[LINK] Stop the Clean Feed - Protest Rallies Saturday

[Tom Worthington]

At 10:42 AM 12/12/2008, Jan Whitaker wrote:
>At 09:24 AM 12/12/2008, George Bray wrote:
> >Here we go again? Do you feel like it's 1997 all over again?
> >http://www.acs.org.au/news/senate.htm ...

Yes. I was  asked to explain to the Senate inquiry and explain to the 
senators how the Internet worked and why strict censorship was not a 
good idea. Being treated as some sort of pornographer by Senator 
Harradine was not a pleasant experience.

Linkers with long memories, or who do a search, will find the details 
in the Link archive. Some items of interest:

* Submission on the Regulation of the Internet,  22 Sep 1995 
<http://www.anu.edu.au/mail-archives/link/link1995/link9509/0113.html>
* ABA On-line/Internet Regulation Investigation - report on meeting 
16 Oct, 18 Oct 1995 
<http://www.anu.edu.au/mail-archives/link/link1995/link9510/0072.html>.
* Some notes from the Senate Intrnet hearing,  8 May 1997 
<http://www.anu.edu.au/mail-archives/link/link9705/0179.html>* 
Greetings from the Senate Internet Regulation Hearing, 28 Apr 1999 
<http://www.anu.edu.au/mail-archives/link/link9904/0615.html>.
* "The Life of Galileo" by Bertolt Brecht: 
<http://www.anu.edu.au/mail-archives/link/link9606/0057.html>.

Also Peter Chen wrote part of his PHD thesis in  2000 on the lobbying 
process used for the Senate inquiry: 
<http://eprints.unimelb.edu.au/archive/00000240/>.

"... The second part introduces the case serving as the basis for 
evaluating the models, namely, censorship of the content of computer 
networks in Australia between 1987 and 2000. This case arises in the 
late 1980s with the computerisation of society and technological 
developments leading to the introduction of, first 
publicly-accessible computer bulletin boards, and then the technology 
of the Internet. From a small hobbyists' concern, the uptake of this 
technology combined with wider censorship issues leads to the 
consideration of online content by Australian Governments, seeking a 
system of regulation to apply to this technology. As the emerging 
Internet becomes popularised, and in the face of adverse media 
attention on, especially pornographic, online content, during the mid 
to late 1990s two Federal governments establish a series of policy 
processes that eventually lead to the introduction of the 
Broadcasting Services Amendment (Online Services) Act 1999, a policy 
decision bringing online content into Australia's intergovernmental 
censorship system. ..."

I was interviewed for this an explained how the ACS prepared its 
submission for the Senate online, using an open consultation process 
with other bodies.



Tom Worthington FACS HLM tom.worthington at tomw.net.au Ph: 0419 496150
Director, Tomw Communications Pty Ltd            ABN: 17 088 714 309
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617                      http://www.tomw.net.au/
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Australian National University