PM vows to clean up the internet

[Kenny]

PM vows to clean up the internet
By Dennis Shanahan and Jill Rowbotham
August 10, 2007 02:00am

Free internet filters for Australiam families
Work with service providers to "clean up" content
Announcement made during webcast to Christians

JOHN Howard is going to spend $189 million on "cleaning up the Internet" for Australian families, blocking pornography, upgrading the search for chatroom sex predators and cutting off terror sites.

Every Australian family will be provided with a free internet filter and the federal Government will enter an unprecedented partnership with service providers to filter pornography at the source.

Communications and Australian Federal Police resources will be boosted immediately to expand checks on chatrooms to detect child predators, and privacy laws masking sex offenders on the net will be altered.

The Prime Minister unveiled his new net commandments last night on a webcast to more than 700 churches around the country. At least 100,000 people were believed to have watched.

Kevin Rudd also delivered an addresses as part of the webcast.

Mr Howard and the Opposition Leader agreed to speak for 20 minutes and answer questions from church leaders at the National Press Club in Canberra as part of the Australian Christian Lobby's campaign to get Christians to make their vote count.

Both leaders attend church and have appealed to Christian voters to support them.

Last night, as Mr Howard talked about Christianity and family values, he revealed the government plan to upgrade the protection for families from Internet pornography, violence and sexual predators.

ISP partnerships

As well as practical tools to help families put internet pornography beyond the reach of children, the Government will form partnerships with major computer providers in upgraded steps to block porn sites and detect predators using popular websites such as MySpace and Facebook to contact children.

Of the $189 million, $43 million will be provided immediately to double the size of the online child sex exploitation branch of the AFP and establish a working group to find ways of getting around privacy laws that protect sexual predators.

A "black list" of the Australian Communications and Media Authority, which covers Australian-based pornographic and terror sites, will be expanded internationally after consultation with the Attorney-General.

The AMCA will also receive 14 additional Internet regulators.

A seven-day-a-week hotline will be established to help parents put filters on their home computers.

All families will receive the filters and they will be sent to public libraries.

Mr Howard said last night the address to the churches was an ideal opportunity to deal with family and community concerns about internet pornography and cyber-stalking.

'Cyber smut' crackdown

The package announced last night follows a $117 million crackdown on cyber smut announced last year by Communications Minister Helen Coonan which promised parents free software that prevented children downloading pornography and other offensive material on home computers.

The plan also promised to rollout "child-friendly" filtering programs to all internet terminals to libraries across Australia.

Mr Howard and Mr Rudd have been keen to tap into the voter base represented by the church, particularly in light of the faith-based support that helped Family First's Steve Fielding win a place in the Senate.

The Liberal victory in the NSW seat of Greenway was also attributed, in part, to the participation of the local Hillsong congregation.

In marked contrast to Mark Latham at the last election, Mr Rudd has made it clear he wants to engage churches in the political debate.

Last year, Mr Rudd made several appeals for people of faith not to turn away from Labor.

Labor woos church vote

It was the continuation of a theme he had begun almost as soon as the smoke had cleared after Labor's disastrous showing in the 2004 election under Mr Latham.

Early in 2005, Mr Rudd convened a meeting of Labor MPs to discuss the impact of religion and counteract anti-church feeling within the ALP.

Although Kim Beazley also had a strong religious faith, the elevation of Mr Rudd to the leadership put a stronger spotlight on the role of religion in politics.

Catholic-baptised Mr Rudd is now a churchgoing Anglican convert. Mr Howard, who goes to church, is also an Anglican.

Source:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22218929-421,00.html

hmmm, politics...

Cy

 

[omnia]

Its an election year in Oz

 

[Dave_Z]

Two words: yeah right.

 

[Ronald Regging]

Glad I dont live in Australia..

I think it's cool that they are trying to track down predators and prevent kids from looking at porn, but it sounds like they're going a bit further than that.

 

[Kenny]

Well the Free internet filters for Australiam families I agree with 100%, then it is user choice... but
Work with service providers to "clean up" content, this can have a lot of different connotations.
Who defines what "Clean Up" means?

 

[amosba]

I am all for finding better ways to prevent kids seeing porn on the net, but dead against people trying to stop me seeing porn on the net! :o

 

[Marck]

porn never killed anyone

 

[Kate]

PM must be afraid that he will be cleaned up

 

[NeeJam]

Two words: yeah right.

