Slashdot Mirror
Australia Wants to Regulate Internet Streaming
Paul writes "After an incident that occurred on a popular television show's internet stream, the Australian government has once again demonstrated that it simply does not understand the internet by indicating that they intend to regulate streaming video. I wonder what these geniuses plan on doing with porn streamed from Europe?"
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of pouring rain,
Where the only thing you cannot be,
Is someone with a brain
"I wonder what these geniuses plan on doing with porn streamed from Europe?"
I think I'll be happier NOT knowing that answer.
Why Ted Stevens' internet took five days to get to him! All that streaming filling those tubes...
...the write up here is awfully vague. The incident it refers to happened on Big Brother Australia - one of the guys in the house held a girl down while the other rubbed his penis on her face. Both are now facing charges.
To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
--E.C. Stanton
As an Australian, I can only shake my head and say "we're not all like this". Originally our Prime Minister wanted the broadcaster to take the whole show off the air. I guess this latest response is after someone pointed out that you could originally only see the offending footage live over the net at 4 in the morning (really, someone needs to get a life if this is what they are doing at 4 am).
"After an incident that occurred on a popular television show's internet stream, the Australian government has once again demonstrated that it simply does not understand the internet"
You mean that thing with the routers and the wires? What's to understand about it, that makes it more privliged than the telephone, or telegraph?
What a terrible article to link on the issue. It has next to nothing to say about any kind of regulation of online content other than that content broadcast live online is not covered by current laws. It seems quite sensible to bring this in line with other laws governing online content - it's what those other laws are which is the sticking point. The relevent federal minister's statement on the events can be found here - a link I found in a good blog post (on the news site linked in the summary) here. I would say that this is a classic case of governmental over-reaction and bumbling misunderstanding, but you can't really tell that from the article linked in the summary. In fact, I would say that the real fallout from it hasn't been seen yet - we'll see what legislation brings.
We'll regulate that too, damnit!
(in jest, however - sadly, it appears that's probably what they'll propose if previous internet related legislation is anything to go by).
I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.
...the Australian government doesn't understand anything. :P
Whacking it like they're 12 again?
Trust me, there's a lot more porn coming from the US.
Not that i'll know it
Knock yourself out! Here is a video of the incident.
Does it go on forever?
Maybe watch it after the wife goes to bed!
"Australian government has once again demonstrated that it simply does not understand the internet by indicating that they intend to regulate streaming video. I wonder what these geniuses plan on doing with porn streamed from Europe?"
k ing.html
This is a poor summary of the situation. It's clear from the article that the government's intention is the review regualtion, not necessarily (as the poster snidely suggests) to impose regulation on porn streamed from Europe. The outcome of such a review could reasonably be that material streamed from within Australia should meet certain guidelines. While this doesn't prevent trash coming from overseas sources, it does ensure that broadcasts where responsiibility lies within Australia meets certain standards. This is typically what governments seek to do, and would lead towards consistency with other broadcasting formats for shows which have a large, youthful viewership such as Big Brother.
About eight years ago the government did show naivity on internet regulation by passing measures that were unworkable and which were panned within the IT community and within sections of the Liberal party itself. However, the current minister has cleaned things up a lot. Her approach to internet regulation has been to encourage education of parents and availability of client-side filtering - which is exactly the approach that I'd expect most of the slashdot readership would endorse.
Notice that of all the players with something to say in this article the government is the most restrained - calling for a review but not going overboard with censorship demands. In fact, it has been the federal opposition in recent times which has called for ridiculous measures while the government has been realistic in its approach, even by the reasonable (but in earlier times typically conflicting) standards of Electronic Frontiers Australia. See http://www.efa.org.au/Issues/Censor/mandatorybloc
Slashdot editors - panning Australians for our bad internet regulation system may once have been fitting. However, it would be nice if you could review things a bit more carefully based on the evidence rather than knee-jerks to posts making grand claims about Australian policy. It's annoying to see my country being portrayed as stoneage based on bad evidence. This snide post is not a story and it shouldn't have been put through.
