NationStates Jolt Archive

http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1399635276

No opt-out of filtered Internet
Policy to be set after trial
Darren Pauli 13/10/2008 15:10:00

Australians will be unable to opt-out of the government's pending Internet content filtering scheme, and will instead be placed on a watered-down blacklist, experts say.

Under the government's $125.8 million Plan for Cyber-Safety, users can switch between two blacklists which block content inappropriate for children, and a separate list which blocks illegal material.

Pundits say consumers have been lulled into believing the opt-out proviso would remove content filtering altogether.

The government will iron-out policy and implementation of the Internet content filtering software following an upcoming trial of the technology, according to the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.

A spokesman for Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said the filters will be mandatory for all Australians.

“Labor’s plan for cyber-safety will require ISPs to offer a clean feed Internet service to all homes, schools and public Internet points accessible by children,” Marshall said.

“The upcoming field pilot of ISP filtering technology will look at various aspects of filtering, including effectiveness, ease of circumvention, the impact on internet access speeds and cost.”

I'd like to offer a big around of applause to all you fuckers who voted for Labor. Congratulations! Thanks to your vote, Australia has now crossed the line between Western democracy and fascism. We are now, a fascist state.

It's for your own good.

It's for your own good.

Oh, it's funny, is it? Yeah, fucking hilarious.

It was nice knowing you. :)

Oh, it's funny, is it?

Yep.

You shouldn't have let them take your guns, now what are you going to do about this?
There is only one choice for you Ferrous Oxide, relocate to Utah, before they filter travel, too.

You shouldn't have let them take your guns, now what are you going to do about this?
There is only one choice for you Ferrous Oxide, relocate to Utah, before they filter travel, too.

Your dysfunctional, gun-crazy, bible-thumping country is starting to look better and better.

Hang on... you are complaining about Australia enforcing its existing laws by blocking ILLEGAL material on the internet?

Wow, how fascist indeed.

I'd suggest lobbying against it - not seen anyone else report on the story though; which seems a bit weird if it's all true... the idea of a democracy filtering internet content like that though is peculiar and worrying.

Oh, it's funny, is it? Yeah, fucking hilarious.

Yes, I do believe it is. I mean they have a populations of about 5000, If you don't like it, move to America. GG Idiotic Presidents

"RL is dumb, the mods are Idiots and the Player-Economy is Over-Inflated. It's over 50,000 Dollars for a MOUNT. Then there's the food for the mount which is about another 1,000 dollars a month..."

You shouldn't have let them take your guns, now what are you going to do about this?
There is only one choice for you Ferrous Oxide, relocate to Utah, before they filter travel, too.

*roflmao

What's he going to do, shoot the internet???

The idea is that you shoot the politicians and take back control of the country. - Of course, that's not what I am advocating here, but the threat must exist for the system to work.

When the first American politicians asked the people what they wanted, the first thing we asked for was freedom, and the second thing was guns, so that we could keep our freedom.

get a proxy or two?

Australian NSG users best hope NSG doesn't become 'illegal' but then again it would be for your own good (said with a slight slur and perhaps drooling from the mouth)
:S

The idea is that you shoot the politicians and take back control of the country. - Of course, that's not what I am advocating here, but the threat must exist for the system to work.

When the first American politicians asked the people what they wanted, the first thing we asked for was freedom, and the second thing was guns, so that we could keep our freedom.

Uh-hu... that's why no other democracy on the planet works, cause there aren't enough guns around...

Thing is, if you put in place an internet filter, you can start redefining 'illegal' into 'objectionable', then you get to defining 'objectionable'. In fifty years we'll be Communist, and I say this as a Socialist.

Don't even get me started on how we have a Christian socialist government, two ideas which were never meant to be crossbred.

the american system is not a democracy

Australian NSG users best hope NSG doesn't become 'illegal' but then again it would be for your own good (said with a slight slur and perhaps drooling from the mouth)
:S

You mean you seriously have a problem with having your access to kiddie porn and snuff films blocked? Really?

Or did the judicial system in Australia break down as well so that the government can just willfully declare sun blocker and walnuts illegal?

Uh-hu... that's why no other democracy on the planet works, cause there aren't enough guns around...

Where's this 'democracy' of which you speak?

Or did the judicial system in Australia break down as well so that the government can just willfully declare sun blocker and walnuts illegal?

They have parliamentary sovereignty I'd imagine, so yes, the government could do exactly that.

Thing is, if you put in place an internet filter, you can start redefining 'illegal' into 'objectionable', then you get to defining 'objectionable'. In fifty years we'll be Communist, and I say this as a Socialist.

Don't even get me started on how we have a Christian socialist government, two ideas which were never meant to be crossbred.

Talk about slippery slopes here... you ought to be up in arms and protesting already anyway. Porn with kids is illegal. What's stopping the government from re-defining all porn as illegal? And then making it illgal to hold hand in the streets?

Hang on... you are complaining about Australia enforcing its existing laws by blocking ILLEGAL material on the internet?

Wow, how fascist indeed.

Except that they're going to block material that THEY decide is objectionable. Which pretty much put us on par with your sorry mob.

It all comes down to whether or not you actually trust the government to act in your own interests. Are you the sort of person who would get on a government bus that was going to take you to your 'new house'.

I wouldn't.

You mean you seriously have a problem with having your access to kiddie porn and snuff films blocked? Really?

Or did the judicial system in Australia break down as well so that the government can just willfully declare sun blocker and walnuts illegal?

Please don't accuse me of things that I never said ;]

And yes I do have a problem with governments blocking/censoring things that I should be able to have a choice of seeing - also note that the article claimed due to the software 10,000 out of a million would be wrongly blocked - that adds up to a lot of websites! Also! In a democracy you should have the choice to do what you wish - you will have to face the consequences of your actions though and be held accountable.

Democratic governments are not there to protect the people from what they think the people shouldn't like.

FeOx is right. We're fascists now, and I'm not proud of it.

The idea is that you shoot the politicians and take back control of the country. - Of course, that's not what I am advocating here, but the threat must exist for the system to work.
Nah. It's usually the loons that want to get rid of the system in the first place that try that.

Of course we want to get rid of the fucking system! It's gone insane!

No offence @ chu, Laerod, I'm just pissed at this entire thing.

Private firearms ownership is a totem. It's really more a wide moat between the government and you when it comes down to you being allowed to do things that most people find objectionable, but not illegal.

That goes down and it's license for the busybodies.

