Category Archives: Mandatory ISP Filtering

Australian Internet Censorship Plans Get Even Crazier

In what seems to be an under-reported twist to the plans for Australia to implement ISP-level “filtering”, comes a plan to ban all forms of tobacco advertising online Internet Cigar Fanciers Create a Stink “The ever-present cigars mean Mr Reilly could now be in the sights of the federal government, which is expected today to [...]

Gillard Has Conroy-itis

It seems to me that Julia Gillard has caught the same disease as her Minister for (Mis)communications, Stephen Conroy. I call it “Conroy-itis”. The major symptom is the ability to say one thing about the proposed internet filter, when you know categorically that the truth is the complete opposite. For months Conroy in particular has [...]

ACL: Hypocritically Filtering Factual Debate

Amidst the entire controversy surrounding the possibility of mandatory internet filtering in Australia, we have all come to know the two main advocates of the policy – Federal Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL). I have previously commented on their ability to censor the debate to suit their own needs, and [...]

Conroy: Shut The Hell Up and Get On With It!

In recent days, we have heard Stephen Conroy getting back into sermonising over his plan to filter the internet in Australia, in the best interests of “protecting” Australians online. Of course, anybody who understands what he is proposing knows that it won’t actually protect anyone from anything, so I don’t need to explain that again [...]

Another Nail in the Filter Coffin

Hot on the heels of the stunning revelation from Stephen Conroy that he intends to continue to pursue his mandatory internet filtering policy, comes what appears to be another nail in the coffin of the entire plan. Former Opposition Leader, Malcolm Turnbull, having gained the Shadow Communications portfolio in the usual post-election hulla-ba-loo, has wasted [...]

Is The Wicked Witch Finally Dead?

In July, Stephen Conroy announced to the waiting world that his internet filtering legislation would be delayed for at least year, pending a “review of the classification system”, amid claims that special interest groups lobbying for the filter had been tipped off to the announcement ahead of time. Later, the Coalition announced that it would [...]

The Filtering Bluff Revisited

A few days ago, I postulated that Stephen Conroy has to be bluffing with his pledge to “make changes at the classification board level” to get around what seems like an impassable road block in the Senate, thanks to the Coalition, Greens, and Nick Xenophon pledging to block any filter legislation. As I suggested in [...]

Why the NBN Should Win the Election

As we move into the final week of the federal election campaign, broadband network policy has been a real hot potato over the last few days. The Coalition plan has been roundly attacked by many – despite being significantly cheaper than the government plan. The Government plan has been touted as “risky” and “a white [...]