Conroy's at it again!

Not content with forcing the filter upon everyone, Conroy and the Labor Government are now talking about extending the filter to such things as:
-Sites selling games that have been refused classification in Australia
-Browser based games that would rate higher than MA15+
-MMOs that also feature content of a r18+ or higher nature.

Needless to say this has the potential to shoot importation in the foot big time (or digital purchases/downloads - Steam, Apple App store etc). It also means the Govt has the ability to block sites like Newgrounds when some religious wacko complains about some parody flash game on there.

Given MMOs currently escape classification, it'll be interesting to see how this pans out...

Source: Kotaku via SMH

He is dreaming. He can't even get the implementation of the thing through the senate and he is already adding things to what he wants it to filter.

STOP WASTING MY MONEY YOU f***ING TARD.

has conroy ever played a video game since pac man ?

Can this guy just get aids and die a horrible death already? That or be barred from making any potential laws? Either one is fine. What's next? Movie and Music regulation because they may contain harmful language that could hurt little kid's feelings?

Did any of you really expect him to just stop at some content filtering?

We can only hope that it takes too long to test/implement and he gets voted out next election cycle. Or pray for Double-Dissolution so we can get him/them out earlier.

imagine if he gets sniped because some nerd takes his interest too serious

imagine if he gets sniped because some nerd takes his interest too serious

Thus making a Martyr of him, further concreting the belief that the Govt. should do this. Yeah, NOT A GOOD PLAN AYE.

Just poison his food, make it look like a heart attack, hes out of the picture and fix it so trog takes his place.

We all should be worried. The Libs are afraid of Double Dissolution and are passing things faster than nate miles bowels last night.

What happens when the Web Filter Bill comes up for a vote ?

So if the Libs block a bill they are obstructionist. If they pass a bill they are weak.

Opposition is a tough racket.

Did anything in the bill change between when it was first introduced and now?

The bill is still "provide mandatory filtering of Australia's Internet" from memory, but the scope of what it will/won't block & what will be mandatory or not keeps changing. Conroy's continually contradicting himself, so one can only hope it carries on until the Election and gets shelved...

I keep meaning to news post about this

but it's so goddamn retarded I can't even take it seriously

So the subject needs to be "Conroy says more retarded things"?

...labor voters. Enjoy your 'Internet' while labor herd people into concentration camps during a massive media black out.

quick someone make a p0rno mod for WoW and get the game outlawed permanently

I'd vote for wow being outlaw'd

while we're on the subject...


it really bothers me that Scientology released new ads on Youtube that have next to zero negetive comments. Seriously wtf? How does bulls*** like that sit on YT without getting nuked?


does Scientology pwn a sizable share or controlling interest in advertising now? I knew that they have buckets of monies and use it to crush peeps who don't agree with their pov, but had to ask the question.. what's next? Scientology ads here on AG?

ower...

back on subject...

it really bothers me that Scientology released new ads on Youtube that have next to zero negetive comments. Seriously wtf? How does bulls*** like that sit on YT without getting nuked?

It's called "Allow all comments with approval only".

koopz, which vids?

This is my first post on the forums. I want to just preface my opinion on the topic by saying two things, 1 i study politics at uni and 2 i love games and pop culture.

It seems some people are hoping that we can vote the government out at the next election. Well putting political partisanship aside, I'm guessing the ALP are pushing for a double dissolution. Given the Ozcar scandal and what not the Liberals are in a bad spot. So if we do get to another election theres no chance they can lose, also check the polls, the ALP are still going strong. Another point, the senate is part of the reason for pushing for a double dissolution, they cannot push through their bills in the Senate.

So im guessing an election is a bad thing for online gaming, because if they win the senate Conroy with ruin the market completely.

Also another point of interest, for a free market government they are essentially curtailing one particular market. I wish the perception of Gaming would increase so that we wont be seen as merely kids playing Mario 1 or 2 or whatever (though personally I still do lol).

So guys get active! We need new organizations like Get Up and stuff to taking interest in these issues.

Hi Davies, welcome. Always good to have another political junkie on the forums (and one who is not completely ignorant either!).

Get Up are a bunch of socialists in disguise, so are far from endorsing a free market. No party pursues libertarian policies in Australia. It seems we yearn to be smothered by our Big Brother.

I wouldn't rule out a Coalition return to government next year but I wouldn't call it "likely". A week is a long time in politics, so it's not unthinkable. Turnbull will weather the Ozcar scandal, it's just typical journo hype suggesting he has self-destructed.

Once the voters understand the magnitude of debt which Rudd and Co have allowed our government to incur and the extent of the wreckless spending they have engaged in with our schools and other pointless make work programs, I expect there will be quite a swift deterioration in polling.

Interest rates fell rapidly due to the global financial crisis, but it will be each country's internal measures which determine how fast they rise again, and countries which are pursuing deficit-driven stimulus models will have very sharp inflation increases and in turn increases in central bank interest rates.

Whether that will concide with the election cycle, well that's another story. NSW and Qld Labor have been repeatedly rewarded with mismanaging their states for well over a decade now.

last edited by infi at 00:53:14 03/Jul/09

f***ing politicians.. when will they learn their place is in front of incoming traffic :|

it really bothers me that Scientology released new ads on Youtube that have next to zero negetive comments. Seriously wtf? How does bulls*** like that sit on YT without getting nuked?

Scientology are like, the only organisation on the Internet that actually bothers trying to get stuff removed from specific sites by massive legal threats. I suspect they've either threatened youtube, or youtube have just preemptively disallowed comments to avoid in inevitable lawsuits.

So guys get active! We need new organizations like Get Up and stuff to taking interest in these issues.

I'm throwing my money to the EFA, and recommend yall do the same.

So guys get active! We need new organizations like Get Up and stuff to taking interest in these issues.

I'm throwing my money to the EFA, and recommend yall do the same.

Aye, same.

In the meantime, write what you think to Conroy's department: http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au/contact

A clean, to the point, short and efficient email with no name-calling or put-downs is what's required.

Dear Senator Conroy and staff,

I am writing very briefly to express my concern with your proposed policies on internet censorship in any form and also to highlight the lack of focus on what I, and others I communicate with on a regular basis, see as pertinent and important issues covered by your department.

As a mature adult consumer I am particularly frustrated by the lack of an R18+ or X18+ computer game rating in Australia, and the real (not perceived) holes in literature, film and other media classification in Australian law.

Please use your time and privileged opportunity in your Senate position to focus on these sorts of problems rather than internet censorship which can only be crippling in many ways, particularly economically and in global market competition, and is also easily circumnavigated.

Kind regards,

---------------

Its all been said before but I still want to say it anyway..

Obviously its way too much power to give to the government to decide what they can and can't filter. There would be no separation of power in this case and it would end up as judge jury and executioner for everything.

The potential for misuse obviously is everyone's concern, as well as the instant ramification of the government being able to decide without misusing it what is and isn't 'illegal content'.

I don't really even understand the motivation behind it anymore. It's clearly not about saving Australian children from being abused sexually via the internet. Which I never understood anyway. Maybe i'm ignorant but whether or not a child's picture is posted on the internet is already past the fact. Its the original abuse that should be the issue surely? I was always under the opinion that most of that stuff didn't happen in Australia anyway but that could be because I don't really know anything about that kind of stuff.

PS: I did send a very kind email politely asking about some of those issues. I encourage everyone who has the time to either copy and paste that above example or write out their own to do so.



last edited by skythra at 10:24:29 03/Jul/09