Internet providers plotting revenge over bill Date: 27/05/99 By LAUREN MARTIN, in Canberra Angry Internet service providers turned on the Government after its bill to censor the Internet passed the Senate yesterday. Requests from Government computer users were diverted to a protest page which made the users wait 120 seconds before reaching their desired destination. "Get used to the delay," came the message. It was a warning that the plan would slow the system. Civil libertarians also protested by turning their computer Web site screens black to mark their belief that the Government had - in the words of Democrats Senator Natasha Stott Despoja - "turned its back on the Internet". Anti-censorship group Electronic Frontiers Australia is organising nationwide rallies for tomorrow in the real world - Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide and Wollongong. One family-owned Internet provider in western Sydney, RP Internet Services, yesterday was offering a month's untimed calls or 500 megabytes of data for clients who showed up. The company hopes to hire a hearse for the Sydney protest, which will move from Hyde Park to the offices of the Australian Broadcasting Authority and the Office of Film and Literature Classification. Already one West Australian-based ISP had sent each senator a copy of George Orwell's 1984, with a note: "The Online Services Bill is Orwellian in its implications. It has no place in a free society." But the bill is expected to move smoothly through the House of Representatives and become law. It outlines a complaints-based regime under which the ABA can force Internet providers to remove material which would be considered offensive or illegal under film and video guidelines. If the material is not removed within one working day, ISPs face penalties of tens of thousands of dollars. The chief executive of the Internet Industry Association, Mr Peter Coroneous, said the bill represented a "huge challenge". "This has never been attempted anywhere in the world before, and people must realise that we cannot necessarily come out with a magic bullet tomorrow." The Communications Minister, Senator Alston, said the bill would "protect Australian citizens, especially children" from unsuitable Internet sites. But EFA president and Internet lawyer, Mr Kim Heitman, said it would not protect anyone. International sites (more than 90 million) could not be effectively blocked, he said. Adult sites based in Australia would move offshore or underground. "The internet is going to effortlessly evade the bill," Mr Heitman said. "It does nothing but make us an international laughing stock for saying we can do the impossible - it's a con job ... "If the Government was serious about Internet content, they would pay to educate parents and give police the resources to hunt down people who create illegal content." This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited. ------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/