Well we know how armed resistance worked out in Germany, don't we.

Uh-hu... that's why no other democracy on the planet works, cause there aren't enough guns around...

Name one democracy that has lasted 230 years or more without periodic military coups or emperor declarations mucking it up? We've really been around for a while and while I wince at all the freedoms we've lost, I am pleased with how many we've kept for so long compared to other democracies throughout history.

LG: The fact that we're more fascist than you and we've only been an elective nation for about 110 years does not say many good things about us.

LG: The fact that we're more fascist than you and we've only been an elective nation for about 110 years does not say many good things about us.

You are just ahead of schedule.

Oh yes, very much so. And it pisses me off to no end.

Rudd is more conservative than Howard, even.

The idea is that you shoot the politicians and take back control of the country. - Of course, that's not what I am advocating here, but the threat must exist for the system to work.

When the first American politicians asked the people what they wanted, the first thing we asked for was freedom, and the second thing was guns, so that we could keep our freedom.
Uhu... why does the British system work extremely well, then? We don't have guns, don't need them. If you think that owning firearms will keep politicians honest and doing The Right Thing, you are horribly, horribly wrong.

Really? I thought Rudd was a banker type. They don't normally give a shit what the peasantry does with its spare time. (Unless they feel they have to pander some busybody mothers groups or suchshit).

Usually moderate lefties that are the big ass fascists though.

Oh yes, very much so. And it pisses me off to no end.

Rudd is more conservative than Howard, even.

I don't know how twenty-two million people got conned into voting for that ass. He's just really, really bad.

actually its our guns, in america, and the attitude that goes with them, that have cost us our freedom. some freedoms are self destructive of freedom. access to information though, isn't one of them. in america we make a big show of access to information, but the reality is we have a corporate controlled media that controls what people think they know and by which corporate economic intrests control government. there is internet filtering and monitoring here too, mostly hidden and frequently denied. at least in oz the're telling you that its there.

of course here it isn't the protection of children they use as the excuse, although they'd like to add that big lie too, but 'continuation of government' i.e. protecting government from the people, which once upon a time, the idea of a constitution was to protect people from their government.

there are also warehouses in which are accumulated every address of e-mail, voip, and url, everyone here, and everyone whose communications is served by a company even partially located here, is accumulated and stored in.

and what is this information being USED for? to monitor humanitarian organization and journalists. and why? to protect the inbededness and intrenchment of those same economic intrests in their control of so called government, who'se political proccessess they've pretty thoroughly usurped.

i may be kind of ignorant about this, but i don't quite see how guns are going to solve this at this late date. because you see, at least as near as i can tell, its not a process that depends on individuals, this usurpation by economic interests, but a kind of self perpetuating doomsday machine, with no one in actual control of it. no one and no many. it simply automatically seeks to enable little green pieces of paper to rub sholders with each other, and does so with no responsibility nor reguard to the real effects on real people, places and things of doing so.

and it doesn't matter whether you're in kathmandu nepal, or denver colorado, it still don't give a load of putrified dingo's kidneys what other effect it has on anything.

Actually, Rudd does appear to be pandering to Family First, but the thing is I don't think he stands to gain from it. So he's doing it for the lulz.

What's stopping the government from re-defining all porn as illegal?


Probably the massive tax revenues.


And then making it illgal to hold hand in the streets?

They tried to do that here you know. Not officially, but we do have "Morality police", literally, who essentially bust into people's homes and business, declare "immoral activities" for anything from being in a dance club to sex outside of marriage, haul your ass to jail, violate your rights, and ask for bribes to let you out. All of this without warrants to, but then the actual police generally don't even work with them either.

The slippery slope is real, especially when you have evolutionary rejects for leaders.

Name one democracy that has lasted 230 years or more without periodic military coups or emperor declarations mucking it up?

You had one (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Norton_I) too LG.

Gun ownership really pisses people off. So as long as it is legal, it stands for the principle that governments can't go around banning things that just really piss people off. That's a very important aspect of the whole thing.

If you only enforce rights that people like.....

I'm sorry, is there reasoning I'm missing that explains this "Censorship, therefore fascism" thing? Because I'm pretty sure that fascism doesn't mean that. Isn't the extreme nationalism the key part of fascism?

I'm sorry, is there reasoning I'm missing that explains this "Censorship, therefore fascism" thing? Because I'm pretty sure that fascism doesn't mean that. Isn't the extreme nationalism the key part of fascism?

Indeedy but don't ya think that censorship of media/thought/communications by a government could lead to a more fascist government?

Name one democracy that has lasted 230 years or more without periodic military coups or emperor declarations mucking it up? We've really been around for a while and while I wince at all the freedoms we've lost, I am pleased with how many we've kept for so long compared to other democracies throughout history.

The UK has been a constitutional monarchy since the Glorious Revolution in 1688. You can argue the relative powers of the monarch to parliament, and issues of who gets a vote (male landowners at the time), but we have had a democracy for longer than 230 years. No military coups, no emperor declaration (yes Victoria was Empress of India, but we still had a democracy then).

I can't off the top of my head think of any democratic Republics which have lasted that long though, so I'll give you that.

Well we know how armed resistance worked out in Germany, don't we.Yeah, actually we do. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_hall_putsch)

If illegal content is merely things like child porn, then I couldn't give a shit if the government filters that out.

The UK has been a constitutional monarchy since the Glorious Revolution in 1688. You can argue the relative powers of the monarch to parliament, and issues of who gets a vote (male landowners at the time), but we have had a democracy for longer than 230 years. No military coups, no emperor declaration (yes Victoria was Empress of India, but we still had a democracy then).

I can't off the top of my head think of any democratic Republics which have lasted that long though, so I'll give you that.

The Isle of Man could claim even longer.

If illegal content is merely things like child porn, then I couldn't give a shit if the government filters that out.

That's what I understood it to be.
I might be wrong, true, I don't know that much about Australia after all, but doesn't "illegal" imply "no matter in what kind of medium"? If so, how would they justify banning someting on the internet while keeping it legal in newspapers, books, TV, etc.?

That's what I understood it to be.
I might be wrong, true, I don't know that much about Australia after all, but doesn't "illegal" imply "no matter in what kind of medium"? If so, how would they justify banning someting on the internet while keeping it legal in newspapers, books, TV, etc.?

True, this thread is just a good example of sensationalism.

Yeah but allowing a government the legislation/law to filter content won't just stop at child pron or whatever, the government will act in its own best interest and filter what it wants. It would be an open ticket to filter whatever the government wishes to.

