Peter

You say that the "The Australian Government considers that the digital economy is important for our future productivity, competitiveness and social and economic well-being". Then why in the world are you trying to hinder that? You have given us the National Broadband Network, which *should* bring us up to some standards and help us recover from the damage that Telstra's monopoly (prior to ADSL2/naked) has done. However, for some reason which defies all logic, the DBCDE wants to implement a filter which has proven to slow down Internet access by up to 80% and block legit content. Why do you want to strangle the digital economy for just 1000 or so sites? Is it really worth it? Wouldn't time and money be better spent in getting rid of the problem rather than burying it under the sand - which is what the filter is effectively doing? It won't rid paedophiles or criminals or illegal content. It will simply move them to another channel. Another issue is about trusting the Australian government. It's not as straightforward as blocking child porn. It's about policing what we surf. Nobody wants it. Why should a government body decide what Australian's are allowed to view or download? We know that the filter blocks legit sites, and the last thing we want is governments dictating what we can and cannot view and do. As far as I'm concerned, my hard earned dollars are better spent else where. No point in implementing a filter which does nothing other than limit what we can view. Australia should not become another China, and I certainly know that like the Chinese, if this filter does go up, we will get around it. Simple as that. If you really want to improve the digital economy - scrap the filter. You’ll probably then get some real good advice from the thousand of Australian's once you get rid of that off your back.