They do it in China so why cant they?

 

[mwzd]

Of the $189 million, $43 million will be provided immediately to double the size of the online child sex exploitation branch of the AFP and establish a working group to find ways of getting around privacy laws that protect sexual predators.

If the aim is to stop predators from getting in touch with children it's totally right.

We should back any initiative, anywhere in the world that puts these pervs in trouble.

As far as adults are concerned, oz is very unlikely to go the way of china/iran/etc.
Specially since it's a modern, democratic country and essentially quite liberal.

 

[Kenny]

Its an election year in Oz

:bingo: Now that explains a lot!!!!! :D
Are you insinuating Aussie Politicos would.... ?
Naw..... Only in America. =))

 

[-NC-]

that's a lot of tax dollars.

 

[James]

:bingo: Now that explains a lot!!!!! :D
Are you insinuating Aussie Politicos would.... ?
Naw..... Only in America. =))

being a Australian i seen this on TV and afew other things John Howard is aiming for. People will get around blocks or they wont install them, John Howard can't just put something on to block everyone from content.
thats why parents should know what their kids are doing.

 

[Kate]

...
As far as adults are concerned, oz is very unlikely to go the way of china/iran/etc.
Specially since it's a modern, democratic country and essentially quite liberal.

I'm not so sure
Just look at those recent news:
http://www.africasia.com/services/news/newsitem.php?area=africa&item=070806162610.0w0i8ncs.php
http://community.livejournal.com/bush_sucks/3796251.html
One involving USA, the other Zimbabwe. Different countries, converging laws ?
The trend worldwide is toward increased monitoring, data retention and less privacy.
We have to be careful because Internet filtering is plain censorship and governments always have an agenda in mind
In that particular case it's a targeted political gesture.
I don't mind government doing the right thing as long as they don't thrust 'protection' upon me, that I have never asked for :blink:

 

[Ronald Regging]

being a Australian i seen this on TV and afew other things John Howard is aiming for. People will get around blocks or they wont install them, John Howard can't just put something on to block everyone from content.
thats why parents should know what their kids are doing.

I dont know, from the way it was worded (the part that Cyberian pointed out) makes it sound like they are going to apply the filters at the ISP level, meaning you can't get around it. In the ancient times when newsgroups ruled the Internet (does anyone still use newsgroups or even know what they are? ) ISP level filtering was a big issue in the US. Plus we still have massive filtering when it comes to public libraries and schools. And this filtering goes far beyond porn.

As an adult, I just don't like the idea of someone telling me what I can and can not view/read.

 

[labrocca]

Waste of 190 million.

 

[Spade]

Waste of 190 million.

Yup. Should just buy my domains.

 

[James]

I dont know, from the way it was worded (the part that Cyberian pointed out) makes it sound like they are going to apply the filters at the ISP level, meaning you can't get around it. In the ancient times when newsgroups ruled the Internet (does anyone still use newsgroups or even know what they are? ) ISP level filtering was a big issue in the US. Plus we still have massive filtering when it comes to public libraries and schools. And this filtering goes far beyond porn.

As an adult, I just don't like the idea of someone telling me what I can and can not view/read.

They already added the filters to schools/libraries but its easy as using a proxy and going to other sites.

Also people pay for the net, they should just offer the software and explain it to the parents and explain about pedophiles and all the predators on the internet.

 

[Ronald Regging]

They already added the filters to schools/libraries but its easy as using a proxy and going to other sites.

Also people pay for the net, they should just offer the software and explain it to the parents and explain about pedophiles and all the predators on the internet.

There are countless shows and news stories that cover the topic of "Internet Predators" every day. If there is a computer-owning, Internet-having parent out there who doesn't know that such people exist, I'm not certain that all the money in the world will provide the education they require

 

[Kenny]

Yup. Should just buy my domains.

All of them, or would 190big just get a couple of yours?

:notme:

This was the key that caught my attention:

Every Australian family will be provided with a free internet filter and the federal Government will enter an unprecedented partnership with service providers to filter pornography at the source.

So dig, if this is in fact a plan to keep pr0n away from kids I think it's an outstanding proposition... however, if this is just election time posturing (we get plenty of this in the U.S.), then the potential for harm to an uncensored internet is starting at the root. (Gov control of ISP's)

Cy