Believe with me, my saplings.
Put the story in perspective: Only 20,264,082 (July 2006 est.) people live in Australia.
Crazy bitch didn't get her way, so now she's sucking her thumb and stamping her feet.
Huh? She had a penis shoved in her face, complained about it, only wanted an apology, didn't press charges, and then other people want streaming video to be regulated. How does this make her a "crazy bitch" who "didn't get her way" and is "sucking her thumb and stamping her feet"? I'd say she's dealt with those idiots in a appropriate way. Pity you seem to have stooped to their level.
The incident would have been illegal if it had been shown on traditional media and as it happened and was broadcast within Austrialia to Austrailians, why is it unfair for the Prime Minister to call for the broadcasting laws and restrictions to extend from older types of media (the television) to newer forms (such as internet streaming). In his view any media law that does not include the internet is just out of date and IMHO that is a reasonable position to take.
Now I dont know if Big Brother in Oz is streamed free to the public, but I would assume that it is, so I would imagine that the 'protect the children' (kneejerk) principle actually has some weight for once. If the stream was to registered adults (paying customers) then it would be different.
If this were really happening, what would you think?
I can't get yours to load. . . Here's a copy on YouTube: http://youtube.com/watch?v=A8L4wbXWKN8&search=big% 20brother
If you don't have a broadcast license you should be able to do whatever you want with your webcam. Television has a lot of power. Setting up a webcam in my kitchen isn't going to draw hundreds of thousands of viewers, but when a TV station comes along and does it, with all the promotion and hoo-ha that goes with it, then people will watch it. Their web broadcast should be covered by the same standards as their TV broadcasts.
There was no complaint made by the female housemate in question. Whether or not it was acceptable or not we do not know (that's between the housemates themselves).
However, the "crazy bitch" in question is not the housemate who was "assaulted" (she claims it was all in fun - big brother stepped in without her complaining) - i believe the GP post is referring to our Communications minister, Helen Coonan... she "didn't get her way" in "getting the show off the air"...
I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.
They're going to watch it. Very carefully.
You know, so they can regulate it.
The same thing any good regulator would do, keep the good stuff & send the rest through.
Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
There was no complaint made by the female housemate in question. Whether or not it was acceptable or not we do not know (that's between the housemates themselves).
Well, I heard an excerpt on the radio where she wasn't entirely impressed with their actions but didn't want to make anything official.
However, the "crazy bitch" in question is not the housemate who was "assaulted" (she claims it was all in fun - big brother stepped in without her complaining) - i believe the GP post is referring to our Communications minister, Helen Coonan... she "didn't get her way" in "getting the show off the air"...
Well, then those aren't the words I'd use, but I don't think highly of our Communications minister or the government in general.
The government is just trying to stop the TV stations from exploiting loopholes in the legislation. Capital 10 (one of the Big Five stations in Australia) broadcast some sexually explicit material live through their website. Apparently that's legal because it wasn't broadcast over the television band. The government reckons that's a copout and I agree.
Now bear in mind that Australia has some very relaxed rules for sexual content on TV. The stations are allowed to broadcast sexual intercourse, full frontal nudity, and even fetishes. One of the stations SBS is sometimes called "Sex Before Soccer" because they'd frequently schedule something blue from Europe before the live soccer broadcasts. The stations just have to show that content at certain times and put an appropriate disclaimer at the start of the show. There is censorship but it's very mild (eg, no penetration unless it's educational).
In this case, Capital 10 stepped over the line and was enabling children to view filthy content via the Internet. The dominant audience for Big Brother is the 12-14 year old teen market. Do you think it's appropriate for young teens to see a bunch of dimwitted Big Brother contestants teabagging a female contestant who was being held down against her will? I don't.
I think the government is doing the right thing here. Personally I wish they'd say "we're backdating this new legislation and slapping you with a big fine for being jerks". I'd support any bending of the law necessary to force Big Brother off the airwaves.
