like a bit of rage to let you know you're alive, is there?

I'll tell Jamin you featured his blog post. He'll be thrilled. You may also like to check out the guy on my flist goblinpaladin who is also full of scathing and fire. I'm coming late to the party but I'll do so shortly.

[guiltyschu]

Nothing like a little rage to bring me out of the woodwork! XD I've just been busy, but I needed to vent a little steam on this one!

[7lifeuncommon7]

It's great. MOAR!

[toodlez2000]

hmmm... It disturbs me that I only found out about this from your journal... and its not like I don't watch the news, read online news and the paper. I like to consider myself an informed citizen

[guiltyschu]

That's really worrying, that it's not being covered properly at all in Australia. Being in Japan, I have no idea what's going on back home. I leave it up to you guys to stir some shit on my behalf until I get back!

I'm actually anti-filter for all websites. If you want to make sure people can't access illegal websites, do as kegom suggested and create new jobs for people in an industry designed to hunt down illegal sites and shut them down, one by one. It's doable, if a big task. I don't think you can justify nation-wide filters as a way to protect children because there are many houses in Australia with NO children, plus it's the parent's responsibility to raise and protect their children, not the governments. Set up some sort of government project to donate Net Nanny programs to families that request them. Don't make it nation wide. Parents need to look after their own damn children, and that includes monitoring what they watch and view on the internet

[toodlez2000]

*with exception

:-D I can't see an edit function.