Australian Censorship

[Papewaio]

Leaked Australian blacklist reveals banned sites (http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/03/19/1237054961100.html)


...about half of the sites on the list are not related to child porn and include a slew of online poker sites, YouTube links, regular gay and straight porn sites, Wikipedia entries, euthanasia sites, websites of fringe religions such as satanic sites, fetish sites, Christian sites, the website of a tour operator and even a Queensland dentist.


"The Australian democracy must not be permitted to sleep with this loaded gun. This week saw Australia joining China and the United Arab Emirates as the only countries censoring Wikileaks."

The leaked list, understood to have been obtained from an internet filtering software maker, contains 2395 sites. ACMA said its blacklist, as at November last year, contained 1370 sites.

...

ACMA said Australians caught distributing the list or accessing child pornography sites on the list could face criminal charges and up to 10 years in prison.

You are not allowed to know what is on the list. And if you put a hyperlink to one of the sites on the list that you aren't allowed to know, then you can be fined up to $11k per day. :wall:

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

:dizzy2:

Completely and utterly disgusting.

I said not to vote for Rudd, but nobody ever listens to me. ~;)

[Fragony]

wow

[Lemur]

Insane. I hope these idiots are hounded from office by mobs of enraged geeks. String them up with Cat5e ethernet cable! Don't right-click until you see the whites of their eyes!

[Gregoshi]

Insane. I hope these idiots are hounded from office by mobs of enraged geeks...
Wait, wouldn't geeks be the ones writing the filtering software? :quiet:

[Papewaio]

A lot of geeks don't have a sense of history. And because some of them would have um backdoor access they won't care about letting it happen to everyone else.

Not to mention some will be in the same self righteous camp as the Communications Minister (a right wing nutter, formerly of the Family First party).

[pevergreen]

It is terrible.

Hopefully something can be done.
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/SaveTheNet/442

It had a lot of signatures when I signed a few months ago. Not sure of the current figures.

[Gregoshi]

Then this is a geek tragedy. :shame:

[seireikhaan]

:no:

I'm not sure what to say, exactly. Insane.

[a completely inoffensive name]

...

[Lord Winter]

Is there some sort of constitutional test , in austrilia, akin to the first amendment, that could shoot this down?

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Is there some sort of constitutional test , in austrilia, akin to the first amendment, that could shoot this down?

Australia, to my knowledge, only has a constitutionally mandated political freedom of speech. For example, you are allowed to criticize the bill, but the bill itself is not unconstitutional unless it blocks political websites.

[Husar]

The obvious solution is that every australian blogger posts a list of all links to all sites on the list and then see what happens. :laugh4:

[a completely inoffensive name]

...

[naut]

Thanks Rudd. Muppet.

[Beefy187]

And I thought Kevin Rudd will make a decent leader :no:

[CountArach]

I hate Conroy...

[KukriKhan]

Wikileaks has previously published the blacklists for Thailand, Denmark and Norway.

Seems like a trend. I wonder who the guardian of our blacklist is.

https://jimcee.homestead.com/outrage-ami150.gif

[naut]

Seems that Wikileaks has been added to the ban list as well as 4Chan. I haven't ever been on either, but it seems like it's getting more draconian.

Edit: Animal Care website as well as an anti-abortion website that has pictures of aborted foetuses.


‘Many of the sites clearly contain only run-of-the-mill adult material, poker tips, or nothing controversial at all. Even if some of these sites may have been defaced at the time they were added to the list, how would the operators get their sites removed if the list is secret and no appeal is possible?’
:bow:

[CountArach]

Seems that Wikileaks has been added to the ban list as well as 4Chan. I haven't ever been on either, but it seems like it's getting more draconian.
Actually only /b/ I believe. Mainly due to the CP that is posted on there.

[pevergreen]

Actually only /b/ I believe. Mainly due to the CP that is posted on there.

are you serious?

I havent been there in over a year, but now I'm pissed.

If the chans hear about this enough, war will be had.

[naut]

are you serious?

I havent been there in over a year, but now I'm pissed.

