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Censoring Australian Censors' Blacklist

Posted by timothy on from the here's-a-list-of-urls dept.

steveroehrs writes: "'Your access to the Web is being censored by the Government -- but it refuses to reveal exactly what it is we are not allowed to see.' Despite the attempts of Electronic Frontiers Australia in obtaining a copy of the Australian Internet black-list, the Australian government is still refusing to release the list to the public. This is in stark contrast to the situation for film classification, where the list is freely available. Article here "

3 of 365 comments (clear)

  1. This seems a bit obvious... by dagoalieman · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I mean really- if the people are allowed a glimpse at what they're missing, they'll just scream "GIVE IT TO US!!" And that's precisely what the government doesn't want.

    Also, if they reveal the list, everyone will start second-guessing their judgements. Anyone can tell you that any slight lack of confidence on behalf of the people is very bad for people in the government. With some people out there, give them a slight reason, and you'll see pipe bombs coming through your front window.

    If only there were a way for the government to publish the list without getting themselves deeper in the alligator pit, they would likely do it. But until then, I fear they're SOL.

    I may not like our government, but I am thankful for what I have here in the US...

    .

    --
    We don't need no Net Explorer We don't need no Thought control
  2. Ineffectual hot air , no real impact by indaba · · Score: 5, Interesting
    No impact, ineffectual legislation is poor law, and just ends up making us look silly.

    My guess is that the government is too embarrassed to show how pitifully few sites have been taken down for the money expended

    You need to remember that Alston et all are only really interested in pandering to the popular press, and not in actually making any real changes.

    As far as I can make out, I still have unrestricted access to everything I have ever had

    i saw this because:

    I have NOT been forced to install blocking software

    My ISP is not running blocking software (nor any others to my knowledge

    If the ABA has taken down a site, I'm sure it's just popped up again overseas

    It's probably just more boring pr0n anyway ..

    ho , hum , back to work...

  3. I think the point has been missed here.. by rat7307 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The intent of Alstons bill is to shutdown sites WITHIN Australia or by Australians that publish content which is deemed inappropriate as per australia's publishing laws. This is not always a bad thing..

    They do not filter incoming content, They just shut down those sites within the countries borders that, in effect are breaking the law (Kiddy porn etc..)..
    How effective that is, well, thats another debate.
    But at least this way there is some accountablilty for what these people put on the net.
    There has (to date) been no policlitical/anti govt. sites closed down that I am aware of.

    --
    Burma?