No opt-out of filtered Internet
Found on Infoworld on Tuesday, 14 October 2008
Australians will be unable to opt-out of the government's pending Internet content filtering scheme, and will instead be placed on a watered-down blacklist, experts say.
"Labor's plan for cyber-safety will require ISPs to offer a clean feed Internet service to all homes, schools and public Internet points accessible by children," Marshall said.
"Illegal is illegal and if there is infrastructure in place to block it, then it will be required to be blocked -- end of story."
"Once the public has allowed the system to be established, it is much easier to block other material," Clapperton said.
I'm so sick of the "think of the children" story. If you want to protect only them, make an opt-in list for parents and schools. But treating every citizen as an imbecile and criminal won't help. I don't welcome the Communistic Republic of Australia. It's like Potter Stewart said: "Censorship reflects society's lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime".