Is it goodbye to Aussies?

As an Aussie and proud one at that, who has never had a problem letting fly with my speech, whether i have the freedom to or not , let me correct some in-accuracy's on this subject.

Firstly, the ALP Mandatory ISP filter proposal is still only in proposal form. It is basically an election promise to protect Australian children from pornography or other inappropriate material. The government is currently talking to the ISP's and has no actual groundwork in place on how to implement such a system. Discussions include: would it be a single blanket filter for all isp's, or an individual system for each isp? Will it involve a fraction of websites in the world so therefore be completely ineffective or will it cover so many that it could cause huge unforseen issues? The filter is proposed to have an opt in or opt out system, but of course it could come down to your isp and will it allow you to opt in and out.

If the proposal stated it was ONLY for child pornography and clearly defined related material of that nature it wouldn't be an issue. Australia already has strict laws against child pornography of any sort, online or off. The problem arises from the wording of "OTHER" deemed inappropriate material. The bill is left opened ended and concern is that it could be abused by ultra conservative political parties to censor material "they" deem to be inappropriate.

So.... if the proposal was to be commenced under its current terms, how could it affect Australian's and SL .. simply .. the next media blow up of real or imagined child related problems in SL or any matter that could be deemed inappropriate for viewing by children, would see SL blocked. It would not matter that you need to be 18 to be on SL and the SL age verification scheme would not matter also.

What can an Aussie do if they are concerned enough about it. As someone who has seen how parliament works with such things as this, writing a simple letter to their local parliamentary member opposing the proposed bill will see it squashed in its current form. Don't ring or email as these methods are discounted and don't carry the same weight as someone who has put that postage stamp on an envelope.

Australian's enjoy a lot of freedom of speech and do use it wisely when required. We don't however get all riled up and stressed out about government proposals as we know that to get a proposal to law it will go through legislative committees and be debated and amended countless times .. so what you finally end up with 2 years down the track is completely different from the beginning. When it comes to the internet its a very big "too hard" basket. Enjoy your aussie friends .. no way in hell they will be disappearing.
*grins and say's g'day to my fellow aussie counterparts*

Brilliant post, on yah mate! Oh, and g'day! *smiles*

Oh for Chrissakes! Must we start this shit again?

*Welcome, Purple. Pay no mind to transglobal pissing contest erupting*

Thank you Taylor .. first post to the forums so was nervous to join the crowd .. but figured if you have knowledge on something, share it

Plus how sad would SL be without us Aussie's ... *grins*.. ... ... ok ok .. yes, it probably would be quieter ... but we'd be missed

Sory, care to elaborate on the shit that's starting? (don't take that nastily at all, genuinely wondering what you are referring to hehe)

The usual jingoistic flag waving your country sucks , here's why nonsense. It always starts as good natured chiding and quickly falls into ugliness.

Exactly. Most people are patriotic to their country, and people who don't live in your country shoudn't make snide remarks on apparant problems with it.

Sadly, Chris always seems to have negative and cruel things to say about Australia, then sits back to watch the fireworks, which is a shame because it's quite apparant that he knows nothing about Australia. If we all started on the 'My country is better than your country because...' bullshit, how messed up would that be? If people didn't antagonize and bait, this wouldn't happen. I belive every country has its' good and bad points, but here is NOT the place to discuss it.

*Smiles* ... I think most Aussie's know what a great wicket we have down under and only participate in the pissing in the sand competition cause of our shit stirring nature ;P (cause its all in jest)

Personally I think that people who insult another country just show their lack of knowledge on the subject. Proves also their lack of intelligence as they are not resourceful enough to find factual information, be it by seeking out someone from that country or heaven forbid, google it. (*Shudders at the google idea, everyone will be thinking "fair dinkum" is commonly said in oz now*)

One of the reasons I love SL is cause I can learn about different places and customs,
and maybe in return share some of my own. I love how different yet the same we all actually are.

And no, on my property, I don't own a koala but I do have a few hundred Kangaroos, grand selection of poisonous spiders and deadly snakes and an echidna or two

*Smiles* ... I think most Aussie's know what a great wicket we have down under and only participate in the pissing in the sand competition cause of our shit stirring nature ;P (cause its all in jest)

Personally I think that people who insult another country just show their lack of knowledge on the subject. Proves also their lack of intelligence as they are not resourceful enough to find factual information, be it by seeking out someone from that country or heaven forbid, google it. (*Shudders at the google idea, everyone will be thinking "fair dinkum" is commonly said in oz now*)

One of the reasons I love SL is cause I can learn about different places and customs,
and maybe in return share some of my own. I love how different yet the same we all actually are.

And no, on my property, I don't own a koala but I do have a few hundred Kangaroos, grand selection of poisonous spiders and deadly snakes and an echidna or two

Nice thoughts. In that spirit, I'm going to go to my local "Outback" for dinner. Their Giant brews are Fair Dinkum, and the T Bone steak is a Bonzer.........

Just kidding folks.

I dunno... last time I tried to take away porn from an Aussie it turned out ugly...

Personally I think that people who insult another country just show their lack of knowledge on the subject. Proves also their lack of intelligence as they are not resourceful enough to find factual information, be it by seeking out someone from that country or heaven forbid, google it. (*Shudders at the google idea, everyone will be thinking "fair dinkum" is commonly said in oz now*)

One of the reasons I love SL is cause I can learn about different places and customs,
and maybe in return share some of my own. I love how different yet the same we all actually are.

Free speech is a bit of a myth anyway. Even countries that boast about having free speech have laws of libel and slander. Is it legal in USA to call upon people to burn the Stars and Stripes?

Nobody has absolute rights. Even in France the president has the right assume emergency powers and rule as a dictator during an extreme crisis.

Nobody has absolute rights. Even in France the president has the right assume emergency powers and rule as a dictator during an extreme crisis.

Even in an Emergency government power is limited by law in the US.

we dont have emergency dict powers like that here

And a gun in the woods doesn't protect you from snakes and funnelwebs.
check.

thats what I said.

Actually, they will. All thats needed is to choose the right kind of gun and ammo combination.