Monday 16 August 2010

WANTED: Government broadband content protection specialists

8 comments:

Paul Drabble said...

maybe we can hire the sex party to filter the content..lol

Paul Drabble said...

maybe there title should be "Protection of content specialists" or POCS for short.

Syd Walker said...

For three years Labor's Stephen Conroy, the most ridiculed Communications Minister in Australian history, has been whipping up a moral panic about images of unclothed children being transmitted via the internet.

He's promised to enforce a strict mandatory 'filter' to stop this. Julia Gillard in her "I don't understand the technology" wisdom to reaffirm this policy after becoming PM.

Today, trying to sell the NBN at the ALP campsign launch, Julia Gillard gave the quite reasonable example of medical consultation via the NBN direct with appropriate specialists. For instance, crystal clear images of a sick child can be transmitted to a medical consultant in real time...

Sounds good. Presumably parents and medics be given legal immunity for this activity under a future Gillard Government - along with all the POCS workers and 'retired judges' tasked with checking the hundreds of billions of web pages on the internet?

The inherent absurdity of the Labor Party's mandatory filter becomes more obvious every day. Labor has tarnished an impressive NBN commitment with this offensive censorship scheme. Presumably it's being pushed by VERY powerful behind-the-scenes interests to which the ALP leadership has capitulated. There's no other rational reason for persisting with a policy that's a practical absurbity as well as political poison.

There are other signs Labor just hasn't 'got' IT. Latest is the ALP wants iPad app developers to submit apps for government registration (and charge fees for the privilege) A great way to destroy the competitiveness of Australian developers.

Then there's Labor's 1984-style data retention plans...

If any Labor supporter replies to the substance of this criticism, without launching an ad hominem attack, I'll be pleasantly surprised. The pattern - from the Communications Minister down - has been to rubbish critics while ignoring our citicisms.

It's one reason why I for one pray for a hung Parliament.

I want fast broadband implemented by a government that listens, adopts evidence-based policies and isn't stuffed with control freaks.

The ALP makes an artform out of not listening to the public, while following the agenda of behind the scenes vested interests and feathering the nest of mates such as Mike Kaiser

Syd Walker said...

Correction to previous comment: 'iPad' should read 'smartphone'

Monty said...

Seeing there is a good chance our opportunity for a world standard National Broadband Network will probably no longer exist after this weekend you will no longer need to get yourselves into a lather over it as we will still have the same old system of last century technology that even Abbott can understand. And of course being a fine upstanding Christian man the last thing he would do is censor the intertubes like those nasty commie/socialist/ Laborites did. Besides he'll be too busy answering his ship to shore Ring Tone Phone calls deciding the fate of the gazillions of boat people that Labor has allowed to invade our fair shores (can they stretch string that far?)

Syd Walker said...

Having given up on the argument that "the Libs are just as bad as us" on internet censorship, Labor apologists are now running the argument "the Libs are REALLY as bad as us".

How sad is that?

And how long have you been campaigning for affordable fast-internet, Monty? I've been at it for 15+ years now (not full-ime of course, but raising it regularly as an issue with politicians).

Now that one of the big old parties has FINALLY decided to spend big on broadband, it insists we can only have it with toxic strings attached. That's an insult to people who really care about IT - a fast growing proportion of the population

If the ALP wants to frighten voters that this is the ONLY chance in history for Australia to get a modern highspeed broadband network, it is indeed desperate.

Alison Alloway said...

INTERNET FILTER = One rule for blackfellas and one for whitefellas! I'm very curious as to why not many whitefellas have protested the internet restrictions placed on the aboriginal communities. What is their thinking? Why do they believe it is alright? The Government in 2007 said it was about "protecting the children". Do whitefellas agree with this?

Monty said...

Organisations such as GetUp have shown that people power can change policies, even outside elections. To lose the impetus of the NBN now and have it scrapped and replaced with a second rate network by the Libs is going to eventually cost us a hell of a lot more down the track.
Internet censorship on the other hand can be changed virtually overnight with enough people pressure. If Gillard scrapes in with a very thin majority I think you will find a big change in their attitude towards it.