I don't get it
What is the issue? The girl knew what she was getting into when she climbed into the bed. She did not seem particularly surprised or offended by the events. I do not know what type of parties the majority of slashdotters attend but this seems like harmless banter. Now, if she objected or expressed discomfort with what was happening, the situation might be different, but these are consenting adults.
As to government restrictions on internet broadcasts, let them try. There will always be a way for the truly dedicated to find the information they are looking for.
Like this comment? I accept Bitcoin! - 153sc8UUBXyp12ofQqfAWDmJrzyiKCYC1x
Australia has a population of 20,507,800.5 ff1425ca25682000192af2/1647509ef7e25faaca2568a9001 54b63?OpenDocument
k order/2119rank.html) people elected the wrong leader. Doesn't that compound the error about 15 times
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/94713ad44
This is just a minor quibble, in the future please get your statistical information on Australia from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (www.abs.gov.au) the CIA's reputation for reliable intelligence is less than stellar (plus its insulting).
Besides in another country, 295,734,134 (http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ran
Yes I know it's a cheap shot but you left yourself wide open. At least in Australia if our head of state is crap, we have the Queen to turn to.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Reality TV shows are retarded. Yanking Big Brother off the air would be an improvement to Aussie TV. It makes The Wedge look intelligent.
Where's the link for the porn streamed from Europe?
Sounds like a typical night at the geek compound.
But seriously, I don't hear of parties except for birthday parties held by family members and acquaintances. Oh, and holiday gatherings might count as parties.
Redistributing resources to producing different goods has a recessionary effect. Done at the right time the effect is minimal, but the United States, at least, is too overly skittish about things that have a recessionary effect, so by the time the change is made it causes big recession problems.
Camilla, the woman involved, did NOT complain to anyone. She did NOT mention the incident until the producers brought it up some 12 hours later.
Specialist Mac support for creative pros, Melbourne
... the US plans to do - something that doesn't reflect reality.
People try and fit things they do not understand into things they do. We all do it, many times with things called "analogies". I know some of the better description I had of networking revolved around analogies to roads - I had enough knowledge to know where those analogies failed. In this case regulation has always worked - why not now? After all it's just broadcasting and lines within thier control.
Unless you can frame it how they understand it (and in a way they care about, for example if cost is irrelevant then saying it's cheaper will persuade none) you are wasting breath/bandwidth/time.
This will continue to happen for some time. As the population that is comfortable with current technology comes into power it will recede. But then, there were be something new out there that gets the same treatment. It always has and it always will.
It's a fact of life. If you want to affect change you have to accept it and work within those strictures (that doesn't mean not try and change it, just accept it happens and work from there).
Accept what you can not change, strive to change what you can.
------- Sorry about the spelling, I suffer from two problems. Dyslexia makes it difficult to spell well, lazy makes it
Remember, Oz also wanted ban all obscene material on the net including the Linux source 'coz it greps fuck a few too many times.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
To my way of thinking I would much prefer it if they just banned Big Brother. Now thats legislation would like to see down under ;)
From the transcript, she was quite aware that it was very likely she was going to be "turkey slapped" and made no fuss for them to stop - she shut her eyes and went along with it (laughing at the time).
Certainly a far cry from what certain people are portraying - that she was physically restrained and assaulted against her will.
I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.
I wonder what these geniuses plan on doing with porn streamed from Europe?
Capture, catalog, and burn "best of" CDs, of course.
He talks sense. This push is simply trying to do what slashdotters always say they want: hold activities performed online to the same standard as activities performed on traditional media.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
So I wake up this morning, slippers on, cuppa tea, bit of slashdot.. Australia Wants To..
Bwahahahaha
Seriously though, who's been playing buzzword bingo with the polititions again!
I think you mean porn streamed from America, because thats the plaice with the biggest porn industrie.
You ever seen that camera commercial (in the US) where the black guy looks up and says, "Man, that's the stupidist thing I've ever heard"? Ya, well that fits here. Your argument is essentially that it's OK to broadcast whatever you want unless a lot of people will watch it. I sure hope you don't live in the United States, and if you do I imagine you're one of those people who writes to the FCC about shows they haven't even seen because their church told them to.
