Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) has posted some interesting thoughts on today’s iiNet court appeal. The volunteer run organisation have congratulated Australia’s second largest DSL provider for keeping up the fight in a candid editorial,as posted on their website today. More »
Yesterday, AFACT announced to the world that movie piracy was costing the Australian economy $1.3 billion each year. Everyone was sceptical given AFACT’s raison d’être, but today Electronic Frontiers Australia have come out swinging, issuing a statement questioning the report and giving eight areas in particular readers should be wary when reading AFACT’s findings. More »
The internet freedom business is doing a roaring trade these days. Things started picking up early last year with Hillary Clinton’s landmark speech, “Remarks on internet Freedom,” which equated an open internet with human rights and condemned state-sponsored censorship of the net. More »
We object to the Government’s plan to censor the internet for a variety of reasons – it won’t help parents, it won’t help police, it’s secretive, it costs a lot of money. Perhaps these points are debatable, but one isn’t – experts agree, anybody who wants to will be able to get around the censorwall, easily, on day one. More »
Electronic Frontiers Australia has stepped up its fight against the proposed internet filter by trying to recruit a new army for its battle – an army made up of mums. More »
Politics is generally as dull as watching cardboard boxes being made on an overcast day. This video isn’t that much of an exception, but it is worth watching for the fact that Greens Senator Scott Ludlam vocally stands up and condemns the Government’s proposed Internet filter. More »
This afternoon, Senator Conroy released the reports on his internet filtering trial study. Despite the fact that the report sounds like the trial was a rousing success, the truth is that despite the spin, the report doesn’t give enough evidence that a mandatory filter of the internet is a viable solution. Is anyone here surprised? More »
Last week a Bill was introduced to the Senate that aims to give Federal Police sweeping powers to ban access to Internet content. The Communications Legislation Ammendment (Crime or Terrorism Related Content) Bill 2007 [PDF doc] might sound like it has good intentions by invoking the word ‘terrorism’ in the name, but it is incredibly sweeping in its powers.
According to Electronic Frontiers Australia, the Bill would give Feds the power to ban access to content they “have reason to believe” encourages, incites, or induces the commission of a Commonwealth offence; was published in part to facilitate the commission of such an offence; or is likely to have the effect of facilitating the commission of such an offence.
This isn’t just about terrorists. Commonwealth offences include copyright infringement, ‘illegal’ protest marches, or advocacy for actions like euthanasia. We might not agree with all such things, but the idea that a law could be in place to let the police ban discussion through a ‘reason to believe’ it encourages offences? The slippery slope just got a bit more grease added to its stainless steel surface.
With no provisions in the Bill for appeal or review of decisions, the EFA is throwing a real tanty over this one. Odds are good that parliament will not sit again prior to the election, but this is there on the table ready to become a law if the status quo of parliament remains after the election. The full EFA release is after the jump. [EFA Slams Police Censorship Bill] More »