If the chans hear about this enough, war will be had.
Yeh, it's the /b/imgboard. Haha.

Fielding wont like how an anti-abortion site got on the list though. :2thumbsup:

[CountArach]

Yeh, it's the /b/imgboard. Haha.

Fielding wont like how an anti-abortion site got on the list though. :2thumbsup:
I believe the Coalition and the Greens have already agreed to block it. Fielding supported it IIRC, but I don't think Xenophon did.

[Hooahguy]

what a shame.

[rvg]

Censorship == baaad. Aussies lost alot of coolness points with me after I found out that they banned Leisure Suite Larry.

[CountArach]

Censorship == baaad. Aussies lost alot of coolness points with me after I found out that they banned Leisure Suite Larry.
I personally put it down to having no actual right of free speech in our constitution - only an implied right of free political speech.

[Papewaio]

Censorship == baaad. Aussies lost alot of coolness points with me after I found out that they banned Leisure Suite Larry.

The original one in monochrome green with the history questions was one of the first computer games I played in Aus. Can't remember other versions being banned.

[Xiahou]

Wow, this is pretty surreal. Reminiscent of a police state. :no:

[Major Robert Dump]

Why isn't the org or steam banned, those do far more damage to communities than pornography.

[Louis VI the Fat]

I met two Australians today! They walked up to me, and the first one said 'I'm Australian'. Then the second one introduced himself with 'moi aussi'.




/randomness, meant for bilingual ears :sweatdrop:

[Banquo's Ghost]

I met two Australians today! They walked up to me, and the first one said 'I'm Australian'. Then the second one introduced himself with 'moi aussi'.

/randomness, meant for bilingual ears :sweatdrop:

And utterly groanworthy. :laugh4:

[Gregoshi]

/randomness, meant for bilingual ears :sweatdrop:
Or one willing to check it on BabelFish.com.

:laugh4: Good one Louis. :thumbsup:

[Andres]

I met two Australians today! They walked up to me, and the first one said 'I'm Australian'. Then the second one introduced himself with 'moi aussi'.



:laugh4:

Thanks, Louis :2thumbsup:

[Caius]

Government protects you from re... err, what are they protecting people from?

[aimlesswanderer]

For some reason the government has a bit of an obsession with this whole filtering thing. Terrible idea, would likely be ineffective or would slow down the net to snail speed. Even the conservatives think it is a bad idea, though they are basically saying NO to everything the government is trying to do.

[Strike For The South]

I didn't find Louis' joke that funny.

[Louis VI the Fat]

C'est un Américain qui arrive à Paris, il prend un taxi. Le taxi passe devant l'arc de triomphe: - C'est quoi ça?
- C'est notre arc de triomphe! :2thumbsup:
- Vous avez mis combien de temps pour construire ça?
- Ça a bien dû prendre 5 ans.
- Chez nous au Texas, ça prend 3 jours.
Le taxi passe devant Notre-Dame; même scène: - C'est quoi ça?
- C'est Notre-Dame, la cathédrale de Paris! :2thumbsup:
- Vous avez mis combien de temps pour construire ça?
- Oh... 40 ans, sans doute.
- Chez nous au Texas, 6 jours.
Le chauffeur commence à avoir les oreilles qui chauffent.
Ils passent devant la Tour Eiffel : - C'est quoi ça?
- Ça? Je sais pas. C'était pas là ce matin... ~:confused:

[HoreTore]

Seems like a trend. I wonder who the guardian of our blacklist is.

https://jimcee.homestead.com/outrage-ami150.gif

We only block child-porn here, and it's done by the child-porn croup in Kripos(kinda like our version of the FBI) and the main broadband provider, Telenor. Nothing else will is banned, and nothing else is likely to be banned, as was shown when RIAA wanted them to ban Pirate Bay, and Telenor basically gave them the finger.

As for Denmark, I know they also block Pirate Bay, not sure what else they block. Probably the CP like we do.

