🚀 go-pugleaf

jnunn@pobox.com wrote:
: Page 1, Computer Age, Tuesday 18 June 1996
: ------------------------------------------
: CENSORSHIP FIGHT HOTS UP
: By Mark Lawrence

: On the crest of a wave of celebration among it United States
: counterparts, Electronic Frontiers Australia has increased its campaign
: against Internet censorship laws that are being considered by the New
: South Wales Government.

: Electronic Frontiers Australia says tit believes the proposed
: legislation, mooted as a model for other states, was "badly drafted,
: draconion, indiscriminate and incapable of achieving its aims".

Never, Australian politicions could never draught a bad, draconian
and indescriminate bit of legislation that was incapable of
achieving its aims. If a duly elected government says the Internet
is evil, then it must be so. A few thousand of you 'net-nuts' are
going to be inconvinience, but heh, tough. Get another hobby, take
up gardening.

: Campaign manager Greg Taylor said last week's US Federal Court decision
: to block the Communications Decency Act, signed into law only four
: months ago by President Clinton, was extremely encouraging, although the
: US situation was not directly relevant to Australia and had not been the
: reason for the campaign launch here.

: "He said the group's objections were based on a leaked draft but the
: essence of what would be put to the standing committee of the
: attorneys-general on 11-12 July by the NSW Attorney-General was worth of
: protest.

: "First, we believe the new legislation is unnecessary because there are
: already laws in existence that cover the subject and which have already
: been used to charge and prosecute people for supplying and receivin
: objectionable material on the Internet", Taylor said.

: "Second, they are talking about something that is not technically
: feasible -- they want Internet Service Providers (ISP) to be made
: responsible for the information that may be accessed by minors.  It's
: ridiculous.  The ISP is, after all, just a conduit.

: "The other major concern is that the draft suggests that ISP's should be
: required to do random monitoring of user activity; it's the equivalent
: of asking Telstra to random monitor telephone conversations, which is a
: grave offence under the relevant legislation," Taylor said.

: He said the authorities were attempting to treat the Internet in the
: same manner as television, when it clearly was nothing like the same
: medium.

: The bad content on the Internet was largely invisible to the average
: users, he said.  Anyone wanting to find the so-called offensive material
: had to really look hard.

: "This material makes up a tiny percentage of the total and gets far too
: much attention -- particularly from the media, I'm afraid."  Taylor said
: all these factors added up to an indication that the proposals had been
: writted by people "who have absolutedly no knowledge or experience of
: the Internet".

Rubbish. The media always present the facts, and only the facts, and
in a well balanced manner as well. The proposals were written up by a
well meaning group of people with a wish to improve the greater
good. They do not need to be net.wizards to make this descision
for us.

: The decision by the three-judge US Federal Court last week to block
: legislation that was designed to shield children from sexually explicit
: ideas and images on the Internet included the finding that Internet
: users were entitled to the strongest constitutional protection.

: Judge Stewart Dalzell called the Internet " a never-ending worldwide
: conversation " and said it "deserves the broadest possible protection "
: from Government controls over what is said and seen.  The means the same
: hands-off protection that the print media gets -- that is, more
: protection than given to air or cable broadcasts.

: Any attempt to regulate the content of Internet expression, Judge
: Dalzell said, could destroy "the global village" while trying to protect
: its children.

But if just one child is saved...

: The bill had been opposed in court by two coalitions: one led by the
: American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and another led by the American
: Library Association (ALA).

: The coalitions include companies doing business on the Internet or
: expecting to have such operations; firms such as the major on-line
: services and Internet access providers and trade associations.

: (* Under new Victorian online laws, our regular Sitiings column has been
: changed on legal advice -- Page 4)

: ------------------------------------------

: Note spelling errors are probably mine :-))

: James

I've got all my bookmarks set to point to pornographic
graphics including some pictures of a 10 year old girl
and a large dog found in alt.sex.ped...

Now all we need is a couple of concerned journo's, a pollie or
two. We should be able to dig up a family that has been shcked
by porn, and bing-bang-bing, ban the net.


I predict an increase in the sale of gardening tools this
year. You futures people, buy Victa short.

Mark.