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Nation-Wide Internet Censorship Proposed For Australia
sparky1240 writes "While Americans are currently fighting the net-neutrality wars, spare a thought for the poor Australians — The Australian government wants to implement a nation-wide 'filtering' scheme to keep everyone safe from the nasties on the internet, with no way of opting out: 'Under the government's $125.8 million Plan for Cyber-Safety, users can switch between two blacklists which block content inappropriate for children, and a separate list which blocks illegal material. ... According to preliminary trials, the best Internet content filters would incorrectly block about 10,000 Web pages from one million."
Maybe that's the metric system!
Jeez, I thought we had it bad in South Africa with our ex-minister of health (Doctor Beetroot - so named because of her stupid approach to combating HIV/Aids).
:-)))))
Not only do we beat the ozzies in rugby, but now they have another reason to feel oppressed
Before it's too late VOTE OUT ALL the elected members of the government of your country who support such draconian big brother mythologies.
All countries, such as Austrailia, based upon English Common Law may have many defences and rights given a long time ago that can't be overridden by the fiats and power hungry wims of those who are deluded into thinking that they can take such dragonian steps to control society.
The power elite are now the terrorists (yet again) against the masses. Not only that in many countries they are implementing the New World Order of Socialism for the Rich and capitalism for the not rich. Nationalization of the debts of banks and corporate follies while allowing them to keep their profits.
Could the bail out be a scheme to keep the wars going with mercenaries instead of with national militaries? Pull out the troups and double the private contractors and presto no chango - the war machine grinds up more people from around the world.
Enough is Enough. When will you and the rest of the people realize that those in power are not doing any of us any favors by imposing these draconian systems of control? Likely after it's too late.
Vote out your leaders if you can. Say NO to their Big Brother Systems! Dismantle them.
My thoughts exactly. I wish I had mod points right now...
While I think a nationwide blacklist is a huge mistake for a few reasons, the parent to this post exemplifies an interesting quandary.
Shortly after 9/11, the U.S. government was attacked and vilified for not protecting the citizenry.
Now that the sort of repressive steps necessary to prevent such an attack are being taken- whatever the true motives of those enacting these repressive steps- people vilify the government for (again, regardless of motive) giving them *exactly* what was demanded.
Now, one might look to political motives in this- regardless of the specifics, neither party will miss an opportunity to demonize the other. As George Will has observed, politics is about who we are supposed to hate, and both sides must continue to remind their legions of why they must hate the other side.
Money was, of course, at issue as well. With the attacks on how the U.S. handled security and intelligence prior to 9/11 came class action lawsuits that lawyers profited from.
This is, though, a fascinating look at how easily public opinion is manipulated. One almost wonders if the ability to think critically hasn't already been conditioned away, at least on a large scale.