Yeah but allowing a government the legislation/law to filter content won't just stop at child pron or whatever, the government will act in its own best interest and filter what it wants. It would be an open ticket to filter whatever the government wishes to.

Uh-hu... same as having made it illegal to distribute child porn magazines made it finally possible for the government to filter all cook books out of the market, right?

I think you're overreacting to a snippet of sensationalist news, without any background information as to the details.

Indeedy but don't ya think that censorship of media/thought/communications by a government could lead to a more fascist government?

one need to take over Poland wearing good looking uniforms and burning books

Uh-hu... same as having made it illegal to distribute child porn magazines made it finally possible for the government to filter all cook books out of the market, right?

I think you're overreacting to a snippet of sensationalist news, without any background information as to the details.

I don't feel that I'm overreacting and I did say in my first post that I hadn't seen the story reported by anybody else so I'm not saying I know all the details of the article or how true it is. I just think that the actual idea of filtering/censoring (namely from the perspective of teh interwebz) by a government is a bad idea because the legislation will be abused I feel.

one need to take over Poland wearing good looking uniforms and burning books

A definite requirement of fascist governments
:P
Australia invading Poland - interesting thought lol

Yeah but allowing a government the legislation/law to filter content won't just stop at child pron or whatever, the government will act in its own best interest and filter what it wants. It would be an open ticket to filter whatever the government wishes to.

It's always worked like this for everything, nothing has changed. The government has always had the power to completely filter out everything in the internet.

It's always worked like this for everything, nothing has changed. The government has always had the power to completely filter out everything in the internet.

Australia's government has always had the power to filter out everything in the internet? Then why would they want/need legislation for this? Also - what other democratic governments have the power to filter everything in the internet? Never knew that they did if they do!
:(

Uh-hu... same as having made it illegal to distribute child porn magazines made it finally possible for the government to filter all cook books out of the market, right?

I think you're overreacting to a snippet of sensationalist news, without any background information as to the details.

But see, the problem is that the govt. can actually choose to block stuff that's NOT ILLEGAL if they decide that it's "inappropriate" for Australians.

God. We're fucking Turkmenistan.

Although this thread is rather over-the-top, it does remind me of the recent legislation in Britain concerning BDSM and images of it.

Name one democracy that has lasted 230 years or more without periodic military coups or emperor declarations mucking it up? We've really been around for a while and while I wince at all the freedoms we've lost, I am pleased with how many we've kept for so long compared to other democracies throughout history.
NZ has been a self-governing functional democracy for almost 160 years and has started not one war nor invaded any other country. There has never been any military coup, nor threat of such. It has a gun death p/100,000 population almost 1/7th that of the USA.
It's doing pretty good for itself all things considered.


back to the OP: when they say illegal: what, and how, do they define 'illegal'? Does this mean PirateBay.org. for eg. will be blocked? Cause if so, that really sucks and it will certainly reduce my interest in returning to Oz.

Oh noes! Fascist koalas will eat me!
http://www.deepseaimages.com/dsilibrary/data/1076/22003_0928_012705AA_1.jpg

The law that this grew from was passed in 1999.
http://news.cnet.com/Sweeping-Net-restrictions-in-Australia/2100-1023_3-227874.html

The Australian law states that minors cannot view online material rated "R." However, the law also bans all citizens' access to X-rated material that has "real depictions of actual sexual intercourse" and deletes content rated "RC" for "refused classification," which applies to material that "incites" violence or depicts acts that "offend against the standards of morality, decency, and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults."

Then in Sept 2007...

http://news.cnet.com/Australia-pushes-further-Web-censorship/2100-1028_3-6209337.html

Introduced on Thursday, the bill--titled the Communications Legislation Amendment (Crime or Terrorism Related Internet Content) Bill 2007--would empower the federal police to alter the "blacklist" of sites that are currently prohibited by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

The list currently includes pornography and "offensive material." However, under the amendment, federal police would be able to add other sites to the list, including content that the AFP Commissioner "has reason to believe...is crime- or terrorism-related content."

People tend to always think that it's ok to remove a freedom as long as it doesn't directly affect them and because "it's only the bad guys that do that stuff."

It's happening everywhere.

Censorship is bad. period.

People tend to always think that it's ok to remove a freedom as long as it doesn't directly affect them and because "it's only the bad guys that do that stuff."

It's happening everywhere.

Censorship is bad. period.

Thanks for doing that little bit of digging - haven't had the time to look into anything rlly, worrying stuff - even more worrying that nobody has kicked up a fuss about the stuff very much but then again lol, people don't rly seem to care enough to actually do much about things they don't agree with lately.

Rudd is a fucking wanker. If anyone honestly think this is going to achieve anything they are even stupider than him.

It will not stop people from using p2p
It will not stop pedos from trading kiddyporn
It will not stop cyber crime in anyway

It will cost the taxpayer $200m to setup (plus I imagine a huge running cost)
It will slow down our access
It will block our access to legitimate services.


Heres a quote for it:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081016-net-filters-required-for-all-australians-no-opt-out.html
Australia continues to ignore its own government-funded studies from 2006 that show ISP-level filtering to be ineffective and costly. The Australian government's disregard for those prior studies suggests that the driving force behind the current plan is more political than technical.

Indeedy but don't ya think that censorship of media/thought/communications by a government could lead to a more fascist government?

Or it could lead to people electing a government that will repeal the censorship laws. Contrary to the title, Australia is still a democracy.

Well, I've sent an email to the Shadow Communications and Broadband Minister regarding this. I think he may share our views; he's called for the abolition of compulsory voting as he considers it a breach of civil liberties, so that says a lot about him.

Incidentally, the same Internet that helped Rudd to power seems to be really turning against him. I like these:

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v348/32/100/1078697887/n1078697887_143336_8816.jpg
http://photos-e.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v360/77/108/514264207/n514264207_860316_8085.jpg

one need to take over Poland wearing good looking uniforms and burning books

If they're going to do that they need something better looking than their desert uniforms. And I thought American combat uniforms were hideous...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_Pattern_Combat_Uniform#Desert_DPCU

Censorship = evil.

Censorship = evil.

Umm no not really. Would you allow your children to watch you having sex?

But see, the problem is that the govt. can actually choose to block stuff that's NOT ILLEGAL if they decide that it's "inappropriate" for Australians.

God. We're fucking Turkmenistan.

