So, I know this isn’t really directly related to Geraldton or the Midwest Region, but it does affect us seeing as we’re, you know, a part of Australia. Telecommunications Minister Stephen Conroy has decided in his infinite wisdom that it would be great to introduce a “Clean Feed” which is basically one giant internet filter that will ban sites that the government feels are inappropriate (Hello, China!).
This article from ABC came out in in December 2007
Senator Conroy says it will be mandatory for all internet service providers to provide clean feeds, or ISP filtering, to houses and schools that are free of pornography and inappropriate material.
Online civil libertarians have warned the freedom of the internet is at stake, but Senator Conroy says that is nonsense.
He says the scheme will better protect children from pornography and violent websites.
“Labor makes no apologies to those that argue that any regulation of the internet is like going down the Chinese road,” he said.
Since then, many sites have sprung up such as No Clean Feed and Somebody Think Of The Children which have been following the filters progress very intensely. Rightfully so too. While the idea is noble in theory, so too is Communism. Don’t get me wrong, I in no way advocate Child Pornography, but there is potential for a whole lot of other sites to be added to this list. I understand that this is meant to be about protecting our kids, but I’m a firm believer that as a parent its my responsibility and not the governments to make sure that my kids are safe while on the internet
Oh, and did I mention that a filter of this magnitude will slow down your internet? We’re already handicapped since the max speed we can here get in Geraldton is 8mb, so I really don’t want to be shaped even more because some parents use the internet as a babysitter. I’m just saying!
