[LINK] Govt requires blocking of some newsgroups - and we don't know which ones!!!

[rchirgwin at ozemail.com.au]

David,

David Goldstein wrote:

>Why is this such a concern? 
>
Because debate is a precondition of legitimate democracy, and 
information is a precondition of debate.

Richard Chirgwin

>Singapore's government who many feel
>is very censorious blocks around 100 sites. That they told the
>public they were doing this, and that they were doing the right
>thing, gave the public great confidence in using the net, even
>if they are doing practically nothing. I guess one could argue
>that given things have moved on and people are now confident
>that the net aint that bad these lists could be gotten rid of.
>But this small list gave new internet users a lot of confidence
>to get online.
>
>That the newsgroup bans are easily circumvented matters little
>in this context.
>
>Cheers
>David
>--- andrew clarke <mail at ozzmosis.com> wrote:
>
>  
>
>>On Tue, Feb 28, 2006 at 08:40:07AM +1000, Robert Hart wrote:
>>
>>    
>>
>>>My ISP (Internode) has just brought up a new news server. I
>>>      
>>>
>>haven't 
>>
>>..
>>
>>    
>>
>>>       Are there any newsgroups you block?
>>>
>>>   We generally carry everything Supernews has (which is
>>>      
>>>
>>almost all the
>>
>>..
>>
>>    
>>
>>>       What groups does the Australian Government require
>>>      
>>>
>>you to block?
>>    
>>
>>>   We can't tell you (!). The laws in this area require us
>>>      
>>>
>>to block the
>>    
>>
>>>   groups the government tells us to block and requires that
>>>      
>>>
>>we do not
>>    
>>
>>>   disclose the blocklist itself.
>>>
>>>   Trust me, you don't want to read them anyway. Really.
>>>
>>>I have some issues with the idea that I am not allowed to
>>>      
>>>
>>read some 
>>    
>>
>>>material, but I am absolutely appalled that our government
>>>      
>>>
>>feels the 
>>    
>>
>>>need to refuse to tell us what sort of material it is
>>>      
>>>
>>blocking.
>>
>>Yes.  Not to mention its total ineffectiveness should you
>>decide to
>>bypass Internode's news server and connect to a uncensored
>>server in
>>another country (eg. Supernews!).
>>
>>Regards
>>Andrew
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>>    
>>
>
>
>
>		
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>