Electronic Frontiers Australia Help Stop Censorship Distribute in appropriate places up until April 30th Last update: 21st March 1999 Internet censorship is back with a vengeance, with new proposals by the Commonwealth government. Their rhetoric of 'protecting the children' and their use of extreme examples can not conceal that these proposals threaten our freedom to access and publish all kinds of information. If you want the Internet to remain free, please act immediately to stop these draconian proposals. The Federal Government is trying to push through these new laws quickly, so your help is needed to tell the Coalition loud and clear that the Internet is not to be messed with. Thank you for reading and thinking - and hopefully acting, IN BRIEF: The Australian government has recently announced proposals for Internet censorship: http://www.dcita.gov.au/nsapi-graphics/?MIval=dca_dispdoc&ID=3648 These proposals are draconian and unworkable. ANALYSIS: The proposals include: * A ban on the publication of 'X-rated' material (non-violent erotica). * A requirement for ISPs to do their best to block access to X- and RC-rated material from overseas. + we get to join the illustrious company of countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore. + it is suggested that this be done using an automated "guessing engine" running on proxy servers. * A requirement that all 'R-rated' content be protected by "adult verification mechanisms". + no explanation of what 'X-' and 'R-rated' mean for materials other than videos and films. + no explanation of how a content provider will determine the rating of their content or who will pay for it (the OFLC charges $4000 for each M/R/X/RC classification). + no concern for the privacy issues raised by ID systems. * A statement that "This regime is consistent with the content regulation regime for subscription narrowcast services such as adult pay-TV services" + ignoring the fact that the Net is nothing like pay-TV at all. ACTIONS: * Sign the Electronic Frontiers Australia petition at: http://www.efa.org.au/Campaigns/petition.html * Contact the minister directly: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Phone: 03 9650 0233) (Fax: 02 6273 4154) you may want to cc his opposition counterpart [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Phone: 02 6277 4108) (Fax: 02 6277 8520) * Write to a newspaper * Express concern to your local member * Post information on your website; turn your background black in protest BACKGROUND: An EFA press release on this can be found at: http://www.efa.org.au/Publish/PR990319.html Information about the accuracy of "guessing engines" can be found at: http://censorware.org/reports/ An HTML version of this alert http://www.efa.org.au/Campaigns/alert99.html Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
