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Australia national censorware considered
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2004 08:46:52 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: Seth Finkelstein <sethf () sethf com> Date: August 17, 2004 4:51:19 AM EDT To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net> Subject: Australia national censorware consideredhttp://australianit.news.com.au/articles/ 0,7204,10455969%5E15319%5E%5Enbv%5E15306,00.html
Labor bid to block net porn Emma-Kate Symons AUGUST 16, 2004 ALL internet service providers would be forced to block hard-core pornography reaching home computers under a radical plan to protect children being pushed by federal Labor MPs. Mark Latham's office is understood to have shown "strong interests" in controls that would automatically filter out violent pornography such as images of rape, torture, bestiality and coprophilia. A confidential paper from the left-wing think tank the Australia Institute, which is now being considered by the Opposition Leader's office, proposes that ISPs install compulsory filtering programs so only adults who can verify their age could view X-rated material. Labor's communications spokesman Lindsay Tanner, leading ALP women including Carmen Lawrence, and pro-family values backbench MPs are in favour of a tough new regime that would shield children from online porn. The recommendation follows moves in Britain, where the largest ISP, British Telecom, began blocking customers in June from accessing child pornography sites. The Australia Institute's executive director Clive Hamilton said Labor would benefit from a social wedge issue by cracking down, because inaction by the Howard Government "opens it up to the charge it's soft on porn". "As it is responsible for a hopelessly ineffective system of regulation of internet pornography, yet frequently expresses concern for the moral dangers facing children, the Howard Government is vulnerable on this issue," the paper says. Dr Lawrence said the current system of regulation of online porn "clearly isn't working". The Australia Institute recommendation "is a proposal that has merit because it gets to the problem at the source and it wouldmake it much harder for the industry to duck responsibility", she said.
Dr Lawrence said she had always argued that adults could make their own decisions about what they saw, although "there was a limit". "But we're not talking about adults, we're talking about children," she said. "In the past, a movie or a magazine could be policed for adults, but the internet is entirely without age limit. I don't think children should be exposed to this stuff or subjected to the sexualising influences." But the policy proposal - supported by 93 per cent of parents of 12 to 17-year-olds according to a Newspoll survey - is expected to face some opposition from libertarians and frontbenchers including Kate Lundy, the Opposition spokeswoman on information technology. --Seth Finkelstein Consulting Programmer sethf () sethf com http://sethf.com
Interview: http://grep.law.harvard.edu/article.pl?sid=03/12/16/0526234 Seth Finkelstein's Infothought blog - http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/ ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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- Australia national censorware considered David Farber (Aug 17)