Your article doesn't seem to say that, so where did you get the idea?
It talks about two types of filter between which Australians can choose, one the will filter out inapproriate material for children, and another one filtering only illegal material... So how can the government choose to block stuff that's no illegal? It sounds like all they're doing is giving their citizens an option to filter that out if they want to.

Umm no not really. Would you allow your children to watch you having sex?

Wow, way to go completely off on another tangent.

Uhu... why does the British system work extremely well, then? We don't have guns, don't need them. If you think that owning firearms will keep politicians honest and doing The Right Thing, you are horribly, horribly wrong.

Of course not.

You need people who are VERY loud and willing to use said guns too.:p

Wow, way to go completely off on another tangent.

How? Sounds like a legitimate question.

Wow, way to go completely off on another tangent.

Meh it is a valid point though to the post which it was a reply to.

Of course not.

You need people who are VERY loud and willing to use said guns too.:p

And then you get the good governments and good politicians, like George W. Bush, right?

Your article doesn't seem to say that, so where did you get the idea?
It talks about two types of filter between which Australians can choose, one the will filter out inapproriate material for children, and another one filtering only illegal material... So how can the government choose to block stuff that's no illegal? It sounds like all they're doing is giving their citizens an option to filter that out if they want to.

Maybe I read it wrong, but combined with Australia's fascist Internet laws, it's still horrible.

The sad thing is, worst case scenario, we'll all just go around it and look at "illegal" content very slowly.

Wow, way to go completely off on another tangent.

Seeing as its part of a debate on the assertion "Censorship=bad"

And your thread's disscussion value orginates from "Censorship=bad"

Its not really a tangent at all.

In response to the OP:

This is a completely USELESS law. Illegal material always finds a way to pas itself from hand to hand. In order to stop 'naughty material' from reaching the hands of the under aged, you'd have to block wikipedia, and several other sites that are not for that purpose. This is a useless gesture that will, in the end, only lead to more government money being wasted.

If illegal content is merely things like child porn, then I couldn't give a shit if the government filters that out.
Actually, the filtering of child porn would be missing a trick. You want to catch the people responsible for making it rather than just punishing people for looking at it, so having people actively looking for it, intercepting the downloads to determine their content and origin and using the information derived from their searching to intercept and take down abuse rings is a pro-active way of ending them; highly preferable to saying "let's stop people seeing it and leave them to die on their own".

Stopping the abuse of children is our prime concern. We correct and restrict people only in pursuit of this goal. Filtering content is not the goal in and of itself, and if this filtering might actually stop these monsters from getting shut down, it's not worth doing.

Or it could lead to people electing a government that will repeal the censorship laws. Contrary to the title, Australia is still a democracy.

I won't disagree with that - I'm still saying that those kind of approaches erode freedom.
;]

And then you get the good governments and good politicians, like George W. Bush, right?

bah. We need people who are louder.

And more people who are willing to use them. Ten dollars (none of your Euros:p) says that if worst came to worst, half of the people in this country who actually own guns would give them over to the government if told to. loud mouths, but you need substance to back it up.

Maybe I read it wrong, but combined with Australia's fascist Internet laws, it's still horrible.

The sad thing is, worst case scenario, we'll all just go around it and look at "illegal" content very slowly.

Well, reading the Australia makes it illegal even for adults to watch porn online is pretty bad, I have to admit.
But you can hardly blame a government for making laws (which is what they get elected for) and then enforcing those laws (which is, at the end of the day, what they get paid for).
If there's a problem in this case, I'd say it's to be found in Australian society to elect governments making porn illegal. That actually speaks volumes.

I won't disagree with that - I'm still saying that those kind of approaches erode freedom.
;]

The freedom to look at things you weren't allowed to look at in the first place:confused:

Seeing as its part of a debate on the assertion "Censorship=bad"

And your thread's disscussion value orginates from "Censorship=bad"

Its not really a tangent at all.

Except he's completely ignoring things like privacy and parenting. I mean, where the hell would it end? Would it be illegal to give your children the sex talk? It's just an irrelevant point.

Actually, the filtering of child porn would be missing a trick. You want to catch the people responsible for making it rather than just punishing people for looking at it, so having people actively looking for it, intercepting the downloads to determine their content and origin and using the information derived from their searching to intercept and take down abuse rings is a pro-active way of ending them; highly preferable to saying "let's stop people seeing it and leave them to die on their own".

Stopping the abuse of children is our prime concern. We correct and restrict people only in pursuit of this goal. Filtering content is not the goal in and of itself, and if this filtering might actually stop these monsters from getting shut down, it's not worth doing.

I made that exact point on another forum.

bah. We need people who are louder.

And more people who are willing to use them. Ten dollars (none of your Euros:p) says that if worst came to worst, half of the people in this country who actually own guns would give them over to the government if told to. loud mouths, but you need substance to back it up.

I think the word you're looking for is "brains".
Most of those people you see/read about mouthing off about how they need the guns to defend themselves should the government turn tyrannical are total tools, not two brain cells to rub together.
If the government did turn tyrannical, those people would have to start to go to evening classes to learn to read to be able to look the words "tyrannical" and "government" up in a dictionary.

Well, reading the Australia makes it illegal even for adults to watch porn online is pretty bad, I have to admit.
But you can hardly blame a government for making laws (which is what they get elected for) and then enforcing those laws (which is, at the end of the day, what they get paid for).
If there's a problem in this case, I'd say it's to be found in Australian society to elect governments making porn illegal. That actually speaks volumes.

Theoretically, we have some of the most oppressive laws in the Western world, it's just that they've been completely unenforced. Until now, that is.

Well, reading the Australia makes it illegal even for adults to watch porn online is pretty bad, I have to admit.
But you can hardly blame a government for making laws (which is what they get elected for) and then enforcing those laws (which is, at the end of the day, what they get paid for).
If there's a problem in this case, I'd say it's to be found in Australian society to elect governments making porn illegal. That actually speaks volumes.

Actually politicians are lying, dirty scum, and half the time, it's impossible to know what they mean, the other half of the time, they're outright lying. "Vote for me, I'll lower taxes!" *Votes for higher taxes* "Vote for me! I'll legalize gay marriage!" *Votes for amendment banning gay marriage* And so on, and so forth, you get the picture.

I think the word you're looking for is "brains".
Most of those people you see/read about mouthing off about how they need the guns to defend themselves should the government turn tyrannical are total tools, not two brain cells to rub together.
If the government did turn tyrannical, those people would have to start to go to evening classes to learn to read to be able to look the words "tyrannical" and "government" up in a dictionary.