[KukriKhan]

This Report (http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/85pex/wikileaks_releases_norways_secret_internet/) (on Wikileaks release of Norway's censorship list) suggests that barring alleged child porn sites is the "foot in the door" that eventually leads to un-accountable dns-banning by un-elected anonymous figures.

[Gregoshi]

C'est un Américain qui arrive à Paris, il prend un taxi. Le taxi passe devant l'arc de triomphe: - C'est quoi ça?
- C'est notre arc de triomphe! :2thumbsup:
- Vous avez mis combien de temps pour construire ça?
- Ça a bien dû prendre 5 ans.
- Chez nous au Texas, ça prend 3 jours.
Le taxi passe devant Notre-Dame; même scène: - C'est quoi ça?
- C'est Notre-Dame, la cathédrale de Paris! :2thumbsup:
- Vous avez mis combien de temps pour construire ça?
- Oh... 40 ans, sans doute.
- Chez nous au Texas, 6 jours.
Le chauffeur commence à avoir les oreilles qui chauffent.
Ils passent devant la Tour Eiffel : - C'est quoi ça?
- Ça? Je sais pas. C'était pas là ce matin... ~:confused:

:laugh4: Awesome. :laugh4:

[HoreTore]

This Report (http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/85pex/wikileaks_releases_norways_secret_internet/) (on Wikileaks release of Norway's censorship list) suggests that barring alleged child porn sites is the "foot in the door" that eventually leads to un-accountable dns-banning by un-elected anonymous figures.

If it was done by a department, any politician or, heaven forbid, PST, then I would be swinging my torch this very instance.

But, since it's done by the CP division of Kripos together with Telenor, I don't. And while your link state that they're not accountable, they are very much so. Firstly by chief of police who report to the justice department. Secondly, should they decide to block people who haven't published CP, all it would take is a lawsuit to remove the ban.

[KukriKhan]

Sounds like ya'll have the watchdogs well in-hand. Good on ya, then. Go Norway! :laugh4:

[Papewaio]

C'est un Américain qui arrive à Paris, il prend un taxi. Le taxi passe devant l'arc de triomphe: - C'est quoi ça?
- C'est notre arc de triomphe! :2thumbsup:
- Vous avez mis combien de temps pour construire ça?
- Ça a bien dû prendre 5 ans.
- Chez nous au Texas, ça prend 3 jours.
Le taxi passe devant Notre-Dame; même scène: - C'est quoi ça?
- C'est Notre-Dame, la cathédrale de Paris! :2thumbsup:
- Vous avez mis combien de temps pour construire ça?
- Oh... 40 ans, sans doute.
- Chez nous au Texas, 6 jours.
Le chauffeur commence à avoir les oreilles qui chauffent.
Ils passent devant la Tour Eiffel : - C'est quoi ça?
- Ça? Je sais pas. C'était pas là ce matin... ~:confused:

I cannot read French but from the pacing of it and the numbers it match's in theme one about Sydney and the Opera house. It also features a Texan...

[Strike For The South]

C'est un Américain qui arrive à Paris, il prend un taxi. Le taxi passe devant l'arc de triomphe: - C'est quoi ça?
- C'est notre arc de triomphe! :2thumbsup:
- Vous avez mis combien de temps pour construire ça?
- Ça a bien dû prendre 5 ans.
- Chez nous au Texas, ça prend 3 jours.
Le taxi passe devant Notre-Dame; même scène: - C'est quoi ça?
- C'est Notre-Dame, la cathédrale de Paris! :2thumbsup:
- Vous avez mis combien de temps pour construire ça?
- Oh... 40 ans, sans doute.
- Chez nous au Texas, 6 jours.
Le chauffeur commence à avoir les oreilles qui chauffent.
Ils passent devant la Tour Eiffel : - C'est quoi ça?
- Ça? Je sais pas. C'était pas là ce matin... ~:confused:

Pffftt. Stealing jokes from the Canadians are we? :laugh4:

[Husar]

If it was done by a department, [...], then I would be swinging my torch this very instance. [...] Firstly by chief of police who report to the justice department.

