AUSTRALIAN CENSORSHIP............... SPANKOZ AUSTRALIA..........................................................

"The interest in encouraging freedom of expression in a democratic society outweighs any theoretical but unproven benefit of censorship."
--- The Supreme Court of the United States of America, from the decision on the Communications Decency Act

"Each one of us, in his timidity, has a limit beyond which he is outraged. It is inevitable that he who by concentrated application has extended this limit for himself, should arouse the resentment of those who have accepted conventions which, since accepted by all, require no initiative of application. And this resentment generally takes the form of meaningless laughter or of criticism, if not persecution. But this apparent violation is preferable to the monstrous habits condoned by etiquette and aestheticism." - Man Ray, Paris 1934

"Speech on the Internet can be unfiltered, unpolished, and unconventional, even emotionally charged, sexually explicit, and vulgar -- in a word, 'indecent,' in many communities. But we should expect such speech to occur in a medium in which citizens from all walks of life have a voice. We should also protect the autonomy that such a medium confers to ordinary people as well as media magnates"
--- District Judge Dazell, ACLU v. Reno, U.S. District Court for
the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 6/11/96

( USE THE BACK BUTTON ON YOUR TOOLBAR TO RETURN TO THE MAIN SITE OR CLICK HERE )

( WITH THE EXCEPTION OF OUR " COMMENT ", WHAT IS SHOWN HERE IS THE WORK OF VARIOUS AUTHORS / ORGANIZATIONS AND QUESTIONS SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THEM ABOUT THE CONTENT OF THESE WORKS )

AS HAS BEEN SAID BEFORE , THE GREATEST EVILS ARE DONE WHEN GOOD MEN ( AND WOMEN ) STAND BY AND DO NOTHING - WE SHOULD KNOW WE DID THE SAME UNTIL NOW .

AUSTRALIA HAS JUST CELEBRATED IT'S NATIONAL DAY OF REMEMBRANCE , IT IS AMAZING TO SEE THE LACK OF UNDERSTANDING , ON THE PART OF OUR LEGISLATORS , OF THE ESSENCE OF THE DAY AND THAT IS THAT PEOPLE , ORDINARY PEOPLE , WERE PREPARED TO FIGHT , TO THEIR DEATH ,TO PROTECT WHAT THEY REGARDED AS FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS.

THESE FREEDOMS SHOULD BE JEALOUSLY GUARDED , THEY ARE OUR INHERITANCE AND SHOULD NOT BE ABUSED . HOW CAN A "TEEN RAPE " SITE OR A SITE THAT PROVIDES INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO MAKE A BOMB TO BLOW UP THE LOCAL SCHOOL BE JUSTIFIED ? WHY DO SOME SITES ACCEPT FREE HOSTING OR CASH TO HAVE SEXUALLY EXPLICIT ADVERTISING PLACED ON THEIR PAGES ( "OH IT'S JUST A LOGO " ) , EVEN THOUGH IT IS NOT RELEVANT TO THE SITE ? SITE AUTHORS SHOULD TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CONTENTS OF THEIR SITES . THESE AND MANY OTHER ISSUES ARE SERIOUS ISSUES WHICH SHOULD BE LOOKED AT ACROSS THE NET . THEY ARE NOT ISSUES WHICH ONE GOVERNMENT CAN SOLVE UNILATERALLY .

NO GOVERNMENT CAN LEGISLATE MORALITY -- ONCE YOU GO BEYOND " DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU " THERE ARE INEVITABLE PROBLEMS ( WHICH WILL , IF NOTHING ELSE KEEP LAWYERS EMPLOYED ) .

WE BELIEVE THAT THE CURRENT BILL SHOULD BE REJECTED BY THE SENATE AND ASK THAT YOU TELL YOUR LOCAL MEMBER AND MORE IMPORTANTLY ALL OF YOUR STATE OR TERRITORY SENATORS YOUR FEELINGS . IF OVERSEAS CONTACT YOUR LOCAL AUSTRALIAN EMBASSY OR CONSULATE .

WE ARE TEMPTED TO ASK WHY OTHER AUSTRALIAN SITES ARE NOT PREPARED TO STAND UP AND BE COUNTED ON THIS ISSUE .

