The Aussie blogosphere reacts to the government’s internet filtering plans:
Transparent as lead. Whilst this policy will reduce freedom and fail to protect kids, it also threatens to completely undermine Kevin Rudd’s fibre to the node network, which will cost billions of dollars, and whose usefulness is already highly economically dubious. …And Justice For All
A toxic abuse of power. It will no doubt be sold to Australians as a way of protecting us from the terrorists. So far the ALP government has refrained from using that gem, although if it begins to feel too much heat one has to wonder when it’ll be used. — Alex Schlotzer
Internet censorship redux. Those expecting an ALP government to be more socially liberal than a Liberal government or at least more sensible about non-economics based issues are in for a shock. — catallaxy
A vote of “no interest” in internet-based businesses. In a practical sense we have to appreciate we are geographically removed from much of the world. The internet is a perfect tool in overcoming the tyranny of distance our physical position in the world creates. If the Minister really is committed to enhancing opportunities within the Digital Economy for Australians, he should be working to improve services and infrastructure. — John Lacey
On a related issue I use my blog and youtube to campaign against Mercy Ministries abuse of their mentally ill clients. The internet has and continues to facilitate the campaign of Mercy Survivors, now while I am only a part of an international team my work is significant. If the filter had been brought in say a year ago there is a very significant chance that reduction in service would have reduced my internet usage to a negligable level
I would not have come across the original story of Mercy abuses, I would not have been able to network with Mercy Survivors or use oovoo or skype to run conferences, I sure as heck wouldn’t be using youtube and posting videos.
The federal government currently blocks access to discovered child porn sites, this is achieved through human intelligence gathering, infiltration of child porn networks, and reporting by concerned members of the public. Spend another 40 million bolstering this area and you will see improvements in protection of children.