Australia you can’t be trusted! (blame Chaser?)
From Mashable (why didn’t I see this anywhere else? hmmm?): Is Australia the New China? by Kristen Nicole Several privacy advocates are in an uproar in response to a bill introduced by Australia’s Parliament, which would grant the country’s federal police the power to control which sites can be accessed by users of the Internet….
From Mashable (why didn’t I see this anywhere else? hmmm?):
Is Australia the New China?
Several privacy advocates are in an uproar in response to a bill introduced by Australia’s Parliament, which would grant the country’s federal police the power to control which sites can be accessed by users of the Internet. Titled the Communications Legislation Amendment (Crime or Terrorism Related Internet Content) Bill 2007, the federal police would have the power to add onto (or remove from) the blacklist, naming sites that are currently banned from Australia , as determined by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
This extends the rights of the ACMA onto the federal police, which appears to some as a way of limiting the rights of freedom of speech. The legislation is being promoted as a way to target phishing and terrorist sites, as well as those that publish information on other criminal activity. However, we’ve all been subjected to politicians taking action under the guise of protecting us from terrorism, and the result is several privacy groups that are wary of this bill being passed. Next thing we know, Australia will be blocking YouTube.
[via zdnet]
I blame Chaser and the fact we all giggled in class when they were clowning around. So everyone write out 100 times on the blackboard:
We’ve been bad, we’re sorry, please don’t take our constitutional rights (or is it freedom of speech) away from us. Please? Yes, we know we are just like schoolkids in Victoria (education department ban) who aren’t allowed to watch YouTube. But we promise to be good. And we won’t laugh at those naughty boys antics anymore.
Bloody Chaser.
Isn’t there another solution? Maybe a warning thingie somewhere? Microformats? someone find something better than just blocking please…
This would be a dark, sad day for Australia and the interwebs.
But maybe we could get another public holiday out of it? “Remembrance Day” – when the net was allowed to run free. 🙂
Laurel, no coverage in MSM, but EFF mentions EFA’s opposition at http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005455.php and EFA themselves have press releases about it at http://www.efa.org.au/Publish/PR070920.html and http://www.efa.org.au/Publish/PR070811.html.
As an EFA life member, I’m a little hassled by the fact that they aren’t more public in their advocacy work and more involved in the same way EFF is – blogging, posting information and the like. They are still very pre-Web 1.0 in their approach.
I don’t understand the blame Chaser thought.
We are adults.
This is our government.
These people are responsible to us.
If we do not like this where are the voices saying this is not an appropriate policy for a free and collaborative community.
We need to be able to hear and see people with other opinions because that dialogue in itself is something which helps people of different perspectives to understand and work towards new solutions.
That is the process which helps people from responding to difference with fear and anger and to develop solutions based in conversations about what Australia can be with all of our communities heard and valued.
We need to be prepared to shape the actions of our government.
GetUp is a good vehicle for this
And this site has just started and looks interesting.
http://www.senatoronline.com.au/purpose
Chaser v APEC is a hopeful moment for our country. It is our people saying fear and fences are not a useful strategy.
I find it ironic that we seem to be doing a great job of taking away the very freedoms we are supposed to be guarding against.
Thanks for the post! It made me giggle.
screw them, when are politicians going to understand they dont have control they never will have control.
The internet is just another example of how out of touch they are…..in this bill are they proposing the implementation of a censorship wall al la China?
If not then who cares about websites hosted in Australia.
Throw some servers up in Korea or Norway and watch the politicians lather about your uncensorable content.
I’m glad you posted this bill but Laurel please forward these comments to someone in charge about how ridiculous and ineffectual this law actually is.
Cheers,
Dean Collins
http://www.collins.net.pr/blog
There is a very strong push from both sides of parliament, and the police, to create a growing sense of fear in Australia. It is in times of fear that governments can grab more power.
Have you seen the ads on almost every bus shelter in Sydney asking people to report on work colleagues and friends who may be looking as “suspicious” web sites…
If that doesn’t encourage a Stalinist state I don’t know what does!