Hmmm... I MIGHT BE THE CHOSEN ONE! I'm loud, I have THREE brain cells to rub together, and I love guns!*looks up the age needed in Maryland to own a gun*:D

Actually, the filtering of child porn would be missing a trick. You want to catch the people responsible for making it rather than just punishing people for looking at it, so having people actively looking for it, intercepting the downloads to determine their content and origin and using the information derived from their searching to intercept and take down abuse rings is a pro-active way of ending them; highly preferable to saying "let's stop people seeing it and leave them to die on their own".

Stopping the abuse of children is our prime concern. We correct and restrict people only in pursuit of this goal. Filtering content is not the goal in and of itself, and if this filtering might actually stop these monsters from getting shut down, it's not worth doing.

I'd say it's important to approach the problem from both ends.
Protect the children, punish the perpetrators, and make access to the material as hard as you possibly can.

Actually politicians are lying, dirty scum, and half the time, it's impossible to know what they mean, the other half of the time, they're outright lying. "Vote for me, I'll lower taxes!" *Votes for higher taxes* "Vote for me! I'll legalize gay marriage!" *Votes for amendment banning gay marriage* And so on, and so forth, you get the picture.

The worst cop-out was the last election; the Rudd government was swept into power by using American-style bullshit and hype, and since then, it's been crap after crap after crap. The Coalition must be half-laughing, half-disappointed in the entire country.

Except he's completely ignoring things like privacy and parenting. I mean, where the hell would it end? Would it be illegal to give your children the sex talk? It's just an irrelevant point.

*Thinks more*

The proposed debate would in fact be about where privacy and parenting ends and censorship begins.

Point conceeded

The freedom to look at things you weren't allowed to look at in the first place:confused:

The things you aren't allowed to look at change over time would be my general response to filtering/censorship but I'm in no way saying that I agree with some of the things the Australian government wishes to block on the interwebz.

Actually politicians are lying, dirty scum, and half the time, it's impossible to know what they mean, the other half of the time, they're outright lying. "Vote for me, I'll lower taxes!" *Votes for higher taxes* "Vote for me! I'll legalize gay marriage!" *Votes for amendment banning gay marriage* And so on, and so forth, you get the picture.

True, honest people don't go into politics. Common knowledge.
Then again, there must be some fundamental difference between the societies and consequently politics of a country that makes it illegal to watch porn online, and, say, a country that allows porn to be shown on regular TV.

If they're going to do that they need something better looking than their desert uniforms. And I thought American combat uniforms were hideous...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_Pattern_Combat_Uniform#Desert_DPCU

the new American Camo sucks they should bring back their old one

banned from Aussie internet.
bomb making guides, Child porn, Hate websites, Racist websites, radiation and nuclear energy info(fear of dirty bombs).


I dont knoe if i could trust content filters. sounds dangerous to me.

The things you aren't allowed to look at change over time would be my general response to filtering/censorship but I'm in no way saying that I agree with some of the things the Australian government wishes to block on the interwebz.

Neither do I, to be honest, but I see the two issues as separate:

You've a handfull of laws on things that are illegal to watch/do online.
And then you've got a law to enforce those laws.

In my view, there's nothing wrong with the enforcement bit, but I think Australians need to have a serious word with their government about what is actually being legal and illegal to access.

Then again, there must be some fundamental difference between the societies and consequently politics of a country that makes it illegal to watch porn online, and, say, a country that allows porn to be shown on regular TV.

I honestly don't know where Australia got all of this bullshit from, I always though we were progressive.

I'd say it's important to approach the problem from both ends.
Protect the children, punish the perpetrators, and make access to the material as hard as you possibly can.
I'm not sure about that last one. What we want is to destroy this material, totally and utterly. Presumably facilitating the discovery of it (by law enforcement, at least) is thus important?

Except he's completely ignoring things like privacy and parenting. I mean, where the hell would it end? Would it be illegal to give your children the sex talk? It's just an irrelevant point.

Or he was only answering that one post that said censorship = evil, with a reply saying, umm no not always, in fact sometimes it is good.

I don't know perhaps if you just read the words.

Neither do I, to be honest, but I see the two issues as separate:

You've a handfull of laws on things that are illegal to watch/do online.
And then you've got a law to enforce those laws.

In my view, there's nothing wrong with the enforcement bit, but I think Australians need to have a serious word with their government about what is actually being legal and illegal to access.

The Internet still isn't big enough here for it to be an election issue, and we're not as pro-active as Europeans or Americans. If any politician changed those laws, he'd be a huge mover and shaker.

Neither do I, to be honest, but I see the two issues as separate:

You've a handfull of laws on things that are illegal to watch/do online.
And then you've got a law to enforce those laws.

In my view, there's nothing wrong with the enforcement bit, but I think Australians need to have a serious word with their government about what is actually being legal and illegal to access.

I'll agree with you on that - if I was Australian I'd try to push for some sort of committee or such to be set-up to keep an eye on what is deemed illegal or inappropriate etc. although I still think the idea of governmental censorship such as they're enforcing is a bad one.

Or he was only answering that one post that said censorship = evil, with a reply saying, umm no not always, in fact sometimes it is good.

I don't know perhaps if you just read the words.

I really wouldn't call, stopping your kids from seeing you doing it, censorship.

True, honest people don't go into politics. Common knowledge.
Then again, there must be some fundamental difference between the societies and consequently politics of a country that makes it illegal to watch porn online, and, say, a country that allows porn to be shown on regular TV.
True.
I'm voting for either:

A poll showed that the majority of the people there wanted that. Thus, the politicians used a poll, using a small amount of the total population, to create this law.

The society there is one of complete and total apathy.

OR
People there actually WANTED the ban.

I'm sure that there are more, but I'm still ingesting my morning caffeine at the moment.

I'm not sure about that last one. What we want is to destroy this material, totally and utterly. Presumably facilitating the discovery of it (by law enforcement, at least) is thus important?

Yeah, I agree. That, and I just hate censorship totally.

True.
I'm voting for either:

A poll showed that the majority of the people there wanted that. Thus, the politicians used a poll, using a small amount of the total population, to create this law.

The society there is one of complete and total apathy.

OR
People there actually WANTED the ban.

I'm sure that there are more, but I'm still ingesting my morning caffeine at the moment.

Well, we sort of don't have any checks and balances. Once the government's in power, there's close to nothing to stop them from doing what they want.