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO USE THE " GUEST BOOK " PAGE TO EXPRESS YOUR VIEWS AND , IF REQUIRED , A SEPARATE " GUEST BOOK " WILL BE PLACED HERE , IN THE MEANTIME HERE IS A HITCOUNTER TO REGISTER PUBLIC INTEREST IN THIS PAGE :

( 9/5/99 - OUR STATISTICS SUGGEST THAT ALMOST EVERY AUSTRALIAN INQUIRER IS VISITING THIS PAGE . )

=============================================

                            EFA ACTION ALERT

     CONTACT YOUR SENATORS AND MHR AND REQUEST THAT THEY VOTE NO TO
                             NET CENSORSHIP

ON 13 MAY THE SENATE WILL VOTE ON LEGISLATION TO CENSOR THE INTERNET
IN AUSTRALIA. THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY VOTE ON IT SOON AFTER.

          PLEASE REDISTRIBUTE THIS ALERT IN APPROPRIATE PLACES
                       BUT NOT AFTER 13 MAY 1999

------------------------------------------------------------------------
This alert (with links): http://www.efa.org.au/Campaigns/99.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY

Please contact your Senators and Member of the House of Representatives
and ask them to vote AGAINST the Broadcasting Services Amendment
(Online Services) Bill 1999.

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

BACKGROUND

The Australian Senate will vote on Thursday 13 May on a Bill proposed by
the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts
that will introduce draconian measures to block information on the
Internet that is rated RC, X or R according to Australian film and video
classification standards (see below). The Australian Broadcasting
Authority (ABA) will administer this regime.

The legislation, if enacted, will require that online service providers
take responsibility to remove content that is hosted in Australia that
is RC, or X, and any R-rated material not behind an adult verification
scheme, from the Internet once they have been notified of its existence
by the ABA. The regime also provides for self-regulatory codes of
practice for the online service provider industry, to be overseen by the
ABA. These codes of practice must include a commitment by an online
service provider to take all reasonable steps to block access to RC and
X-rated content hosted overseas, once the service provider has been
notified of the existence of the material by the ABA. Many millions of
websites are likely to be blocked if the proposals are effectively
implemented.

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

WHAT YOU CAN DO

To assist this campaign phone, fax or email the Senators for your State
or Territory and your Member of the House of Representatives and express
your concerns.

Note that phone is likely to be more effective than fax, and the least
effective is email. However any method is better than nothing.

You might include one or more of the following in your communication,
but please express these in your own words.

   . It erodes our basic rights.
   . It will give parents a false sense of security.
   . It will be more draconian than the censorship of the Net imposed
     by Singapore and China.
   . It will make Australia the laughing stock of the Information Age -
     illustrating that Australia is out of step with current world
     thinking on this issue.
   . It won't work.
   . It will cause extensive collateral damage to Australia's Internet
     industry, both infrastructure and content provision.
   . Adults should be free to choose what they see and read.
   . The Internet is not television.
   . It is being rushed through without adequate time for public
     discussion.

Please send a brief email advising of the response you receive to:

     <feedback@efa.org.au>

The feedback you provide will help EFA to further refine the Stop
Campaign.

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

FURTHER INFORMATION

A comprehensive reference source on the bill is available at
http://www.efa.org.au/Campaigns/99.html

You can determine your Federal Electorate by visiting the Australian
Electoral Commission Electorate/Polling Place Search web site at
http://203.37.30.204/

Names of Senators and MHRs (with electorates) are listed in the White
Pages under Commonwealth Parliament Offices.

Senators phone and fax numbers are at
http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/senators/sen_int.htm

Senators email addresses are at
http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/senators/email.htm

MHRs phone and fax numbers and email addresses are at
http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/mplist.htm

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

ABOUT EFA

Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc. is an association of individuals and
organisations concerned with online civil liberties. Further details
about EFA and a membership form are available by sending email to
<info@efa.org.au>, or visit the EFA web site at:

http://www.efa.org.au

To receive email alerts on this and other EFA campaigns send email to:

efa-alert-request@efa.org.au

with the word "subscribe" in the body of the message.

=================================================

SPANKOZ HAS BECOME AWARE OF A GROUP PREPARED TO CHALLENGE THE VALIDITY OF THIS LEGISLATION IN THE HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA ( EQUIVALENT TO THE U.S. SUPREME COURT ) .

