I agree with the Liberal Party

Nick Minchin’s piece in yesterday’s SMH should be commended. If you haven’t seen it, read the whole thing – it’s a clear and cogent summary of the arguments against Stephen Conroy’s foolish plan to exert control over the Internet. I’m not going to quote any of it, because the whole thing is spot on.
The good [...]

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Honeymoon over

Polling is starting up again after a break over the holidays. The first Morgan poll of 2009 shows the 2PP at 60-40. Discussion at The Poll Bludger.
However, the most important poll at the moment is for GrodsCorp’s 2009 unAustralian of the Year. I have cast my vote for Senator Stephen Conroy; Jeremy has done a [...]

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Opportunity cost

One more thought on the Conroy Internet Filter. Aside from its filtering proposal, Senator Conroy’s Department (DBCDE) has another major Internet-related initiative – the development of a high-speed national broadband network. If the personnel, time and money that are being injected into developing a flawed programme for regulating access to content were instead available for [...]

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7.5 on the Conroy Filter

Last night’s The 7.30 Report had a pretty solid story on Internet filtering. The major views were accurately presented – the bosses of iiNet and Internet got a fair say, Conroy was shown in Senate hearings after refusing to be interviewed for the show, and child protection advocates got to state their case. Of course, [...]

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Filtering that works

Mike Meloni at Somebody Think of the Children reports that an automated image analysis site correctly identified pictures of a dick the majority of the time.

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Opposition

Hey, look – there’s a political party that is asking the Government to answer questions that would justify its policy. Presumably, this party might base its decision about whether to support or oppose the legislation based on the satisfaction they get from the answers.
By the way, did you know Kevin Rudd is a bit odd?
UPDATE: [...]

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Fatally flawed policy and politics

As if Stephen Conroy’s grand plan to protect us from the Internets wasn’t bad enough. Now his office has taken to attempting to stifle criticism:
On Tuesday, a policy advisor for Senator Conroy, Belinda Dennett, wrote an email to Internet Industry Association (IIA) board member Carolyn Dalton in an attempt to pressure Newton into reining in [...]

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Broadband – narrow and shallow coverage

Helen Coonan shouts, “hurrah!” – we’re ninth among OECD countries in broadband speeds. She is referring to this report.
Problems? Stephen Conroy sees some:
“These figures and this statement by the OECD that these figures are just based on departmental estimations demolish [Communications Minister] Helen Coonan’s claims that Australia has leap-frogged up the table,” he said.
“Helen Coonan [...]

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