I'm not sure about that last one. What we want is to destroy this material, totally and utterly. Presumably facilitating the discovery of it is thus important?

I'm not sure about that... I mean, there definitely has to be access to all those pages for the police, certainly.
But I'm not sure if vigilante citizens would be a good idea in finding kiddie porn.
What would worry me is that people at heart are copy-cats. Once someone thinks of something and makes it publicly known, others will start copying.
So I think removing kiddie porn from public access as much as possible is actually a sensible idea.

http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1399635276



I'd like to offer a big around of applause to all you fuckers who voted for Labor. Congratulations! Thanks to your vote, Australia has now crossed the line between Western democracy and fascism. We are now, a fascist state.

Wait - you're Australian? Are you the guy who was Kievan-Prussia and The Potato Factory? [/off-topic]

I really wouldn't call, stopping your kids from seeing you doing it, censorship.

Hold on right there. So stopping somebody from watching acts of sex is not cesorship? What would you call it then?

Well, we sort of don't have any checks and balances. Once the government's in power, there's close to nothing to stop them from doing what they want.

I'm sure there is, must be - shocking if there isn't... if there isn't, you may want to gather peoples opinions and push for something.

Wait - you're Australian? Are you the guy who was Kievan-Prussia and The Potato Factory? [/off-topic]

Yes. I'm sure we had this conversation several times.

Hold on right there. So stopping somebody from watching acts of sex is not cesorship? What would you call it then?

Not if it's a peeping tom/kid walking in thing. Then it falls under privacy.

Well, we sort of don't have any checks and balances. Once the government's in power, there's close to nothing to stop them from doing what they want.

That could be too. *sips coke*

Then again, see how much those checks and balances have done here in the US.

I'm sure there is, must be - shocking if there isn't... if there isn't, you may want to gather peoples opinions and push for something.

The only way to stop things is if enough of the opposition objects, and if they happen to agree, then we're all fucked.

There's also the threat of being ousted in the next election, but they've got a good couple of years until then.

Not if it's a peeping tom/kid walking in thing. Then it falls under privacy.

So stopping an adult from viewing kiddy porn is not censorship?

The only way to stop things is if enough of the opposition objects, and if they happen to agree, then we're all fucked.

That's a little shocking tbh lol... Most democratic governments have 2 separate bodies of law-making don't they?

So stopping an adult from viewing kiddy porn is not censorship?

If it's in a media format, then it's censorship. If it's live, then it's just goddamn sexual abuse.

Yes. I'm sure we had this conversation several times.
Really? Sorry then, I don't recall. This was a whole new epiphany.

That's a little shocking tbh lol... Most democratic governments have 2 separate bodies of law-making don't they?

Yes, we have the House of Representatives and the Senate. I must admit that I don't quite know how it all works, but they both seem to be pretty toothless against the Fed Govt.

However, we did have a little gem a few months back where the opposition combined to crush the government's (admittedly totally bullshit) taxes. That was fun.

If it's in a media format, then it's censorship. If it's live, then it's just goddamn sexual abuse.

So the format rather than the act is what is important?

So it is censorship if I do not let my young boy have access to porn mags.

And not censorship if I lock the door so he can't see my wife and myself at it.

No something seems odd there. Real life sex fine, sex on any medium not fine?

Also 'Censorship' is the act of something being 'Censored' or gone over for content that may not be applicable for some people. A live action play on stage can be censored, the refuusal to admit a 16 year old boy into a lapdancing cluib is censoring that boy.

Say, you're not redefining a word to make it fit your argument now, are you?:p

So the format rather than the act is what is important?

So it is censorship if I do not let my young boy have access to porn mags.

And not censorship if I lock the door so he can't see my wife and myself at it.

No something seems odd there. Real life sex fine, sex on any medium not fine?

Also 'Censorship' is the act of something being 'Censored' or gone over for content that may not be applicable for some people. A live action play on stage can be censored, the refuusal to admit a 16 year old boy into a lapdancing cluib is censoring that boy.

Say, you're not redefining a word to make it fit your argument now, are you?:p

I'm using practical terms, not literal terms. Literally, a forest doesn't have to have any trees at all, but who actually means that when they say forest?

Censorship is almost always used to refer to the government blocking it's people from viewing certain materials.

I'm using practical terms, not literal terms. Literally, a forest doesn't have to have any trees at all, but who actually means that when they say forest?

Censorship is almost always used to refer to the government blocking it's people from viewing certain materials.

No it's not. However if you want it to mean that for the porposes of this discussion then fine.

No it's not. However if you want it to mean that for the porposes of this discussion then fine.

I'm pretty sure it is. I mean, when a father yoinks a Playboy out of his son's hands, who calls that censorship? When people campaign against censorship, is that one of their big gripes? "Parents shouldn't be able to censor their children from Playboy and Penthouse, like FASCISTS!".

How nice.

I'm pretty sure it is. I mean, when a father yoinks a Playboy out of his son's hands, who calls that censorship? When people campaign against censorship, is that one of their big gripes? "Parents shouldn't be able to censor their children from Playboy and Penthouse, like FASCISTS!".

Meh like I said if that is the way you want to use it, go right ahead, but you see how that last sentance of yours up there makes perfect sense, I mean you can say that and people would know what you are going on about huh.

It's for your own good.

why?

Meh like I said if that is the way you want to use it, go right ahead, but you see how that last sentance of yours up there makes perfect sense, I mean you can say that and people would know what you are going on about huh.

They would, but the word really just isn't used that way, and even then, people would just look at you like you'd crapped your pants. That's the problem with the law, very set in stone, it should be more interpretive.

Really? I thought Rudd was a banker type. They don't normally give a shit what the peasantry does with its spare time. (Unless they feel they have to pander some busybody mothers groups or suchshit).

Usually moderate lefties that are the big ass fascists though.

Close enough he will do what he wants or what he thinks the people want in order to get him more votes, he won't do the right thing just what will win him the next election.

Actually, Rudd does appear to be pandering to Family First, but the thing is I don't think he stands to gain from it. So he's doing it for the lulz.

He does stand to gain from it almost guaranteed votes from Dr Fielding in the Senate something which is needed.

I just hope Dr Fielding, wakes up to his senses and doesn't just vote for everything like he announced he would with the Budget this week. Though he is doing the right thing by his party and supporters so I will give him that.