HAVING WORKED WITH SOME OF THE PRESENT MEMBERS OF THE BENCH IN A PREVIOUS LIFE WE BELIEVE WE KNOW WHICH WAY THEIR INCLINATIONS WOULD BE ( HOWEVER THIS WILL NOT AFFECT THEIR DECISION - THAT IS WHY THEY ARE ON THE BENCH ) . BUT THIS DOES GIVE SOME HOPE AND SPANKOZ AUSTRALIA ,THROUGH IT 'S PARENT ORGANIZATION SILVERSTREAM MARKETING , ARE PREPARED TO MATCH ANY CONTRIBUTION MADE THROUGH SPANKOZ TO THE COSTS OF MOUNTING THIS CHALLENGE , WITH THE CAVEAT THAT WE HAVE FINAL SAY OVER THE COMMITMENT OF THESE FUNDS .

WILL OTHER OWNERS OF AUSTRALIAN SITES MAKE THIS COMMITMENT --- KEEP WATCHING THIS PAGE .

IT IS UP TO YOU NOW - TODAY IS THE DAY--- WE RANG PARLIAMENT HOUSE ON( 02) 6277 7111 AND MADE OUR VIEWS KNOWN TO SENATORS ALSTON AND SMITH !

( NOW TO BE VOTED ON IN SENATE THURSDAY , 27 MAY , 1999 , but have heard a rumour that this could be brought forward to this Monday )

( Sorry we do not have the time to sort a lot of this out - we are trying to run a business ! )

