[LINK] Conroy vs Google

Karl Auer kauer at biplane.com.au
Wed Mar 31 12:23:47 AEDT 2010


On Wed, 2010-03-31 at 11:58 +1100, Birch, Jim wrote:
> It's not Conroy's policy, it's government policy that they took to the
> electorate last election, as I recall.

Er - almost.

What they took to the election was an opt-in arrangement, where ISPs
would have to provide ISP-level filtering to those who wanted it.

The plan has been all over the shop since the election, with Conroy and
others using very loose language to describe what will actually be
blocked, though he seems to have retreated now to "RC material". But one
very important thing changed and has not been changed back - the
arrangement will now be *mandatory* for users, not opt-in. That point
alone makes it a VERY different plan to the one that was taken to the
election.

However, even were it opt-in, it would still be very, very bad for civil
liberties. "Yes, we've bought a great big chain saw and fuelled it up,
but don't worry, we have no intention of ever cutting down any trees.
Trust us..."

For a great summary of the up and downs, ins and outs and round abouts
of the plan, see Irene Grahame's excellent work on libertus.net.

Regards, K.

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Karl Auer (kauer at biplane.com.au)                   +61-2-64957160 (h)
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