NZ has been a self-governing functional democracy for almost 160 years and has started not one war nor invaded any other country. There has never been any military coup, nor threat of such. It has a gun death p/100,000 population almost 1/7th that of the USA.
It's doing pretty good for itself all things considered.


back to the OP: when they say illegal: what, and how, do they define 'illegal'? Does this mean PirateBay.org. for eg. will be blocked? Cause if so, that really sucks and it will certainly reduce my interest in returning to Oz.

Don't bother mate, with Rudd in charge trhe country is going to get worse and worse as he panders to the tabloids.

They would, but the word really just isn't used that way, and even then, people would just look at you like you'd crapped your pants. That's the problem with the law, very set in stone, it should be more interpretive.

Well you say no I say yes, I guess I have seen it used that way. Whatever, it's sorta beyond the point though huh.

Don't bother mate, with Rudd in charge trhe country is going to get worse and worse as he panders to the tabloids.

... Where the hell are you from?

Well, I've sent an email to the Shadow Communications and Broadband Minister regarding this. I think he may share our views; he's called for the abolition of compulsory voting as he considers it a breach of civil liberties, so that says a lot about him.

Incidentally, the same Internet that helped Rudd to power seems to be really turning against him. I like these:

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v348/32/100/1078697887/n1078697887_143336_8816.jpg
http://photos-e.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v360/77/108/514264207/n514264207_860316_8085.jpg

lol I like these, who is the shdow minister my mind has drawn a blank.

Regardless if it is true it would only be the Minister and not the party line.

In response to the OP:

This is a completely USELESS law. Illegal material always finds a way to pas itself from hand to hand. In order to stop 'naughty material' from reaching the hands of the under aged, you'd have to block wikipedia, and several other sites that are not for that purpose. This is a useless gesture that will, in the end, only lead to more government money being wasted.

Nothing else is new then.

lol I like these, who is the shdow minister my mind has drawn a blank.

Regardless if it is true it would only be the Minister and not the party line.

It's Sen. Nick Minchin. And I do get the feeling that if the Liberals realise that they can really grab a hold of Gen Y by fighting this Labor policy, they'll go full pelt with it.

Well, reading the Australia makes it illegal even for adults to watch porn online is pretty bad, I have to admit.
But you can hardly blame a government for making laws (which is what they get elected for) and then enforcing those laws (which is, at the end of the day, what they get paid for).
If there's a problem in this case, I'd say it's to be found in Australian society to elect governments making porn illegal. That actually speaks volumes.

Well it wasn't one of the main platforms on top of that many Australian voters are idiots who will listen to any politician that comes up with some gimmick (which is how the useless and hopeless Xenophon got elected with 20% of the vote to the Senate). Or some politician that tells them what they want to hear, there are also a lot of idiots who think that certain things will be good for Australia or accomplish the goal it is stated but lo and behold it doesn't work. Rudd also plays tabloid politics something which gets the ordinary morons to vote for him. Yes the Australian voting public by and large are morons.

... Where the hell are you from?

Australia.

To be fair, Gen Y fell for it with the whole "Kevin 07" shit, but now they're really starting to get it, since Rudd cracked down on booze, the Internet... pretty much everything we like.

Gen Y really are like young pensioners. "We didn't earn it, we don't need it, but if we don't get it, we'll raise hell!"

Australia.

I swear you said you were Bavarian.

It's Sen. Nick Minchin. And I do get the feeling that if the Liberals realise that they can really grab a hold of Gen Y by fighting this Labor policy, they'll go full pelt with it.

It depends what the media have to say about it. But being the opposition they should and being liberals they should but the family thing may give them reservations.

I swear you said you were Bavarian.

lol I did.

I am a citizen of Australia born and raised and quite ocker.. My father is a Bavarian under Bavarian law the son of a Bavarian is also a Bavarian unfortunately because Bavaria is a state of Germany and not one under its own right it cannot give out individual citizenship but I have had the privilege of being brought up in both cultures Australian has dominated more.

True, honest people don't go into politics. Common knowledge.
Then again, there must be some fundamental difference between the societies and consequently politics of a country that makes it illegal to watch porn online, and, say, a country that allows porn to be shown on regular TV.

Yet it is perfectly alright for TV channels to broadcast it.

Thanks for doing that little bit of digging - haven't had the time to look into anything rlly, worrying stuff - even more worrying that nobody has kicked up a fuss about the stuff very much but then again lol, people don't rly seem to care enough to actually do much about things they don't agree with lately.

Correction the media don't yet care about it

*rings up Today tonight*

No I wouldn't do that I will not lower myself to their standards.

lol I did.

I am a citizen of Australia born and raised and quite ocker.. My father is a Bavarian under Bavarian law the son of a Bavarian is also a Bavarian unfortunately because Bavaria is a state of Germany and not one under its own right it cannot give out individual citizenship but I have had the privilege of being brought up in both cultures Australian has dominated more.

My god, I've found another German-Australian who considers himself German. My mum is from Alemannia, near the German-Swiss border.

banned from Aussie internet.
bomb making guides, Child porn, Hate websites, Racist websites, radiation and nuclear energy info(fear of dirty bombs).


I dont knoe if i could trust content filters. sounds dangerous to me.

Is this true?

If so it seems the government doesn't want the people to find out about Nuclear energy something which it opposes greatly in Australia and so will hide the info for people to find out themselves and will get the info from the anti-nuclear energy government instead.

Correction the media don't yet care about it

*rings up Today tonight*

No I wouldn't do that I will not lower myself to their standards.

Besides, TT would probably twist it around and make it seem like all people opposed to this legislation are perverts who want to harm the children.

Yes, we have the House of Representatives and the Senate. I must admit that I don't quite know how it all works, but they both seem to be pretty toothless against the Fed Govt.

However, we did have a little gem a few months back where the opposition combined to crush the government's (admittedly totally bullshit) taxes. That was fun.

Well since the Lower House is dominated by government politicians they won't do anything especially since under a Labor government any Labor politician who votes against the party line will be kicked out of the party.

The Senate Labor doesn't have the majority however they only need one person to vote otherwise, (well two actually but Xenophon is a dick and wouldn't have a clue what was going on) so it is easy.

Did you see those taxes are now going through?

And did you know FeO even though that the taxes hadn't been passed by the Senate the government was still collecting them? Now that is bullshit.

My god, I've found another German-Australian who considers himself German. My mum is from Alemannia, near the German-Swiss border.

Cool Neu Leonstien is one also, even more German than us as he moved here when he was 16.

Yeah, I though that was weird. I just assumed that they're allowed to enforce the taxes until they're formally rejected. Which is quite fucked.