>X-From_: stop-censorship-request@efa.org.au Tue May 25 09:00:29 1999
>Resent-Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 06:57:45 +0800
>X-Authentication-Warning: gospel.iinet.net.au: list set sender to
stop-censorship-request@efa.org.au using -f
>Delivered-To: efa-stop-censorship@efa.org.au
>X-Sender: ntsoft@iinet.net.au
>X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.5 (32)
>Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 07:04:47 +0800
>To: stop-censorship@efa.org.au
>From: Annette <ntsoft@iinet.net.au>
>Subject: Re: [STOP] newswire article
>Cc: committee@waia.asn.au
>Resent-From: stop-censorship@efa.org.au
>Reply-To: stop-censorship@efa.org.au
>X-Mailing-List: <stop-censorship@efa.org.au> archive/latest/655
>X-Loop: stop-censorship@efa.org.au
>Resent-Sender: stop-censorship-request@efa.org.au
>
>At 07:43 25-05-1999 +0930, you wrote:
>>Hi List,
>>
>>There's two very interesting articles at newswire this morning.
>>One talks about a singapore isp buying out mira and another about a US
>>Senator bagging the proposed regs saying they contravened the joint
>>policy statement from Clinton and Howard...
>
>well duh?
>I have posted that thread about the joint agreement being broken some time
>ago and got no support from you guys. I also wrote to American newspapers
>advising them of the agreement, its url, and url's regarding Aust pollies
>statements as well as our side of it.
>Maybe now, huh?
>
>You will find the thread here:
>------------------------------
>aus.censorship,alt.censorship,aus.org.efa,aus.politics,
iinet.general,
wa.gene
>ral,alt.current-events.usa,alt.politics.usa.congress
>
>under this subject heading:
>---------------------------
>Re: Australia Breaks Joint Statement with United States - censoring own
>citizens
>
>content:
>--------
>**** be aware this is posted to Australian and American newsgroups who
>value the right of free speech ****
>
>This is the joint agreement that Australia has broken
>http://www.pm.gov.au/media
/pressrel/1998/cooponecommerce.htm
>
>See Especially:
>
>4. Content
>
>     A. The internet is a medium for promoting, in a positive way,
>diffusion of knowledge, cultural diversity and social interaction, as
>well as a means of facilitating commerce. Governments should not
>prevent their citizens from accessing information simply because it is
>published online in another country.
>
>The Australian Government wants a GST.
>Senator Harradine wants the internet censored.
>
>So... to get the GST the Govenrment is going to censor the internet.
>Legal adult material, legal in some states will now be banned.
>
>While Americans are showing level headedness and forethought....
>"Gore announces Internet parents' protection plan"
>http://cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/05/05/
president.2000/gore.internet/
>
>TIME Magazine - Raising Kids Online
>http://cgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/articles/
0,3266,23918,00.html
>
>
>...... Australia has Senator Alston saying this:
>
>The Australian senator, Senator Alston, said that:
>'Labor must now stop its stupid political posturing on this issue and
>confirm that it will support measures to stop paedophiles, drug
>pushers, bomb makers and racists from using the internet to spread
>their poison.'
>
>'The issue is very simple: Labor either supports measures to protect
>children from paedophiles and drug pushers on the internet or Labor
>does not support the need to protect children.'
>http://www.dcita.gov.au/cgi-bin/graphics.pl?path=3762
>---------------------------
>All australians on the internet will be reduced to the level of
>childrens access via enforced filtering software.
>The enforced filtering software for all isp's and content providers.
>http://www.infopro.com.au/
>
>The code we have to follow?
>http://www.iia.net.au/Code4.html
>
>We are writing to these people....
>http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/mi-elctr.asp
>
>Please aid us in our battle to have Senator Alston and Senator
>Harridine see common sense. Help prevent us all from being reduced to
>children while on the internet. Please help us to stop this abuse of
>our rights as free citizens in a supposed democracy.
>Please, tell your politicians and media.
>------------
>thank you
>Annette Maloney
>Australia - no longer the land of the free!
>--------------------------------------------
>
>------------------
>Content
>
>     A. The internet is a medium for promoting, in a positive way, diffusion
>     of knowledge, cultural diversity and social interaction, as well as a
>     means of facilitating commerce. Governments should not prevent their
>     citizens from accessing information simply because it is published
online
>     in another country.
>http://www.pm.gov.au/media/pressrel/1998/
cooponecommerce.htm
>
>Electronic Frontiers Australia
>http://www.efa.org.au/
>
>Western Australian Internet Association
>http://www.waia.asn.au/
>
>WAIA Users Group
>http://live.waia.asn.au
>
>"Peaceful spirits often encounter violent opposition from mediocre minds"
>>We should try and capitalise on this.
>>Anyone with connections in the States, please contact them and ask for
>>them to call, email, write to their Senator and get them to protest on
>>our behalf.
>>Surely there's some isps that buy bandwidth or equipment from the
>>states. Tell your US suppliers to look after your business with a
>>complaint to their elected representatives.
>>After all, everyone knows how little the govt listens to us, and how
>>much they listen to the US.
>>Lets apply some pressure where it will be felt most, from the top.
>>Protest now, ring your friends in the US. Get them to complain as well.
>>The internet gives us global coverage, lets use it!
>>
>>Seeya.
>>
>>
>>Mike.
>>http://www.whois.com.au
>>
>>
>------------------
>"All we need now, is for Harradine to ban swear words.
> then he will have single handedly banned Jesus Christ on the internet."
>
>Now aren't you glad you supported that?

