Senator Conroy addresses critics incorrectly

I have recently sent an email to the good Senator Conroy asking him to reconsider what he is doing with the internet filter. I hope his response will not be labelling me as a supporter of child pornography or terrorism.

Interestingly enough, he's attempted to silence people who have criticised him. Could be some pilot form of the cleanfeed filter he's trying to implement manually.

For those that are curious of what I sent (and you like to do the send an email as well, but don't know what to write), I've based it from the nocleanfeed.com template (which was written by someone at the Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc.):

Dear Minister,

As an Australian and an internet user, I have serious concerns about your mandatory Internet filtering initiative. On the 3.01.2008, I wrote to the Prime Minister, in which you later responded in a formal letter. Now I find myself writing again.

Given the importance your Government has attached to modernising Australia's broadband network, pursuing a policy that can only slow down and increase the costs of home internet access seems misguided at best. Australian households are diverse, and most do not have young children, so mandating a one-size-fits-all clean feed approach will not serve the public well. I don't think it is the Government's role to decide what's appropriate for me or my children, and neither do most Australians.

Given the amount of Internet content available, the Government (or your appointed publicly unscrutinised representatives) will never be able to classify it all and filters will always result in an unacceptable level of over-blocking. I feel that the time and money could be spent in better ways both to protect children and improve Australia's digital infrastructure. Australian parents need better education about the risks their children face on-line. Trying to rid the Internet of adult content is futile, and can only distract from that mission. I also find that the government is providing a false sense of security by telling parents their children are OK if they put their faith in your content filtering.

Your solution will NEVER replace good parenting - and that's what you should start addressing. Too much externalisation occurs, and it appears the onus of responsibility falls to entities outside the families. This should be addressed in an internet education campaign - not a band aid content filtering solution that is high in cost, crippling to speeds, and at best ineffective.

I love Australia, but your scheme makes me want to find somewhere else to live where my liberties are not dictated to me by a small select group of people, and that I can access information in its fullest potential. Either that, or vote for the next person that promises to reverse your initiative.

I welcome any further discussion, comments or queries with you, but please do not start by labelling me as a supporter of child pornography or terrorist. I currently am not, and never will be a supporter of child pornography or terrorism! That is a disgusting strategy employed by yourself or your staff. I can be contacted via the email address this communication is from, or via the phone number in the signature below.

Sincerely...

...Ric

You're more than welcome to copy that into your own email to forward to the good Senator Conroy at: minister -at- dbcde.gov.au and / or senator.conroy -at- aph.gov.au. The Creative Commons license I used for this blog does not apply to the email text I have quoted above - you do not have to attribute the work to me, but you should make your words copyable by others! Have a read of some of the other articles on this topic, and then feel free to add your bits to your own personal communications with the good Senator Conroy.

I'm sure he'll be happy to hear from you!