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Aus. Gov't Considers Fines for Online Suicide Info

downundarob writes "The Australian federal government is once again showing its cluelessness regarding the workings of the Internet. The short article tells us how, under legislation to be introduced this week, corporations would be fined up to AU$500,000 and individuals AU$100,000 if they use the Internet to incite or promote suicide methods. In Australia it is illegal to commit, or attempt to commit suicide."

13 of 674 comments (clear)

  1. Re:teenagers.. by rush22 · · Score: 3, Informative

    If this were Fark...

    Hmmm... Let's see:

    "Wacky News?" check.
    Flamebait headline?... check.
    Single link to short article?... check.
    Trolling?... check.

    ...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO *breath* OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  2. Re:Now I'm screwed by sumdumass · · Score: 2, Informative

    Die! Die! Die! is part of lyrics of a song. Or so the denfence claims.

    (Metalica before they became obvious money grubing pussies)

  3. Re:Goofy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Make it so your family cant claim life insurance for your death, thats what.

  4. details by mirko · · Score: 3, Informative

    Given the replies and personal email I got, I wanted to specify something :

    I wrote "I had" becase it's over.
    I'm cured.
    I was having a bad time: I lost a job which I actually hated, and I also considered changing my life.

    I then had the following strategy : Waiting until the temperature would fall below -10C and sleep naked in my balcony.
    The cold came... but too late.

    I did not want to end it abruptly because I am married with a delicious woman and I wanted it to look like an accident.

    Finally, I decided to perform my auto-therapy.
    I am creative, you might not lik what I do but I have fun doin it.

    I recorded a rock album which is described here and available (for free) here.

    My advice ?
    Spit the anger and the fear. You'll end fearless, stronger and alive !
    God bless you.

    --
    Trolling using another account since 2005.
    1. Re:details by anethema · · Score: 5, Informative

      You fill find this pretty hard to believe, but our family was as close to a perfect family I've seen I think. I'm sure there are better but it doesnt get that much better.

      Upper middle class family, dad started his own company, but by the time my sister was around he was home a lot.

      No abuse, parents rarely fought..When I was growing up we were pretty poor (company just getting started and all) but when my sister was growing up we were decently well off.

      My dad's side of the family is european, and all had very strong family values...

      Parents seem to believe in god, but not enough to go to church, and never preached it to us, letting us make our own decision when we got old enough (me and her both decided it was a lot of hooey).

      My parents every other year save up all year and take me and my sister on a trip to mexico. Sometimes every year if the money is good enough.

      Not sure really how our family life could have been improved. Everyone i see around me has divorced parents, dysfunctinal relationships with the parents they do have...etc

      I had a good relationship with her, but I moved out early because I love living on my own.

      The sad thing is, because of the strong family values and that my sister had a good personality and everyone liked her..if she would have let on the tinyest bit that she was suicidal, anyone in the family would have done ANYTHING to stop this from happening. Myself included.

      She left no note or indication of why she did it. She blocked me on msn that night, i assume so i wouldnt see her name she put "fuck you all, i'm gonna say goodbye" or something along those lines.

      She has some really shitty drug addict freinds, i assume that couldnt have helped. The tox report came back negative for everything except a little bit of alcohol.

      Either way, all of that beeing said..I am angry at her, but i still love her. I came off sounding madder at her than i am. Just trying to convince the grandgrandparent that suicide was a stupid thing to do because of the consequences it has for everyone.

      Maybe she did have her reasons to die, but they werent worth the misery they caused.

      A lot of people thus far have called me selfish etc, but i cant imagine what would be more selfish than what my sister did. I'm thinking of the welfare of my entire family. Now my parents marriage is on the rocks, my grades have gone to shit, and the rest of the family is totally depressed (all like i said before).

      I think it must have been illness, but she didnt display any of the signs. She didnt get happier towards the end like some do, she didnt look super depressed. She had a low self image, like most teen girls...but none of this seems like suicide material to me...I guess it must have been illness.

      Ah too much typing, just trying to get across to you that our family life was really great, and i dont have a single regret about my childhood. My sister was more spoiled than I was i guess because we had more money, maybe that contributed.

      And its okay dont bother sparing my feelings, I'm near impossible to offend.

