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Why is the net filter alive and kicking?
Sep 10 2010, 12:07Today Asher Moses wrote a great article in the Sydney Morning Herald, Conroy’s net filter still alive and kicking and gave a good understanding of the current state of play. It mentioned that the Mandatory ISP Internet Filter received virtually no support outside of the Cabinet, and that the numbers are likely not be there to see it pass the Senate. So why does Senator Conroy continue his quest?
Once you’ve read the article, please leave your comment below on what you believe is going on with the proposal.
Please use family-friendly language for the benefit of our younger readers.
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Bull-headedness and vested interests.
I seem to remember Irene Graham discussing on Whirlpool a while back that several censorware vendors approached the then Minister Helen Coonan to try to convince her that ISP-level censorship was more effective than the NetAlert approach, and she rebuffed them; they then took the same message to the then Shadow Minister Conroy, who swallowed their pitch hook, line and sinker.
Since that time, he has to know that he was duped, but can't permit himself to admit it.
Of course, there is also some potential merit in the conspiracy theories regarding political donations from the Copyright Cartels…
There must be some backroom deal or lobby support that is dependent on the policy. But the filter is dead in the water, so what is going on? Are they trying to neogicate on some policy with the Greens or Linerals in exchange for filtering?
Does anyone really care what Conroy says about anything any more? Please explain why what he thinks is even relevant at all. It's just not going to happen. Hooray!
" It mentioned that the Mandatory ISP Internet Filter received virtually no support outside of the Cabinet, and that the numbers are likely not be there to see it pass the Senate. So why does Senator Conroy continue his quest?"
That's what I don't understand. He's wasting taxpayers' money on something that will never get passed!
The net filter is hardly alive and kicking; more like, undead and lurching, in perpetual search for a brain.
As long as they persist there is a chance, as deals can be made given the murky nature of policticians. I hope and almost believe it won't happen, but I am really scared how Conroy (and Gillard by implication as his boss) still want to spend taxpayers money pushing this forward. What do they know that we don't that makes them believe it's worth persisting with?
Their indepentant coalition partners won't vote for it, the Greens won't vote for in the reps or Senate, the Lib coalition won't vote for it. What do they know?
If you have a labour rep for your area, you need to keep working on them. As long as Conroy keeps going, we must keep going. This is our right of free speech and freedom of information that's at stake.
Conroy has to have another agenda here to be continuing with the filter; everyone else is just trying to work out what it is. All I can think is that he's going to do some dodgy-backroom-deals to garner support for it at the last minute to get it through. Why else would he be doing this?
Labour should remember that they've only just scrapped back into being the government again, so they should not take it as an opportunity to ram unpopular policies down our throats as though they have some "mandate from the majority" of voters in Australia.
I'm primarily concerned from a taxpayer point-of-view that he is continuing to waste money on policies which have no support. He should just let this one die and realise he's going to be VERY unpopular if he persists with it.
From my home in south australia using Telstra IP, with Tor network disabled I cannot see this page, popsci.com/technology/article/2010-08/anyone-anywhere-anytime
With Tor network Firefox plugin enabled I can. I do not know if this is personal or national but it is censorship and it is happening right now.
Something from the Internet Society in the UK which is worth watching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB4zfGwctGc&fe…
Paedophiles worldwide are praying that the filter passes. Wasting money on victimless crimes and ignoring peer-to-peer file transfers will not protect a single child.
I wish I had the ability to write and publish posts like this! I can spend hours on mine and end up deleting them lol, what is your secret?