>X-From_: stop-censorship-request@efa.org.au Wed May 26 16:46:36 1999
>Resent-Date: Wed, 26 May 1999 14:43:40 +0800
>X-Authentication-Warning: gospel.iinet.net.au: list set sender to
stop-censorship-request@efa.org.au using -f
>Delivered-To: efa-stop-censorship@efa.org.au
>From: "Mark Lipscombe" <markl@syd.net.au>
>To: "Stop Censorship Mailing List" <stop-censorship@efa.org.au>
>Subject: Re: [STOP] Complaint to the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights?
>Date: Wed, 26 May 1999 16:37:40 +1000
>X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
>X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2314.1300
>X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2314.1300
>Resent-From: stop-censorship@efa.org.au
>Reply-To: stop-censorship@efa.org.au
>X-Mailing-List: <stop-censorship@efa.org.au> archive/latest/760
>X-Loop: stop-censorship@efa.org.au
>Resent-Sender: stop-censorship-request@efa.org.au
>
>I'm prepared to co-ordinate such a complaint. The current United Nations
>High Commissioner of Human Rights is Mary Robinson. I will telephone her
>office as soon as possible to investigate how to make such a complaint.
>
>We may need to organise some sort of legal representation to facilitate such
>a complaint, I am willing to do this, and we'll see if we need to organise
>donations or something at a later date.
>
>Regards,
>Mark Lipscombe
>Information Technology Manager
>Sydnet Group Pty Ltd
>Ph: 02 9873 6400 Fax: 02 9873 6411
>Email: markl@syd.net.au
>Web: http://www.syd.net.au/
>
>--
>Net Censorship = Book Burning in the Digital Age
>Stop the Australian Federal Gov'ts attempts
>to censor the Internet. March on 28/05/99 see:
>Help fight censorship Sign the Senate Petition:
>http://www.efa.org.au/Campaigns/alert99.html
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Peter Murphy <peterm@fast.fujitsu.com.au>
>To: <stop-censorship@efa.org.au>
>Sent: Wednesday, 26 May 1999 4:36
>Subject: RE: [STOP] Complaint to the United Nations High Commissioner for
>Human Rights?
>
>
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: Mark Lipscombe [mailto:markl@syd.net.au]
>> > Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 1999 4:01 PM
>> > To: Stop Censorship Mailing List
>> > Subject: [STOP] Complaint to the United Nations High Commissioner for
>> > Human Rights?
>> >
>> >
>> > Is there any merit in lodging a formal complaint with the Office of the
>> > United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, alleging that the
>> > amendments to the Broadcast Services Act are in breach of Article
>> > 19 of the
>> > United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
>> >
>> > Does the EFA have any existing plans to do this, Danny?
>> >
>>
>> (http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html)
>>
>> It's not just Article 19:
>>
>> Article 19.
>>
>> Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right
>> includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek,
>receive
>> and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of
>> frontiers.
>>
>> I think the ABA "dob in a dodgy site" plan may fall foul of Article 12:
>>
>> Article 12.
>>
>> No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy,
>> family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and
>> reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against
>such
>> interference or attacks.
>>
>> And I'm no lawyer, but the $27,000 fees for recalcitrant ISPs could
>> contravene Article 17:
>>
>> Article 17.
>>
>> (1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association
>> with others.
>>
>> (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
>>
>> I remember one case where an appeal of this sort was made against
>Tasmania's
>> laws criminalizing homosexuality. My memory may be failing, but I thought
>it
>> was successful.
>>
>> Anyone know anything more?
>>
>> Peter.

......................................................................................................

>> Please redistribute as widely as possible, but not after
>> Saturday May 29th 1999.

The Online Services Bill passed the Senate today (Wednesday), with the
Coalition, Colston, and Harradine supporting it. Labor, the Democrats,
and the Greens opposed it.

The Bill, introduced in the senate, will be going to the House of
Representatives on Monday. Please ring your local member tomorrow or
on Friday to express your concerns. Contact details can be found at
http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/mplist.htm

Electronic Frontiers Australia is organising protest events around the
country in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth on Friday (May 28th)
and in Adelaide on Sunday. If you can't attend these events, you can
still help to publicise them. Details about these and flyers for printing
are available at
http://www.efa.org.au/Campaigns/may28/

More information about the Bill can be found at
http://www.efa.org.au/Campaigns/99.html

Danny.

EFA's submission in response to the proposed State & Territory legislation
to regulate Net users'/content providers' speech (while the BSA regulates
ISPs/ICHs) is at:
http://www.efa.org.au/Publish/agresp9909.html

>From the Summary, among many other things:

- The draft legislation is a profoundly flawed document. Rather than
address the intention that "what is illegal or controlled offline should
also be illegal or controlled online", it criminalises material online that
is not illegal offline.

- The draft legislation does not give content providers an opportunity to
take material down when they have inadvertently mis-guessed the
classification, but instead it criminalises them.

- The recklessness element of offence provisions present an unjustifiable
risk to the freedom of average everyday Australians, since the matter of
how any particular material "would be" classified is not a matter of fact,
it is a matter of opinion, a value judgement. It is recommended that
State/Territory Governments reject proposals to criminalise inability to
foresee a non-unanimous decision of a group of people.