"wonder what these geniuses plan on doing with porn streamed from Europe?"
Well, I'm certain it includes lots of "research" watching European porn. Of course, they'll disable all streaming until their fact finding blue ribbon team is finished.
Aaaaaah.
What the HELL is wrong with slashdot? Seriously.
You guys get up in arms about the perceived injustice within the U.S, terrorism and Microsoft. Yet in the last week we've had slashdotters say child porn is ok (check out the amount of comments on the last article that were modded insightful that said child porn was ok) and now you guys are defending holding a chick down and having a dick wacked in her face which at the time was against her consent.
If the dick was U.S. property and she was an Iraqi you guys would be up in arms.
Does anyone else see the idiocy here or is it just me?
Since when has intelligence become a substitute for decisive action?
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
You bet I can say "knee jerk" as I see a lot of knees jerking on Slashdot to all kinds of issues when people should be thinking with their minds and not their legs.
So looking at this slashdot story, most of the people are focussing here on some sort of rape issue which it really doesn't appear to be and IGNORING the more important issue that is going to affect them on a personal level:
The Aussie govt is getting set to regulate even more to what kinds of information Australians have access to.
You know, when they put some increase in censorship / surveillance issue out to the public they always tag that issue with some sort of child protection angle or evil sexual conduct between adults issue etc.
While we're on the subject, I don't know what "The Law" (uh! on your knees!) is down under but in the US a kid they railroaded from high school straight into the military at the age of 18 is not old enough to drink or have sex, but he sure is old enough to die.
A circle jerk caused a knee jerk!
Transporter_ii
Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, religion destroys spirituality
I wonder what these geniuses plan on doing with porn streamed from Europe?" Whatever they want to do, they will have to first ask America if they can do it.
does any one has footage of this incident?
Ahh,
I think you may have missed the point that this is just a silly beatup, nostly by the producers of the show to help the ratings along.
Earlier in the season they had to take 'big brother adults only' off the air - the show where such things would traditionally be shown, apparently people were claiming it was soft porn. Now they seem to be enforcing some of the 'rules' in a slightly less flexible manner.
It's a crap shwo & probably wouldn't last too many more seasons, a nice jump in ratings (which sadly there was) does the producers the world of good.
That's Sexual Assault, dynamo52. What they did was Sexual Assault.
Honk Honk!
Two words to describe the level of knowledge and insight that the Australian government has with regards to IT, and computers in general, and I'm not even going to bother trying to provide all the links that would show you the lack of emphasis I can put on these two simple, accurate, utterly appropriate words because it's just not possible to emphasise them enough when it comes to the Australian government,
Fucking Clueless!
They have no idea how the Internet works, they have no idea how much a website costs to build (and therefore budget way too fucking much), and they have no idea what the Internet can be used for.
Look back through the past postings here on Slashdot, and browse Google with the search terms "Australian Government" and "Internet" (quotes probably not needed) and you'll see some huge examples of how our government is,
Fucking Clueless!
Te Quiero, Puta!
Please save us Mr. Annan!
No the real problem is this is a stupid disgusting show that the Ausie's thought that "their" people were above and reality just bitch slapped them in the face, like a floppy penis. The truth is the less they do, the less of a fuss everyone makes, the quicker these train-wreck "reality" shows will go away. If the politicians start fussing and passing laws, all of the six-pack joe types are going to fixate on the crap shows just to piss-off the reactionary religious extremists; just like what happens in the Good'ol USA.
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
Umm.. no. You're retarded and have no concept of sexual assault. It's not assault if it's consensual.
....watching streaming porn in Australia has been declared a bootable offense.
Ok , we have two fallacies here.
One, that businesses do not increase wages in an improving economy. This is patently false, and all you have to do to disprove it is look around at any company that is doing well in a strong economy. Wages go up. Guess what? In a company that is doing well in a poor economy, wages go up. In a company that is doing so-so in a good or poor economy, wages go up. The ONLY situation where wages remain flat or go down is in a company that is in serious financial trouble. Why? Because EMPLOYEES CAN ONLY LIVE SO LONG ON FLAT WAGES before they quit and go to another company with better opportunity.