:inquisitive:

(emphasis mine)

They're talking about banning child porn here as well but some ISPs don't really want to yet and say there has to be a law for it, the issue that it opens a pandora's box for internet censorship is also raised, personally I hope it's not going to happen, it would make more sense to me if they started to hunt the ones who produce the matierial, I mean they had less reasons to invade Iraq, so that they operate in foreign countries is not an excuse. :sweatdrop:

[Caius]

C'est un Américain qui arrive à Paris, il prend un taxi. Le taxi passe devant l'arc de triomphe: - C'est quoi ça?
- C'est notre arc de triomphe! :2thumbsup:
- Vous avez mis combien de temps pour construire ça?
- Ça a bien dû prendre 5 ans.
- Chez nous au Texas, ça prend 3 jours.
Le taxi passe devant Notre-Dame; même scène: - C'est quoi ça?
- C'est Notre-Dame, la cathédrale de Paris! :2thumbsup:
- Vous avez mis combien de temps pour construire ça?
- Oh... 40 ans, sans doute.
- Chez nous au Texas, 6 jours.
Le chauffeur commence à avoir les oreilles qui chauffent.
Ils passent devant la Tour Eiffel : - C'est quoi ça?
- Ça? Je sais pas. C'était pas là ce matin... ~:confused:
I dont understand the end of the joke, but the rest I did.

[drone]

Won't someone please think of the children!!!! :drama2:

[Gregoshi]

Won't someone please think of the children!!!! :drama2:
Pervert! :laugh4:

Just kidding drone. 'Twas too good of a setup to let go. ~:pat:

[Shaka_Khan]

C'est un Américain qui arrive à Paris, il prend un taxi. Le taxi passe devant l'arc de triomphe: - C'est quoi ça?
- C'est notre arc de triomphe! :2thumbsup:
- Vous avez mis combien de temps pour construire ça?
- Ça a bien dû prendre 5 ans.
- Chez nous au Texas, ça prend 3 jours.
Le taxi passe devant Notre-Dame; même scène: - C'est quoi ça?
- C'est Notre-Dame, la cathédrale de Paris! :2thumbsup:
- Vous avez mis combien de temps pour construire ça?
- Oh... 40 ans, sans doute.
- Chez nous au Texas, 6 jours.
Le chauffeur commence à avoir les oreilles qui chauffent.
Ils passent devant la Tour Eiffel : - C'est quoi ça?
- Ça? Je sais pas. C'était pas là ce matin... ~:confused:
I demand English with French like you did in your earlier post. It'll be educational for us:

I met two Australians today! They walked up to me, and the first one said 'I'm Australian'. Then the second one introduced himself with 'moi aussi'.




/randomness, meant for bilingual ears :sweatdrop:

[KukriKhan]

The passenger in the joke has pretty good French, for a Texan. And the driver is pretty courteous.

Which would both be suspicious to some. Maybe the driver thought he was ferrying a late-as-usual American to The Front (http://www.firstworldwar.com/video/taxisofthemarne.htm).

[Louis VI the Fat]

I demand English with French like you did in your earlier post. It'll be educational for usMore Franglais? Nah.

They were just a few posts. To honour last week's global 'Week of the French Language'. A great worldwide celebration that, no doubt, caused much exitment throughout the English speaking world.

In recent years centre stage was given to words such as 'abricot, amour, chic, bizarre'. This year, more ambitious and exalted than ever, the following words were subject of grand celebration: 'ailleurs, capteur, clair de Terre, clic, compatible, désirer, génome, pérenne, transformer, vision'.



Words of grand vision and inspiration. The very word 'désirer' commands me to write a poem for Proletariat:


Je cherche une couleur
Mais il n'y a pas de mots
Pour décrire mon désir...


