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Australian Teachers Try To Shut Down Website
DeathElk writes "New South Wales teachers are attempting to have a website based in the United States closed down due to "defamatory" content. The site in question encourages students to rate teachers at their school, which obviously results in some colorful content. Now the story has hit the media, with some insightful quotes such as "The president of the NSW Secondary Principals Council, Jim McAlpine, said the Federal Government should block access to 'scurrilous American websites'."
Wont happen,
Those kind of nut cases are the vocal minority of Australians. Family and/or religious groups like the American Family Association but with a much smaller member base per capita (but just as loud and annoying). Most Australians don't care, in fact not giving a crap is our national past time.
The whiners will continue to whine and the govt will pretend to do something but when push comes to shove, the businesses of australia (which have a vested interest in unfiltered traffic) will push little Johnnie or heavy Kevvy (doesn't really matter who wins the elections) that much more harder than the whiners.
All that could possibly come out of this is a taxpayer funded opt in service which given our governments inability to do anything technical, would be completely useless.
I'd just like to say to the govt that if you're going to spend money stupidly, spend it on FTTN ((optic) Fibre To The Node, FIOS I believe is the Yank equivalent) and cut telstra (AU's largest phone Co.) out of it But like the firewall, that will never happen.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Guessing you've never actually lived here...
Australia has thousands of stupid laws that the majority don't agree with, we have an effective way of dealing with these, ignore them.
> I wonder if truth is a defense against slander/libel/defamation in Australia. It isn't in England
Yes it is, just that the burden of proof is on the defendent, not the plaintiff. Read the article in Wikipedia.
Well, actually it _did_ protect the Americans from McCarthy, it just took its time in doing so. Likewise over time the likes of Lenny Bruce and Lady Chatterley's lover were vindicated.
And I fervently hope (with some merit) that thanks to a free press, Gitmo will become the Manzanar of this era, reviled and used for a century as an example of what not to do. I wish the constitution could stop Gitmo in advance, but it has powerful enemies, and it is not strong enough to stop them immediately, but if things go OK, it will stop them in time, and leave them in the history books as a story of evil.
Of course, those who remember history are sometimes condemned to be the only ones in horror as they watch it repeat.
Has it been over a year since you last donated to the Electronic Frontier Foundation
I've stopped watching the news shows out here (a current affair, today tonight)
AAHAHAHAH. news. that's classic. I suggest you watch these:
http://abc.net.au/tv/chaser/war/
To get an idea of the kind of deliberate ignorance he's talking about, it wasn't until last year that we finally got around to legalising things like recording a show from the tv watch later. This is despite vhs machines being sold here for ~15 years!
Sure, technology has far outstripped the rate of change of the law, but here it's not till some smart-arse tries to use an outdated law that anyone does anything about it.
IIRC there was an outdated law to close the Harbour Bridge once a year to drove sheep across it which was only revoked recently, and only because someone tried to invoke it.
"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?" - Albert Einstein
Well as some one from New Zealand living in Oz ( and I quite like it, don't get me wrong ), who's law is also derived from the England, I can say Australian law concerning the internet has always been a bit backwards. It's not so much the unions, it is the government. I can say that's better than it was, but there have always been astounding decisions regarding the internet.
1 13_text.html someone suing and winning against a publisher in another country (over defamation), but as it was viewed in Australia it was valid.
u ts-linking-on-notice/2006/12/19/1166290520771.html linking to copyrighted information is on notice.
http://www.murdoch.edu.au/elaw/issues/v11n3/beyer
and even http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/copyright-ruling-p
The people and OMG the girls are amazing! the government,internet & prices are not not so much.
This is in Queensland; YMMV in the inferior southern states
What part of "a well regulated militia" do you not understand?