Irene

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Irene Graham, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. PGP key on h/page.
Burning Issues: <http://www.pobox.com/~rene/>
Secretary, Electronic Frontiers Australia: <http://www.efa.org.au>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The ABA has issued a 'Consultation Paper' containing draft
specifications/criteria for restricted access systems for sites providing
content that is (or is likely to be) classified R. A copy is available at:
http://www.efa.org.au/Publish/ABAconspaper_ras.html
Closing date for comments is Tuesday 9 November 1999.

The proposed system requires adults wishing to access material that is
unsuitable for children on Australian sites, to provide significant
personal details to register to access a site. After registering and
obtaining a PIN or password, on each access to the site, the user must
enter their allocated PIN or password together with their date of birth.

It seems highly unlikely that most users will be willing to provide
sensitive personal details to web site operators, as such information could
then be used for blackmail, personal or professional exposure, fraud and
predatory behaviour, etc.

These provisions appear designed to silence sites in Australia providing
material unsuitable for children (which includes considerably more material
than "porn" and violence). As R rated sites outside Australia are not
subject to any potential action by the ABA, sites will move offshore in
order to maintain an Australian and international audience. ISPs will face
higher bandwidth costs as more content is drawn from overseas and will lose
income from hosting services to overseas ISPs/ICHs.

Irene

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Irene Graham, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. PGP key on h/page.
Burning Issues: <http://www.pobox.com/~rene/>
Secretary, Electronic Frontiers Australia: <http://www.efa.org.au>

( INCREDIBLY STARTS OFF WITH " AS AUSTRALIA MOVES INTO THE 21ST CENTURY " !!! )

As Hollywood faces mounting political pressure to tone down violent movies, one of Australia�s leading film makers, George Miller, has attacked film and television violence. "To say that there is no hard evidence of the harmful effects of media violence seems to me to be as disingenuous as the cigarette companies and their medical scientists, who for so long defended tobacco with the same cries," writes the director of the Babe and Mad Max films.

In a book called Second Take: Australian Film Makers Talk, to be published next month, Miller says he finds similarities between the debates on media violence and tobacco.

It wasn�t until the 1960s that people were alerted to the latter�s harmful effects, despite its use for several centuries " and even then it took a decade or two to do something about it", he says, adding that cinema is much younger and computer games younger yet. His article follows recent comments by another leading Australian director, Peter Weir, that movie violence and media overload could make children capable of acts such as the Denver school massacre.

Miller writes that as a "practising story-teller, I could hardly fail to notice that movies and television impinge on behaviour."

( USE THE BACK BUTTON ON YOUR TOOLBAR TO RETURN TO THE MAIN SITE OR CLICK HERE )

Please note that this page needs to be updated and there are some serious events taking place in South Australia . Please see EFA site .

----- Original Message -----
From: "Irene Graham" <Irene.Graham@efa.org.au>
To: <stop-censorship@lists.efa.org.au>
Cc: <link@www.anu.edu.au>
Sent: Monday, November 12, 2001 3:26 PM
Subject: [STOP] NSW Net censorship Bill - tabled 7 Nov 2001

Proposed new Internet censorship laws, applicable to ordinary people who use the Internet to communicate, are included in a Bill tabled in the NSW Parliament on 7 November 2001 by the Attorney-General, Bob Debus. These are included in the NSW Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Enforcement Amendment Bill 2001.

The Bill covers content placed on the web (including archived mailing
lists), messages to newsgroups, etc.

Serious criminal justice issues arise, such that the NSW Bill would
require amendments to ensure, at the least, that ordinary people in NSW who use the Internet to communicate are treated no less fairly under criminal law than offline publishers.

Among other things, the Bill criminalizes making available content
unsuitable for children online, even if the content is only made available
to adults.

For more information about the Bill, and why it should be rejected, see
EFA's reference resource on the Bill at:
http://www.efa.org.au/Campaigns/nswbill.html
which includes a link to the Bill and to EFA's analysis of the Bill.

For those familiar with the provisions of the South Australian Net
censorship Bill, tabled twelve months ago but not yet passed by the SA
Parliament, the NSW Bill is almost identical - the few minor differences
are insignificant. (The SA Bill became the subject of an SA Parliamentary
inquiry, apparently as a result of many people contacting their
parliamentary representatives to advise of their concerns about the
proposed law. The SA Parliamentary Committee is due to report to the SA
Parliament in late November 2001.)

Irene

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