(The fun here is that 'the words' create the desire to write a poem. Whereupon the poem itself is about the lack of words to describe desire. The word desire creates desire for the word. Etcetera. Postmodern too. The 'text' of the poem can not be understood outside of the 'Text' that precedes it, that surrounds it. :sweatdrop: )





Yay! I managed to turn an Australian censorship thread into a French language thread. :balloon2:

[Brenus]

An American arrives in Paris, takes a cab. The taxi passes in front of the Arc de Triomphe:
- What is that?
- How much time to build it?
- Around 5 years.
- At home, in Texas, it takes 3 days.
The taxi passes in front of Notre Dame.
- What is it?
- Notre Dame, Paris Cathedral.
- How much time to build it?
- Err, 40 years, around…
- At home, in Texas, 6 days.
The driver starts to get the hump…
They pass in front of the Eiffel Tower.
- What is that?
- This? I don’t know. It wasn’t there this morning.


Au clair de terre nait le désire de visions qui transforment d’un clic l’ailleurs, capteur du génome pérenne compatible d’éternité fugace et changeante.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

...Yay! I managed to turn an Australian censorship thread into a French language thread. :balloon2:

Cher Louis, Est-ce que tu desires un position sur L'Academie?

Bon chance! Tu es marvailleux!

[pevergreen]

Back on topic: The senator responsible for this is going on a live Q&A show on ABC 1 on thursday night. Hopefully he will be grilled.

Back off topic: I was reading a games manual last night, and it was talking about new maps. Going on about Yuctan and Spanish penisula then:

And of course, Texas!
I smiled.

[Kralizec]

I assume that distrubiting the list is "punishable" because it would entail publishing links to child pornography?

It would be understandable if it was truly limited to kiddie porn (and even then website owners ought to be notified) but since it isn't going to stop those who are really looking for it, why bother :shrug:

[Vuk]

This thread needs to be deleted. People should not be able to talk about censorship. It should all be censorsed!
My 2 cents though, if the site has content that is illegal in that country (terrorist stuff, illegal types of porn, etc), it should be on the blacklist. If it is illegal anyway, you are sparing people from breaking the law.
I personally think that porn should be illegal (I am not talking about pinning up pictures of cute girls in bikinnis, I am talking real porn), but that is the choice of the government that the people elect (so the people indirectly), and if they do not want to make it illegal, then it should not be blacklisted. I think the thing to do in that case would be to first make porn illegal, then add it to the list.
(darnit, I just roasted porn on an internet site, I am gonna get flamed I know :P)

[Kadagar_AV]

The passenger in the joke has pretty good French, for a Texan. And the driver is pretty courteous.

Which would both be suspicious to some. Maybe the driver thought he was ferrying a late-as-usual American to The Front (http://www.firstworldwar.com/video/taxisofthemarne.htm).

A less known fact is that the state really didn't appreciate it when the taxis send them the bills...

And no, that is NOT a joke.

There is something very french about risking your life carrying troops right up to the front, dodging bullets as you go... Then sending a bill.

[CountArach]

I personally think that porn should be illegal (I am not talking about pinning up pictures of cute girls in bikinnis, I am talking real porn)
I have someone I'd like you to meet. His name is freedom of expression.

[rvg]

Hands off the smut! Internet Porn is sacred. Without it the internet traffic would drop by 50% and many ISPs would go under.

[Papewaio]

I have someone I'd like you to meet. His name is freedom of expression.

When they say 'read my lips', I don't think that was what they mean...

[Crazed Rabbit]

I have someone I'd like you to meet. His name is freedom of expression.

I think it's a stretch to say porn (or even tamer, babe thread stuff) has anything to do with freedom of expression.

That said, I see little point in the government trying to control it.*

CR
*Besides making sure no one is forced, the models are old enough, it's not marketed or easily available to kids, etc., etc.

[HoreTore]

I think it's a stretch to say porn (or even tamer, babe thread stuff) has anything to do with freedom of expression.

That said, I see little point in the government trying to control it.*

CR
*Besides making sure no one is forced, the models are old enough, it's not marketed or easily available to kids, etc., etc.

I think people who are trying to define what is and what isn't protected by free speech are really stretching it.

Porn is made in the form of pictures or movies. Both photography and movies are forms of expression. Hence, porn is an expression and protected by our free speech. Just like Arnold's 9237432480239th kill-movie.

[Vuk]

I have someone I'd like you to meet. His name is freedom of expression.


