walroz

What a Waste! I am a Software Engineer and PhD Student in Computer Science and so I use the Internet extensively for work and research. The current speeds and access are already hogtied by our limited broadband network. To add the restrictions of mandatory filtering and censorship will further hinder the software research and industry of Australia. The money being wasted on this dogmatic scheme would be better used on expanding the much needed National Broadband Network. The Internet is primarily a communications medium and the movement of information is achieved by many different methods. Criminals are fast at developing and exploiting new ways of using this medium, but government policy is slow to implement. The Federal Police are far more effective at identifying criminal activity than any Internet watchdog could be, as recent operations have shown. So the money being wasted on a filter would catch more criminals if spent on the Federal Police, such as the Australian High Tech Crimes Centre. Finally, the government is currently discussing the introduction of a Bill of Rights. When this happens it will almost certainly include a Freedom of Speech clause. Given the level and methods of exclusions that the government is proposing, the filter will almost certainly breach this clause. In this case the filter will have to be severely scaled back or removed completely. So, Internet filtering is bad for Australia: It doesn't work, it makes us less competitive, and it may have to be removed anyway. Far from an education revolution, this government is delivering an information dictatorship.