[IP] Australia national censorware considered
Begin forwarded message:
From: Seth Finkelstein <sethf@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: August 17, 2004 4:51:19 AM EDT
To: Dave Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Australia national censorware considered
http://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 would
make 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@xxxxxxxxx
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/
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