Do you realise that many porn models are women from poor countries taken advantage of, and then forced to degrade themselves with poses, or to be raped on camera for others to enjoy? Do you also realise that many of them are really underaged? Porn not only harms the individual women involved, but also women as a whole. It is not "empowering" for women when other women are taken advantage of and raped. It is degrading and makes men think of women as objects of sexual pleasure rather than human beings. It also sets expectations for them that they then think they have to meet in a relationship, which is unfair to them. Not only is it harmful to women, it is almost just as harmful as men. Argue if you want, but I have seen what happens when men get addicted to porn. They turn into completely dependent, filthy-minded, perverts who do nothing for the reputation of their sex as a whole. Men get thought of as mindless perverts with a one-track mind. Also, dare I mention the other thing which always accompanies porn? There have tons of scientific studies which have showed that to be extrememly unhealthy.
In short, if you want sex, don't sit there like a desperate loser fondling yourself because you are not man enough to get a real girlfriend. Get a girlfriend, and stop supporting an industry that is built on human misery and suffering.

[Vuk]

I think people who are trying to define what is and what isn't protected by free speech are really stretching it.

Porn is made in the form of pictures or movies. Both photography and movies are forms of expression. Hence, porn is an expression and protected by our free speech. Just like Arnold's 9237432480239th kill-movie.

Discussing sex is free-speech, video-taping someone stripping and having sex isn't. Freespeech extends only as far as others are not harmed. To return to my previous example, a taliban training video will hurt people in the long run, and should not be allowed, likewise porn (for the reasons mentioned about) hurts all of society and should be allowed. I am not saying that Australia is right in what it did, because porn is NOT illegal, BUT simply that I think it should be.

[Strike For The South]

Do you realise that many porn models are women from poor countries taken advantage of, and then forced to degrade themselves with poses, or to be raped on camera for others to enjoy? Do you also realise that many of them are really underaged? Porn not only harms the individual women involved, but also women as a whole. It is not "empowering" for women when other women are taken advantage of and raped. It is degrading and makes men think of women as objects of sexual pleasure rather than human beings. It also sets expectations for them that they then think they have to meet in a relationship, which is unfair to them. Not only is it harmful to women, it is almost just as harmful as men. Argue if you want, but I have seen what happens when men get addicted to porn. They turn into completely dependent, filthy-minded, perverts who do nothing for the reputation of their sex as a whole. Men get thought of as mindless perverts with a one-track mind. Also, dare I mention the other thing which always accompanies porn? There have tons of scientific studies which have showed that to be extrememly unhealthy.
In short, if you want sex, don't sit there like a desperate loser fondling yourself because you are not man enough to get a real girlfriend. Get a girlfriend, and stop supporting an industry that is built on human misery and suffering.

O rly? Do you have links or perhaps a nice study? We should just ban everything that could hurt children in the long run like beauty pagents and football.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

O rly? Do you have links or perhaps a nice study? We should just ban everything that could hurt children in the long run like beauty pagents and football.

The problems Vuk decries are real enough Strike. The best paralell from the user perspective is alcohol. Many can use it on a take-or-leave basis. Some will temporarily lose control or perspective. A few will become psychologically addicted with potentialy ruinous complications.

The exploitation issue is valid. The only limitation on Vuk's point is that he would need to argue that THIS form of exploitation is qualitatively worse than other forms of economic exploitation.

Obviously, my point is setting aside morality concerns -- a whole different arena.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

You know, if you want to argue that pornography is degrading to women, you can also make a fair case that it is degrading to males as well. :book:

[Vuk]

You know, if you want to argue that pornography is degrading to women, you can also make a fair case that it is degrading to males as well. :book:

Did that, check my post. ~;) I wouldn't say just as degrading, but I think it is pretty close.

[Furunculus]

an utterly stupid idea to try and maintain a country firewall against 'undesirable' elements.

technology is alway against the gov't

and i don't trust the gov't

i'd much rather they monitor usage of undesirable sites........... and then try and justify it in the courts.