This isn't the 1800's, where travel is hard and you work for the same coal company all your life because there isn't any better place to go. There is ALWAYS somwhere to go, sometimes better, sometimes not as good, but there is always opportunity available in a capitalistic society. it's YOUR job to take advantage of it.
Two, and I realise that this will be a shocker to the socialists and neo-commies on
I recommend spending some time reading up on the subject. Perhaps "Atlas Shrugged" would be a good place to start? You really need to better understand how the real world works, and stop living in your little socialist fantasy land where big Eeeeviiil coporations steal all the food from little babies mouths and it's only BIG Government that can save us all. You just make yourself look like a fool.
Official Heretic from the "Church of Global Warming". Proven right thanks to whistle blowers. AGW = Flat Earth Theory
Google: http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=big+brother+ turkey+slap
A male contestant held down a female housemate while another male contestant rubbed his groin in her face.
"I think it is just a question of good taste," Howard told Australian radio on Monday.
I mean, come on, ofcourse it is a matter of taste!
I forgot to be anonymous.
Pure and simple. If you don't pay taxes, people with guns come, take your money, and give it to those you may not want it to go to. Maybe you're all fine and dandy with it happening to other people, and maybe even to yourself, but I think it's a shame and not a fit way to treat a human being.
Capitalism is succeeding because it is a more efficient economic engine than socialism. It has its negative points (namely that it does lead to significant wealth disparity), but its efficiency will lead it to dominate the world economic ecosystem. Natural selection in action.
The biggest problems come when our governments, in whom we have vested a monopoly of force (they are the only legitimate user of force), become corrupt and gain control over and become influenced by corporations. This leads to massive corruption. The government should only be involved in the market to enforce accounting of externalities and ensure that all costs are accounted for by those incurring them to avert the tragedy of the commons.
Acy
-- Too lazy to get a lower UID.
http://www.encyclopediaofstupid.com/stupid/images/ thumb/d/d4/500px-Honkhonk.jpg
Welcome to teh internets.
Without a lie, that was the single funniest TV reality show moment I have ever seen.
That's not considered a cheap shot. Haven't you seen all the sigs that say, "Somewhere in Texas, a village is missing its idiot"?
Anyone trying to keep track of how many times talk show hosts have said or implied on national TV that George W. Bush is an idiot would need a team of helpers.
Of course, as the "religious" Republicans will tell you, "reality has a well-known liberal bias".
Please understand that we are indeed an extremely intolerant people, but only to politicians and cane toads (there are Wiki articles sufficiently detailed to allow you to tell the difference between the two, if need be). We will laugh at a joke, but don't you dare even think about criticising our beer, or there will be war, mate, don't you worry about that.
Stereotypes? Me? Well yes, I'm definitely in the Marantz camp if it comes to that...
Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
For the record, this legislation isnt intended to block internet streaming. Its designed to close a loophole that let Channel 9 avoid prosecution for the incident, because they streamed it on the internet, as opposed to broadcasting it over their television frequency.
And force the use of multicast on everyone.
20 people in the office are watching the same soccer match and each one of them is getting their own stream, because the dimwitted providers have no multicast option.
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
There is no set-in-stone law or regulation required in order to do this matter justice. If the "community" truly judges the program to be as worthless and valueless as some of their authoritarian-type public figures apparently do, then public opinion will effectively enough see to exactly the same result that those figures are demanding via legislation.
And if public opinion ISN'T in synch with that of these vocal public figures, then they have no business imposing THEIR own personal mores on the public via said legislation, do they?
Just cancel 'Big Brother'. Who cares about that shit anyway? These people obviously believe the world doesn't pay them enough attention, so they go and live in a fish bowl for a few weeks. What exactly do they expect to happen?
remember to loot and pillage before you burn!