Say NO to internet censorship - Electrionic Frontiers Australia

HERE'S WHY

  • In a nutshell IT WON'T WORK;
  • It will give parents a FALSE feeling of security;
  • It ERODES the RIGHTS and responsibilities of the family unit and the individual;
  • It will cause extensive COLLATERAL DAMAGE to Australia's internet industry, both infrastructure and content provision;
  • It will make Australia the laughing stock of the Information Age - illustrating how DIM-WITTED we really are (see the article in Wired "No Smut Please, We're Australian")

What does the Australian public REALLY think?

In a recent on-line survey carried out by the Australian Sunday program, as of Tuesday 27th April, 3% were concerned about "Sex and nudity on television", 10% concerned about "Violence on television" and 87% about "Senators telling us what we can watch".

Visit the Sunday site and vote yourself to see the latest.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Sign the Petition
Sign the Petition

Write and post a letter to your local representatives and the Senate. 10 or more different hand written or typed letters from 10 or more voters, signed and POSTED (NOT emailed or faxed) WILL get noticed and acted on.

OTHER SITES

INTERNATIONALLY

 line rule

Internet Censorship

... an exercise in futility or a propaganda war?

The Internet is a conundrum. It is a complex, living organism inhabited by netziens of all nationalities, ages, cultures, political and religious persuasions. Despite language, geographical and political barriers the internet has spread to every corner of this earth - sometimes in spite of or perhaps even because of the barriers man may attempt to impose on his fellow man.

The Internet has been a forum for free discussion and dissemination of information to all those who seek it. Because of this freedom, and the diversity of views available, a small, ignorant few, and some governments fear it (the internet), and would try to regulate it.

Power in the hands of the ignorant or bigoted is always a dangerous weapon.

The Australian Government is trying (again) to regulate what cannot be regulated. Not "must not" be regulated - CANNOT be regulated. They may as well regulate the sun or the tides for all the effect their proposals will have.

So why, you may say, be concerned about the proposed regulations? Because of the collateral damage it will cause to Australia's independent Internet infrastructure along the way, and the inevitable erosion of the rights and freedoms of the individual.

I will not try to explain the technical difficulties of implementing any such regulations here although many aspects are spelt out in detail at the following location:

Nor shall I waste bandwidth with the many and various (sometimes ingenious, often simple) methods available to circumvent any attempt at censoring or regulating content. Some are illustrated here:

  • A letter destined for "Adult Webmasters" (porn etc sites) offering a simple solution to the problem of "servicing" their Australian customers if the legislation is implemented.
  • One of our members spent an hour in an experiment re-configuring an off-shore server to prove the simplicity of totally circumventing the Government's proposed measures.

No, rather than explain at length why it would be not only very difficult, costly and ultimately futile to attempt to censor or regulate the Internet, I would like to pose some questions about YOUR rights. The rights of the individual, the responsibilities that accompany those rights, and how what the government is attempting to do erodes the rights of every Australian. The draconian legislation proposed (and this is NOT the first time the government has cried "wolf" either) is a knee in the groin of civil liberties, and a slap in the face for every concerned parent.

Do Australian's have a right to vote? That implies a right NOT to vote. As many elections are "compulsory" and penalties imposed for refusing to vote, it would seem the answer here is "no". It is not a "right" but a legislated requirement.

Do Australian's have a right to freedom of association? Not if the Government-of-the-day says "you MUST join this" or "you MUST NOT join that". So again ... "no".

Do Australian's have a right to free speech? Not unless you're a politician, media baron or sensational story.

Ordinary people like you and I are left to fight a wall of bureaucracy to right the simplest wrong, and even then frequently lose if our wallets aren't deep enough. As it was stated by an Australian solicitor on an un-named TV current affairs program "we don't have a justice system in Australia, we have a legal system".

But one last avenue still currently open to individuals in most civilised countries of the world is the Internet. Here EVERYONE can have their say, right or wrong. I certainly don't agree with everything I see on the Internet (and I've been using it daily for over 4 years) but I have no right to impose my beliefs, or lack thereof, on other net users. Nor, in most cases, do I feel a need to. If I find a site I do not like, I move on. "Change channels" people. It's really that simple. Exercise your finger on the mouse and move on.

My daughter has been using the Internet since she was 2 years old. At the age of 6 she drives me 'round the bend with noisy games on www.disney.com and "how do you spell 'cadbury'" (www.cadbury.com). Her access is not strictly supervised. When asked if she had seen anything on the net that scared or worried her she said "no". When asked if she'd seen anything on the net she didn't like she said she didn't like it when her favourite games (sites) moved.

Young children are not at great risk of stumbling across unsuitable material if left to their own devices. A sensible and calm parental attitude towards any actual incidents could positively shape a childs development. What is needed more than anything else is parental involvement and education. Interest and caring, not explosive disapproval or mandatory censorship.

Adolescents on the other hand have always needed to push the limits of their envelope and explore. They can't help it any more that we can prevent it - it's a part of natural human development. If the information doesn't come from the Internet it will be in huddles on the playground or "behind the toilet block". A little more tolerance would not go astray here either.

An active interest in the development of our children, in their friends, associations, hobbies and interests would be a far more effective means of "protection", for we should not cocoon our children from reality. What we need to foster is a balanced view of what we perceive as reality, to allow our children to choose wisely for themselves.

As it stands, the government is trying to take those rights and responsibilities away from parents. That is eroding the very foundations of the family unit, something no government can replace. No amount of "the government should have given me more help, more laws" etc will bring back a dead or missing child. We need to recognise and take up our own responsibilities as parents. Perhaps even fight to get some previously eroded rights and responsibilities back.

When the Internet started to emerge into the mainstream, part of the ethos behind it was a tolerance for the views of others, and the encouragement to quietly leave sites, rooms or groups the user found distasteful or offensive.

Our politicians, and many of the recent immigrants to the net may have missed the very culture of the net amidst the glitz, commercialisation and media hype, but it's still there. And the culture of the net says you have the right to have YOUR say, and others should respect your right, and/or move on.

To single out some of the more distasteful aspects of the net and say "this is evil and we must remove it" is merely a useless and potentially dangerous publicity stunt. Ignoring the technical and cost aspects (and remember, increased overheads and administration has to be added to your internet bill unless you want your local ISP to fold and be left to the whims of the Government's protected pet Telstra Big Puddle ... er I mean Pond), "regulation" will give parents a false feeling of security.

As stated above, implementing the proposed regulations is technically very difficult, and easily circumvented. Children will NOT be protected by the proposed legislation, although their parents may mistakenly think they are. But perhaps that is not the governments real target. Perhaps they are attempting to control the net for other purposes ...

Do you have the right to have your say and make your own choices? Not if the government has it's way and disapproves! Our nation and especially our families and children cannot afford to give them that power. Do not pass the buck. Put responsibility back where it belongs. DO NOT LET THIS LEGISLATION PASS!

Say NO to internet censorship - Electrionic Frontiers Australia