It’s probably actually a Chinese disease originally, but the idea that you can somehow control the Internet, which has infected Senator Conroy’s office leading to the Clean Feed initiative, has claimed its first victim in Britain.
Tom Watson, the UK “Civil Service Minister Cabinet Office working with fellow ministers Ed Miliband and Phil Hope” is seeking comments on an idea to provide ratings to websites, just like movies.
Watson, who represents West Bromwich East, is asking for comments on the idea which, although not in his portfolio area, he promises to pass on.
Ironic that I am told by colleagues that the non-democratic Chinese are recovering from their bout of over-enthusiastic web authoritarianism at the same time that the countries which gave us the Australian Ballot and the Westminster System, appear fo be coming down with it.
Worst thing about this is that as the idea has infected left-leaning governments, the usual suspects will be muted on the subject.
December 28, 2008 | Graham
Australian Internet Flu spreading
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The WEB is Govts greatest fear.No one can control it if left uncensored.Filtering will not stop the paedophiles,they can now have direct computer links without the WWW.
Kevin the control freak would love it.With economic collapse looming,the other control freaks such as religions are jockying for position.No boobs on the beach.What next?No theories on evolution.No drinking or having a good time without someones permission?
This collapse obiviously happened because we were all having too good a time.It had nothing to do with the greed at the top of the food chain.Repent or be doomed.Guess what,many will again fall for the lies and swap debt slavery for religious slavery.
Comment by Arjay — December 30, 2008 @ 3:40 pm
A weakness of the Keating government was the tendency to increase the power of select collectives while increasing its control over individual’s freedom of choice. Superannuation reform for example was biased towards insurance companies and unions compared to self-managed funds. Small business was shunned while big business was pandered to. We will see more attempts from the Rudd government to control individual behaviour while diminishing control over selective collectives.
The Internet in its current form changes the power landscape. It is in the interests of these governments to reform the landscape in their favour. Microsoft and Apple (for example) have found that just because you are large and powerful in markets where you can dictate the rules, trying to bend the Internet to your will is doomed to failure. Their dimly remembered efforts in setting up rival networks failed miserably.
Let us see how well these technologically illiterate idealogues fare.
Comment by Anthony David — December 31, 2008 @ 5:06 pm
Your observation Anthony D. about Super is very true.They could have made super very simple.Just allow each individual $400,000.00 in super,tax
free.Exclude all the middlemen and govt regulation.
Fred Nile wants leglisation to ban boobs on the beach.As one father interviewed said,”His children see it all the time.”Nobody notices except Fred.I’d suggest Fred to bring in more of his enlightened legislation and have a law that all breast feeding babies wear blindfolds.
The puritanical era from which Fred has evolved, obiviously focused his attention in very narrow field.
If these nutters get control of the net,a new dark age will be truely upon us.
Comment by Arjay — January 1, 2009 @ 12:56 pm
I don’t buy the idea that governments ‘fear’ the internet.
Sorry. It seems a little too much like delusions of paranoia. Believe it or not, politicians aren’t quite the power-mad paranoiacs many people like to think.
However, governments do tend to get carried away with ‘looking after’ people. That can’t be denied.
This idea to control the internet is retarded. Both morally and in its practical application.
Seems to me that all of those with passing knowledge of how the internet actually works, know that this is retarded.
Most people can see that censorship of the internet, is doomed to fail, especially if implemented on a mass scale.
How can you possibly differentiate between content that should be viewed by adults, children, specialists, and those researching a particular field? (not to mention those looking for broad file types which may or more crucially, may not be problematic).
How, for example, do you ban downloads of video file types, which presumably, should be at the core of the anti-child-porn offensive?
Simply put, you can’t. As far as I know, there’s no possible way for them to practically limit specific downloads from torrent programs.
Thus, such a program could only be minimally effective against those looking for child porn. Minimally effective, because any such people who had any experience of the web, would simply adopt other methods.
I really don’t see any sound basis for this policy. Retarded doesn’t even begin to cover the scope of this stupidity.
Comment by Dave D — January 4, 2009 @ 3:12 am
Dave,tell that to Kevin Rudd.It is he who wants the censorship.
The more power people get, the more they want because we are basically very insecure beings.John Howard was going to surrender leadership on many occasions but the lust for power became too great,ultimately to the detriment of his won party.
Kevin Rudd will do likewise,in a much shorter period.I find Kevin to be a very shallow being.
Comment by Arjay — January 6, 2009 @ 10:06 pm
I don’t buy the idea that Kevin Rudd is obsessed with the net filtering scheme. I think the government is persisting with pursuing the scheme at least to a significant degree because it was an election promise.
I tend to think that there are quite a few folks quite high in government circles who are waiting with bated breath for the trials to suggest that the costs of the scheme are going to outweigh the benefits, and for the whole thing to be dumped.
Comment by Guy — January 10, 2009 @ 10:52 am
I am quite reliably informed that the whole thing is a quid pro quo for Conroy getting the ministry in the first place. There are those within the relevant faction who are only capable of seeing the Internet as a pipeline for filth.
Comment by Prefer anonymity for this comment — January 13, 2009 @ 2:21 pm