Internet Filter and Black Ban in Australia

Dear Senator,

I’m concerned that your offices effort to protect our children from internet “nasties” maybe misguided.

I sympathize with you’re view that some parents are negligent or unable in their ability to use simple education and other protections to ensure their children are not exposed to unsuitable material. However I would like to know what and where the figures are that you have gathered, that show how many Children have been affected by exposure to porn due to accidental viewing. That is, without coming across it from a parent who may have been viewing pornographic material. I would like to see how those figures compare to children who are exposed to predators for instance in Chat Rooms on You Tube and Facebook. Is there really more accidental exposure from web sites? or sites embedded by the Russian Mob with child porn? it must be so, to warrant such a extreme reaction from your office. Can we, the public, please see this data. You and your office surely have not come to this decision on anecdotal evidence.

Obviously this filtering and and Black List is also proposed to stop distribution of seriously bad internet content, like child porn and rape sites. But we are being told by people far more expert in the field of the internet and IT than your advisers that this type of distribution is far less common than peer to peer file sharing, and email, shouldn’t you be spending the money on tracking those people down, and continuing to break those rings through those distribution methods?

Most children unfortunately are abused by the people closest to them, in their family. These children then grow up and often become abusers. I would like to see the money spent on helping these families and with prevention and rescue methods like DOCS and other organizations first, before spending so much money on an Internet filtering system and Black Ban that has no hope of working, and is frankly only a very un-sticky band-aid solution.

I’m concerned also that the Black Ban may include such sites as Second Life which is already set up 18+ but falls into the category of RC (refused Classification)  as it does not, (unlike a lot of hard copy Games), have a classification recognized by our Censors as yet, what will happen there?

I hope you do know what Second Life is, and how it is currently not only a social network for adults, but also a platform for business conferences, Art, Music, Fashion Support Groups and University Distance Learning. Yes, it definitely has Adult content. But you must be 18+ to access those areas through verification checks. Would you also ban Second Life?

As the host of a popular TV show in Second Life. I will be asked by my viewers about my reaction to this ban. (It’s started already) The last time in March that you announced the trial, I and many other Australians on Second life were inundated with concerned viewers and fans wanting to know if myself  my fellow country people and Treet.tv our Australian Online Broadcaster (who broadcasts 15 TV shows about Arts, Economics, Books, Sport, Music, Fashion and Design, in Second Life) would lose access to Second Life. Currently this Australian Broadcaster Treet.tv broadcasts to over 1 million viewers a year. My TV show has an audience of 20 thousand viewers an episode. That’s a lot of viewers in Second Life who rely on and watch our broadcasting. Can you assure me and my viewers that we will still be operating after you’re Black Ban comes into fruition? How will you get around the RC rating for such platforms that are deemed suitable for Adults but do not fit within your guidelines?

I will be conducting an interview on my show about this issue. Discussing with a representative on the ramifications of this proposal. I’d like to be  able to assure my viewers that all 15 thousand Australians currently in S.L will still be able to access Second Life.

I wonder Mr Conroy who is advising you in this case? I surely hope its not the same people that advised that the Net Nanny type product we could all download for free from the Govt site, would be worth all the money you spent on it, when anyone even a child could do a simple roll back on XP to get rid of the program…

And yes, I am the mother of 2 young boys 10 and 13 who watch You Tube and play computer games. I do understand not all parents are net savvy as I am, and I am very strict with their computer use. I limit their time, have the computers in the kitchen/Family room and have educated them so that they they have a much greater understanding of Block and Ban than most kids their age, but then I wouldn’t let them cross a road without teaching them the rules either….which I think is far more important than avoiding the road all together…

I’m afraid you will have Civil Libertarians, outraged parents and IT and internet experts tearing this trial and the results apart, and rightly so. We should be informed as to what exactly is going to happen, how effective it will be, and what research and figures you have to back up your reasons for implementing this in the first place, is this really the best use of this money? do pedophiles and terrorists really use websites more than email, file sharing, and peer to peer? can we see the figures on that please. And please provide your figures on the instances of children being exposed to unsuitable material via misadventure online and the comparison with being stalked online at sites like Face Book My Space and Chat rooms, which of course would be ridiculous to ban.

I’m sure you will be able to provide those figures to us the tax paying public so we can be sure you are absolutely right in your determination that this will protect all of us far better than other child protection methods, anti terrorist methods and Pedophile Tracking, whilst ensuring us that no sites that are suitable for adults are affected.

I’d also like to know who it is that will decide what is suitable. Can we also see some guidelines as to which content will be deemed unsuitable.

Also, if this proposal is implemented will it be removed if it fails and how will you know if it fails or is successful?

Why was the Australian Public left out of the loop on this? We are a democracy and if we are to have our civil Liberties dictated to us, and changed, should we not have a vote after a rigorous debate with proven experts in their field discussing the realities of the technical abilities of this plan to work? Absolutely we should have.

regards Leonie Smith

Host of Tonight Live with Paisley Beebe

in Second Life

www.tonightlivewithpaisleybeebe.com

If you would like to write a letter to Mr Conroy and get more information about the Internet Filter system and Black Ban

See this site

Get Up