texinick

In response to Val: You could say the same for horror movies, guns, and a myriad of other contentious subjects. But I don't see any of that being targeted?

Just because he was 'watching pornography on his computer' does not necessarily mean via the internet, but if it was.. it was almost certainly NOT via the channels that the government are proposing to filter.

The point is... this person would have found pornography whether the internet was filtered or not. The filter being proposed will NOT stop this type of person getting what he wants. It is NOT filtering the main transports used to share this kind of material, being the P2P networks. At the end of the day, it is costing us MILLIONS and MILLIONS of our tax dollars, to NOT STOP the people that we are being told it'll stop. FACT.

I am NOT standing up for paedophilia, child pornography is absolutely vile. However, I have no qualms about consenting adults viewing non-violent pornography. If they want to do it, they should not be told by the government whether they can or can't. This is democracy, the freedom to choose.

What about serial killers? Do they watch too many movies? Should movies like Hostel, Saw etc be banned also?

When one person picks up a gun and murders others in cold blood.. do the government ban guns? Every day we hear of people being stabbed or shot around Australia.. are they viewing something on the internet they shouldn't too?

You are correct in that many subjects will also become blacklisted, without explanation. Who is going to control that list? You can guarantee if it's maintained by a person/group with religious beliefs, it will reflect THEIR beliefs. And I'm sorry to bring this up.. I didn't want to... but look how sexual problems have been hidden in the church in the past. Abortion? I believe that was mentioned as another potential blacklisted item. What do under-age girls who find themselves pregnant do then? No longer able to research the topic and her choices on the internet because one person is anti-abortion. And then there's homosexuality too? Hey, let's just sweep that under the carpet too.

Fact is: The filter is not good for our internet or the digital economy here in Australia. It is not good to hide away topics that are contentious, it doesn't miraculously disappear, it drives it further underground. As long as one person or group has any control over the people, their own personal agenda and morals will lead the way.

Just imagine an atheist looking after the blacklist, and blacklisting ALL forms of religion. Wouldn't the religious folk all be up in arms then.

Hey that's given me an idea. I will stand up and support the filter if ALL forms of religion are blacklisted too. How many deaths in the world are a direct result of religion?