Thursday 30 October 2008

Backlash for the good Senator Conroy

It appears after the media coverage of the past few days, the good Senator Conroy may not be getting all the support he requires for his Orwellian plans of filtering the internet. According to "Internet screening move hits hurdle" (on theage.com.au), there is some opposition to the filtering of all content from the internet into Australia. Keep in mind, according to good Senator Conroy, everyone that opposes his idea is still a supporter of child pornography.

On that topic of "illegal material", what will this filter do? Very little I suspect. Firstly, it's not like you can find a web site on the internet that sells terrorist handbooks or child pornography. Artefacts from those topics are usually encrypted, and hidden. Groups meet on-line, and dissolve fast. From my understanding, the Australian Federal Police is already doing a good job of policing those topics. Could it be like an American war on drugs, or a war on terror? I don't know and I don't claim to know the answer. What I do know, is that a filter around Australia may deter some people from seeking that information (assuming they don't know how to access it), but it will not stop people who are already involved in those activities from continuing them. So - besides slowing down the internet, and blocking some of the clean sites I may choose to visit, what good is the filter?

Parents - educate your kids! Get involved with their lives! Don't leave it up to politicians that are hardly in touch with this week, let alone the technology that is currently available in this decade!

Everyone - do something (useful) today!

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