Australian Prime Minister To Spend Hundreds Of Millions To 'Clean Up The Internet'
from the let-us-know-how-that-goes dept
Australian politicians seem to be a bit confused over the fact that any attempt to block all porn online will fail miserably. Proposals to force ISPs to block porn have been put forth by Australian politicians over and over and over again. Now, the Prime Minister John Howard has announced that the government will spend $189 million to "clean up the internet." That will include giving a list of sites to ISPs to block, though it's unclear how those lists are determined and if there's any appeals process for sites who feel unfairly blocked. The money will also go to providing free internet filters to every family in the country -- which is certainly nice for those families that want a filter. However, none of that will stop porn on the internet. None of it will stop predators from trying to lure children. There's this belief that if we just hide it away, these things will actually disappear. That's simply not true. Just as it makes sense to teach kids some sense of street smarts as they grow up, it makes sense to teach them internet smarts as well -- and then they'll be prepared to deal with whatever they come across, whether or not there are filters. Too often, people assume that once filters are in place that no bad stuff can get through. And that means that those kids are often less well prepared for what they come across online. Instead, if you teach kids to understand the dangers of the internet, it appears they are pretty good at protecting themselves.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: australia, filters, porn, regulations
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You Dirty Bastards!
if you dont want to see porn either block it or don't look at it. There's no way in hell someone is going to tell me what i can and cannot look at with my own eyes. Anyone who agrees with the above article should be taken out in the streets and shot. this is dispicible!
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Re: You Dirty Bastards!
um soz to disapoint u but it kinda is all about the kids bcoz wen u r old and helpless who will be running the world? yer thats right it is us.
not being impolite or anythin coz i respect ur opinion or whateva but gosh get some manners please! no need to get all worked up and their is CERTAINLY no need to shoot anyone. maybe u r just a violent person?
thanx.
P.S no need to swear either. :)
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Re: You Dirty Bastards!
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HAHA
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!!!
"Traps all day and traps all night"
"Only you and I can scare children safe!"
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Oh Yeah
people want kids but dont want to take care of them. if this was changed it would solve alot of problems we have in this global society.
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It's sad
@#4: You're absolutely right, if fucked up people would stop having fucked up kids, we could shape-up our society...but instead of doing that, we'll spend all of our time/money/manpower making sure people don't smoke on beaches, watching Dr. Phil tell people that need to will themselves to change and not get any sort of on-going, long-term professional treatment and making sure people don't go 5 over on the highways. Good times.
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Re:
Spend the millions on education. Tech the kids personal responsibility, critical thinking skills, and financial management.
Problem solved.
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I see people occasionally claiming that this has happened to them. I spend hours on the internet each day yet I never stumble across porn by accident. What gives? How is it some people just seem to be unwitting porn magnets?
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But in general if you do not go to any sites that are in a legal grey (or more "black") area then you will not find porn accidentally.
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All the home user has to do is say that they will use the a local filter and not install it, and it appears that it is optional to install the filter anyway (From the Australian, the Advertiser implies that it will be compusory, but it is a squalid parochial tabliod rag anyway).
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So...
I agree with comment #4. People want to have kids but then don't want to take responsibility for them. Some of the parents that back this up really don't realize that this is a bad idea. But most of them are just trying to setup a fall guy. I want to know what's going to happen the first time some porn site gets through this porn filter and a kid sees it on his parent's pc. But we already know the answer to that, a lawsuit. And the million dollar question is who will the parents sue? The owners/operators of the site in question? The company that made this impenatrable filter? The government that promised it would "protect the children"?
And besides trying to act as if the porn is not there only gives the real offenders a better way to hide and another weapon to use, the ignorance of her/his victims.
I'm not trying to say show everything to your kids as soon as possible but parents have to quit this nonsense of hiding their kids from the world until they turn 18, toss them out of the house, and then wonder why they go on a killing spree the first time they get dumped. Teaching kids about what's out there is such a preemptive and smart thing to do. Worried that you daughter might get pregnant? Sit her butt down and teach her about sex and warn her about pregnancy, STDs, and how to watch out for attackers. Worried that your son will become sexually active? Sit his butt down and teach him exactly what preganancy means (you are his parents so you should know a thing or two about that right?), STDs, and how to watch out for attackers (yeah men can be attacked by sex offenders too, so quit acting like it doesn't happen).
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t
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Does anyone host from there anymore? Why?
Of course, our pols in the U.S. are no doubt cheering them on.
Come on, Australia, you used to be cool.
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Re: Does anyone host from there anymore? Why?
As for filters in libraries I happen to work as an IT Trainee in a regional library system which runs branches across several council regions (I won't get into the politics on funding etc that we receive from them) but part of our funding comes from the State Library of NSW and as condition of this we are not allowed to engage in censorship - which in the offline world means we have "art books" - though of course nothing pornographic - and also that we are unable to implement internet filters. We do have a policy that says that for the comfort of other patrons - including children - you are prohibited from accessing pornographic sites or you will be banned from using the pc's but this almost never has to be enforced as people generally understand what is acceptable in a public place.
One good element of this plan (the only one actually) is that apparently $43 million of it is being used to double the size of the child sex exploitation division of the federal police (why not just spend the lot and make it ~5 times as big?) though less good is that part of that is to work out ways around privacy laws - these laws are there for a reason, if they weren’t then they should be removed or modified rather than searching for loop holes.
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Re: Looks like another pre-election publicity stun
I'm with you mate.
So sick of this tired, sour-faced, US arse-licking, lying, racist, pig-headed, socially backward, enviromental ignoramis!
Bring on the elections - about time he stopped wasting our money on acts of political desparation.
God that feels better!
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Re: Looks like another pre-election publicity stun
I'm with you mate.
So sick of this tired, sour-faced, US arse-licking, lying, racist, pig-headed, socially backward, enviromental ignoramis!
Bring on the elections - about time he stopped wasting our money on acts of political desparation.
God that feels better!
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This is the most ridiculous phrase. If they're honest, you don't NEED to *keep* them honest.
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I am an adult, I should be allowed to do as I please, so long as it is legal and does not harm others. I use filters, but I know well that they are only going to be valuable for a little bit longer. Once my son gets to the point that he is really searching I will have to have taught him about the internet. The gov't has zero(0) place in that.
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Protection for a high price
Your completely right, but there are many free options to do this already. Not sure about the 189 million dollar price tag.
"You idiots on the left with your "make my dope legal" "down with all religion" "give me my porn" are just complete idiots. You are as bad or WORSE than those on the far right trying to live by their religious beliefs."
Since when do people on the right not smoke joints, watch porn and dog on religion? Strange world you imagine with all your left and right talk, last time I checked we are all just human beings.
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Just an election stunt
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Or, possibly...
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Disgusting
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it's good to be the king.
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Protecting children on the internet with WiHood
Technology like what we use at WiHood protects children from inappropriate web pages and is updated daily. It is astonishing that every day over 100,000 pedophile, sex, and gambling web sites are created. Parents don't have the time to find and block all these sites but they do have the time to learn with their children what good habits to have while using the internet.
The internet is a wonderful development and children should be allowed to use it but in a safe and secure environment. We have done this but we also emphasize that the role of the parent is the most important role of a child's life...today and tomorrow.
Thomas F. Anglero, Father and CEO
WiHood LLC
(http://www.WiHood.com)
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WTF!??
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