NOCENSORSHIP.INFO

Senator Minchin says that whatever the result of the tests, any national implementation will have to come under scrutiny from the Senate, where it would face some tough questions.

“At the very least, the Senate at least would have the opportunity to express a view on a disallowable instrument,” he said. “I think Senator Conroy should commit now to it being done legislatively, so the Parliament can have a say in this. He shouldn’t try to sneak it through the back door, through a regulation or other instrument. I think he should just come upfront and say if he’s going to do it, it being such a significant issue, it should be done by legislation to remove any doubt.”

A spokesman for Senator Conroy says the Minister is still looking into whether the filter would require legislation, or could be implemented through another means.

Adapted from ABC.

Websinthe has put together anti-censorship shirts for the March in March with all profits going to the Leukaemia Foundation.

These shirts are a great way of supporting two causes at once and for once dispelling the idea that the anti-censorship lobby is doing nothing to protect children.

So if you’re planning on attending the March in March or are just looking to support two good causes at once, it might be time to whip out the credit card and place an order or two.

Since the early days of the Censorwall issue, the DBCDE and Senator Conroy’s office have been supplying Labor MPs with a pro-forma response to questions from the public. Time and time again these responses have been debunked, disproven or shown to be misleading by numerous sources both in Australia and Internationally.

Despite this, Labor MPs continue to sign their name to the form letter.

Mark Newton of Internode has released his own form letter into the public domain to be mailed to MPs by citizens unhappy with the photocopied response they received. This letter completely tears the government position to shreds. Mark uses reasoned argument, technical evidence and well supported academic references to show that each and every point of the government position is wrong, misleading or downright harmful.

Download this letter, print it out, fill it out and send it to your local MP.

Conroy maintains 2008 line despite public outcry

Today Senator Conroy opened the 2009 ALIA Information Online conference in Sydney. His opening speech, his first speaking engagement for 2009, was attended by members of the Australian Twitter community including Crikey columnist Stilgherrian.

Senator Conroy was greeted by polite applause from a conference of people that in 2007 voiced serious concerns about the freedom of speech aspects of filtering online content.

The Senator attempted to play down the technical difficulties of ISP filtering, willing only to concede that “Broader, dynamic analysis filtering of Internet content… has raised some issues in the past.”

Again today Conroy has used the misleading term ‘live pilot’ to describe the in-house prototyping that the DBCDE will be foisting onto ISPs at some undisclosed point this month.

In another of his attempts to avoid answering public fear of civil rights infringement, he claimed once again that “the Government does not view this debate as an argument about freedom of speech.”

The Senator can view this debate any way in which he so wishes, the point remains however, that as an elected representative, his duty is to represent, not dictate. If the Government maintains this view then it is in blatant ignorance of national movement against the filter on exactly those grounds.

The public say no to government interfered Internet and it is their duty to represent that.

We, the voters, say that this is a freedom of speech issue. Regardless of political ideology, the Government is patronising voters in the most rude and irresponsible way by so arrogantly disregarding the overwhelming opposition the Censorwall has faced.

CLICK HERE FOR THE PRESS RELEASE

Below is a list of the official rally locations for the December 13th protests, if you have any questions or wish to volunteer please click your state to the upper right or refer to the forums section. All event coordinators can be contacted at -organiser [at] nocensorship.info and all media contact would be preferred through humanresources [at] nocensorship.info. Help us spread the word, click on GET ACTIVE above to find out how!

Brisbane:
13th of December
11am - 3pm
Brisbane Square
FB Attendance List

Sydney:
13th of December
11am-4pm
Town Hall
FB Attendance List

Melbourne:
13th of December
12pm-5pm
State Library
FB Attendance List

Adelaide:
13th of December
12pm - 4pm
Parliament
FB Attendance List

Hobart:
13th of December
11am-1:30pm
Parliament Lawns
FB Attendance List

Perth:
26/11/08 Update:
13th of December
12pm-3:00pm
Stirling Gardens
FB Attendance List

Canberra:
9/12/08 Update:
13th of December
12pm-2:00pm
City Walk (near the fountain outside of Canberra Centre), Civic
FB Attendance List

If this is your first rally, never fear; it’s a good place to start. The most important thing is your comfort, if you’re worn out, overheated and dehydrated you can’t really get a message home to the public about what you’re protesting for. It’s a good idea to dress to the weather, bring water, comfortable shoes, eat before attending and bring a sign! A cheap piece of board plus a stencil kit can yield a pretty nifty message delivery system.

For more tips and tricks on protest angles, check the forums! Got any good advice? Post it there!

National Protest Against Net Censorship!

Update: Congratulations everyone! We had a great public reaction and handed out many, many flyers! The public said to keep up the good work, and so we will. We gained attention from Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore whilst we were walking through Hyde Park, moved onto Parliament to flyer and then to the QVB where most of our success was. Massive thanks to Misinformation who organised the banner we had at the last moment also. It was definitely a highlight of the day when Clover Moore read it out over a PA. Thank you to everyone who came out and made an effort and we hope to see you all and new members in the future.

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