[clug] iiNet quits Conroy's filter trial

[Paul Wayper]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Pia Waugh wrote:
| <quote who="Ian Bardsley">
|
|> All power to iiNet.  Pleasing to see thinking men stand up and be counted.
|>>
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/iiNet-quits-Conroy-s-filter-trial/0,130061791,339295589,00.htm

|
| Good on them!

I'm in two minds about this.

Personally, I'm totally against the filter for all the reasons that have been
talked about here and more.  But Senator Conroy has said (to paraphrase) that
the low uptake of private filtering is merely a sign of bad parenting, and
that the government must push it down everyone's throats.  In my opinion, the
fact that the major ISPs have backed out of this is just going to be used by
Senator Conroy as another sign that those libertarian technology-lovers at the
ISPs don't see the value of protecting the children.

I would have much preferred that at least one major ISP attempt to implement
it, document the whole process thoroughly, show why and how it failed and the
overall cost to its business for no gain, and report this publicly.  Now we
will have little or no current evidence, and Senator Conroy has already said
that the old reports from the previous trials are out of date and therefore
(because technology is so much better these days) not usable as an indicator
of present performance.

I think the best we can do is personally talk to everyone we know about this
filter.  I've spoken to several friends while I'm visiting up here in Brisbane
and every one of them have not heard anything about the filter, are stunned
when presented with the Government's planned, can't believe that it is being
pushed and outraged when told the various ludicrous details of the story.  The
publicity campaigns are the only real hope I see of getting this changed,
because if everyone is writing to their ministers and complaining in
interviews, the support for Conroy's Great Wall will drain away to nothing.

Have fun,

Paul
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: Using GnuPG with Fedora - http://enigmail.mozdev.org

iEYEARECAAYFAknIIGUACgkQu7W0U8VsXYLoUwCgwEkA/Kln0mZ+nNYgUF3g7QrN
9SQAnR4n2MPtJXmiybdgMDfiEkHvCrs4
=TAsa
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----