den | Election Day

Current Mood: cheerful

Election Day

Oh yeah. Yesterday was election day. The conservative Liberal Party have been voted out, and the liberal Labor Party have been voted in. If the 150 seat in the House Of Representetives, Labor got 86, gaining 33 seats over the last election. Quite a few seats will come down to postal votes so we don't have the final tally yet.

I am rather pleased about this result.

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I'm very pleased that Australia woke up to the damage Howard has done to Australia both internally, and on the international stage. I hope that Labour reverses the so-called Labour reforms.

I doubt they'd reverse all of them, but they'd certainly attempt to reform them

The real beauty of yesterday was, John howard doesn't even get to be opposition leader, As he got voted out of his safe seat of 30something years.

yep, they kicked him out for a labor minister

http://alp.org.au/media/1107/mscoit190.php

Media Statement - 19th November 2007

Federal Labor will improve existing government programs in this area
by:

Providing a mandatory ‘clean feed’ internet service for all homes,
schools and public computers that are used by Australian children, so
that ISPs will filter out content identified as prohibited by the
Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). The ACMA
‘blacklist’ will also be made more comprehensive to ensure that
children are protected from harmful and inappropriate online material;

http://alp.org.au/download/labors_plan_for_cyber_safety.pdf

This means that Internet Content that doesn't conform to the censorship system of the ALP and the ACMA will be blocked at the ISP level.

Oh wonderful... welcome to China down under

CLEAN FEED POLICY: Q & A

What category of material will be banned under Labor’s plan?
Labor will require ISPs to filter out R, RC and X rated material as
part of a clean feed for home internet connections. For adults who
wish to opt out of the clean feed system, current Howard Government
regulation would apply.

How is that different from current laws?

Currently, it is illegal to host X-rated material on Australian
websites. This material can be ‘taken down’ if it is identified by the
Australian Communications and Media Authority. However there is no
effective protection for families from X-rated content hosted on
overseas websites. Labor’s proposal would require ISPs to filter this
material out of a clean feed.

Currently, it is also illegal to host R-rated material on Australian
websites unless the website is age-protected so that children cannot
get access. Again, there is no effective protection for families from
R-rated material hosted on overseas websites which is not age
protected.

How does this clean feed work?

The Australian Communications and Media Authority currently identifies
R, RC and X sites as part of its work. Under Labor’s plan, ACMA would
inform ISPs of these sites and ISPs would be required to block access
to these sites for people with a clean feed.

How much will this cost?

Labor will work with industry to ensure this service is provided at no
extra cost to the householder. We will ensure that the costs of
providing a clean feed are shared fairly and competition is not
adversely affected, particularly for small providers.

Is this technically feasible?

Yes. The Government got an independent report in 2004 that confirmed
that what we are proposing is possible. Internationally, large
telecommunications companies like British Telcom and TeleNor in Norway
and Sweden are already using the sort of technology that we are
talking about. These schemes have been successful.

This type of filtering requires ISPs to check internet access requests
against the list of banned websites compiled by the Australian
Communications and Media Authority.

Does Labor’s policy for a tax rebate on internet filtering software
still apply?

No. That was a good idea the Government didn’t pick up. But our new
policy does more to protect kids from exposure to internet porn. If we
implement this policy there’s less need for the tax rebate; all
families could access the clean feed instead.

Did Labor vote against a similar plan proposed by the Government
during the 1990s when Kim Beazley was last Labor leader?

No. This is a different plan to the Online Services Amendment (to the
Broadcasting Services Act in 1999) because it is technically feasible
and helps small ISPs. This plan is realistic and assists families.

http://eherald.alp.org.au/articles/0306/natp24-01.php

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Election Day

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Welcome to mandatory Internet Filtering !

Re: Welcome to mandatory Internet Filtering !

Re: Welcome to mandatory Internet Filtering !