      --


      It's easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.
  5. Suicide is not illegal in Australia by jaani · · Score: 5, Informative
    From the story ouline:
    In Australia it is illegal to commit, or attempt to commit suicide.
    This is incorrect. In the statutes governing criminal offences in each of the six states and two territories of Australia, it is - to my knowledge - not illegal to commit or attempt to commit suicide. Though it was once illegal in some jurisdictions, such laws were repealed well over half a century ago (mostly on the basis of policy roughly informed by the libertarian doctrines other users here seem to be espousing). See, for example, the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic), which provides, inter alia:
    6A. Suicide no longer a crime

    The rule of law whereby it is a crime for a
    person to commit or to attempt to commit
    suicide is hereby abrogated.
    So while it might be fun to poke fun at the frequently conservative and sometimes ridiculous legislators of our respective countries, please do some basic fact-checking first. (For reference, all Australian Commonwealth [ie, Federal] and State legislation can be found at: http://www.austlii.edu.au/). Then again, this is Slashdot... :-)
  6. It is NOT illegal to commit suicide in Australia by verus+vorago · · Score: 2, Informative

    ... and it is only illegal to attempt suicide in one jurisdiction (of reltively small population - around 200 000)

    from http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/ti52.pdf

    "In all jurisdictions, suicide is no longer a crime and, except in the Northern Territory, the crime of attempted suicide has also been abolished. It is, however, still an offence for a person to assist another person to commit suicide or to attempt to commit suicide"

  7. Re:HELP..... by B747SP · · Score: 2, Informative
    will my daughters name make her the butt of loads of dingo jokes? is azaria a taboo name? it's going to be tough for her moving to another country without having to deal with that shit.

    I dunno. It was a big big big news event when I was growing up (I was a kid then, in junior high school). If she was in my age group, I'd say she would have copped hell at school. Australian kids (no, wait, all kids!!) in her age group weren't even born then, so chances are that they'd no more know the significance of 'Azaria' than they would know about vinyl records.

    Mind you, kids can be evil little feckers, you can bet your bottom dollar that one or two will figure it out. I'd hazard a small wager that it won't be wholesale teasing though.

    --
    I find your ideas intriguing and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
  8. Re:HELP..... by iainl · · Score: 2, Informative

    I may not be Australian, but my first thought wasn't anything to do with dingos, but why you named your daughter after the brilliant Hank Azaria (the voice of Moe/Apu/Chief Wiggum etc. in The Simpsons, Phoebe's boyfriend David in Friends and so on).

    So I'm weird, ok?

    --
    "I Know You Are But What Am I?"
  9. Re:Been there, tried that by Saib0t · · Score: 2, Informative
    The bad things:
    - Slicing wrists: damage to tendons
    - Slicing the veins in armpit: takes ages to drain the blood and it's really freaky to see that blood gushing out of you...
    - medicines: risks of overdose or not high enough dose, plus the potential to really damage something if you survive...
    - plastic bag: uncomfortable, takes AGES, plus you look like an idiot...
    - hanging: asphixy is not a way I'd like to die of...
    - bullets: if you can get hold of a gun (not necessarily easy outside the US), let's get real here, the chances of not dying after blowing your brains are small, besides if you're left in a vegetative state, what do you care, your real self,the thinking one, will be gone (which is what we're after)... Then again, plugging that trigger can be extremely difficult...

    The best option I found so far is hydrogen cyanide.

    The good thing about it is a gas and thus you only have to breathe it, that it is lethal at low doses, that you pass out nearly instantly (in some seconds) and if you somehow manage to fail, there are no consequences as it doesn't damage your brain, lungs, liver or anything else. Should be pretty pleasant, if you can get hold of it, but that's seemingly not easy. Otherwise it can be synthesized with ammonia and methane, but I've yet to figure out exactly how (building a flat bed reactor with Platinum-Rhodium catalyst sure doesn't look easy)

    Finding a sure, painless method is not easy, and reading suicide HOWTOs on the net is more a deterent than anything else. The methods these sites claim to be good are often cryptic, and there seems to be an emphasis on the ones that are not a Good Idea(TM).

    The other bad idea about suicide is that if you somehow fail (which is more common than being "successful"), others will look at you as if you have the black plague, AIDS and an extra leg...

    Just consider life an interesting experiment, since you don't care anyway...

    --

    One shall speak only if what one has to say is more beautiful than silence
  10. Re:Fines ? by Dr.+Evil · · Score: 2, Informative

    Emotions aren't rational, they're chemical. As immensely stupid as it might sound, if you're not eating properly, sleeping well, and getting exercise, that might be a good place to start.

    You should probably mention your feelings to a therapist. The social stigma regarding mental illness is horrible, but you shouldn't let that stop you if you're not happy and you think something's wrong. They can also help with permanent chemical imbalances which are part of clinical depression.

    It's hard to make that first step.

  11. Re:HELP..... by Stepping+Razor · · Score: 2, Informative

    ..not forgetting the blue rajah, master of cutlery. (mystery men).

  12. Illegal??? by benna74 · · Score: 2, Informative

    It is NOT illegal in Australia to attempt/commit suicide (Believe me, I would know.). I believe what the government(However misguided) is trying to do is stem the tragic suicide of young people in mostly our country areas, where suicide is the major cause of death (after car accidents) for males between the ages of 18 and 25. Yes it is silly legislation, you dont need the internet to work out how to kill yourself. BJ