Cool Neu Leonstien is one also, even more German than us as he moved here when he was 16.

I know, but he and the other Germans, and everybody else on this board for that matter, can't really wrap their head around the Australian race concepts.

LG: The fact that we're more fascist than you and we've only been an elective nation for about 110 years does not say many good things about us.

Well, you were founded by convicted criminals. We were founded by religious nuts and smugglers. See the difference?

Yeah, I though that was weird. I just assumed that they're allowed to enforce the taxes until they're formally rejected. Which is quite fucked.

It is fucked we were taxed illegally but there is nothing we can do about it, the taxes weren't passed and they taxed us Australia governance and the way the system works is fucked up.

Yet it is perfectly alright for TV channels to broadcast it.

Ok... this is incoherent and weird.
You can't view porn online, but you've got normal TV channels allowed to air it?

I know, but he and the other Germans, and everybody else on this board for that matter, can't really wrap their head around the Australian race concepts.

What do you mean?

Ok... this is incoherent and weird.
You can't view porn online, but you've got normal TV channels allowed to air it?

Crickey!:eek2:

I know, but he and the other Germans, and everybody else on this board for that matter, can't really wrap their head around the Australian race concepts.

I'd say most people here simply regard them as ... well, too 1940.

Crickey!:eek2:

Indeed - it's the other way round here. :p

What do you mean?

Well, a lot of immigrants in Australia consider themselves to still be European, and it takes a few generations to fully integrate. It's not like America where they get off the boat and start shouting "I love America".

Ok... this is incoherent and weird.
You can't view porn online, but you've got normal TV channels allowed to air it?

Logic to Australia: Be Consistent you silly people

It truly doesn't matter if Australia is a Fascist state now or not. I can't sustain a conversation with an Australian, no matter what. Why? I do not understand their accent. Try as I may, I cannot follow, and I consider myself quite adept at English.:(

Ok... this is incoherent and weird.
You can't view porn online, but you've got normal TV channels allowed to air it?

Yeah, wrap your head around that. By the same token, we have a full ratings system ranging from E (Everyone) to X18+ (Restricted for those 18 and older), but video games cannot receive over MA15+ (Restricted for those 15 and older), which means if a game warrants an R18+, it just gets banned outright. Fallout 3 got banned because you can use morphine. It's just entirely stupid.

It truly doesn't matter if Australia is a Fascist state now or not. I can't sustain a conversation with an Australian, no matter what. Why? I do not understand their accent. Try as I may, I cannot follow, and I consider myself quite adept at English.:(

I'm English Yuki-Chan, and even I have trouble understanding Australian. :p

It truly doesn't matter if Australia is a Fascist state now or not. I can't sustain a conversation with an Australian, no matter what. Why? I do not understand their accent. Try as I may, I cannot follow, and I consider myself quite adept at English.:(

I remember Billy Connolly once talking about how he tried to communicate with an Australian girl... I admit, I nearly wet my pants I was laughing so hard.

It truly doesn't matter if Australia is a Fascist state now or not. I can't sustain a conversation with an Australian, no matter what. Why? I do not understand their accent. Try as I may, I cannot follow, and I consider myself quite adept at English.:(

... Seriously? I consider Australians to have the most neutral accents of the English speaking nations.

Ok... this is incoherent and weird.
You can't view porn online, but you've got normal TV channels allowed to air it?

That is exactly right. It is rated but they are allowed to show it.

I'm English Yuki-Chan, and even I have trouble understanding Australian. :p

You're crapping me! We have such a plain and unremarkable accent! Americans are far worse.

... Seriously? I consider Australians to have the most neutral accents of the English speaking nations.

Seriously FO. I cannot understand Australians. It's very grating. I sometimes wonder if my ear just rejects Australian phonetics or something. LOL!:tongue:

Yeah, wrap your head around that. By the same token, we have a full ratings system ranging from E (Everyone) to X18+ (Restricted for those 18 and older), but video games cannot receive over MA15+ (Restricted for those 15 and older), which means if a game warrants an R18+, it just gets banned outright. Fallout 3 got banned because you can use morphine. It's just entirely stupid.

And YOU had the galls to mouth off about Germany's censorship and FSK laws??? Hypocrite! :tongue:

It truly doesn't matter if Australia is a Fascist state now or not. I can't sustain a conversation with an Australian, no matter what. Why? I do not understand their accent. Try as I may, I cannot follow, and I consider myself quite adept at English.:(

What are you taking bout mate, it isn't true at all maybe cause you're just a sheila but any old drongo can understand us. :p

Have you ever spoken to Scottish people?

You're crapping me! We have such a plain and unremarkable accent! Americans are far worse.

You mean you don't notice the sing-song, and the misplaced vowel-sounds and swallowed consonants?

You're crapping me! We have such a plain and unremarkable accent! Americans are far worse.

An Australian person really has no grounds to claim Australian accents are understandable to non-Australians from personal experience.

You're crapping me! We have such a plain and unremarkable accent! Americans are far worse.

Just Southerners. Americans from the South have a horrid drawl that prevents me from understanding them.:p

What are you taking bout mate, it isn't true at all maybe cause you're just a sheila but any old drongo can understand us. :p

Have you ever spoken to Scottish people?

Billy Connolly couldn't :tongue:

... Seriously? I consider Australians to have the most neutral accents of the English speaking nations.

No mate we don't but have people ever tried to speak to a true Cockney?

No mate we don't but have people ever tried to speak to a true Cockney?

Easy. Try a Dubbite.

What are you taking bout mate, it isn't true at all maybe cause you're just a sheila but any old drongo can understand us. :p

Have you ever spoken to Scottish people?

I have, mate. I can understand the Scots and the Irish. I can even understand the Brits (as long as they're not from Manchester). But you, Aussies, you I hardly understand when speaking.:D

I speak old fashioned standard English - very easy to understand. :)

Billy Connolly couldn't :tongue:

lol

You mean you don't notice the sing-song, and the misplaced vowel-sounds and swallowed consonants?

Misplaced? swallowed? sing-song?

Look I don't mind saying this is true or not but can you give some examples being an Australian I do not notice it.

The only time I notice it is mainly where I am living now because a lot of these people kept the British plum in their mouth.

And YOU had the galls to mouth off about Germany's censorship and FSK laws??? Hypocrite! :tongue:

Yeah, but until this fucking government, nothing was goddamn enforced. Now we're got these idealistic wankers in charge and they want to enforce everything.

You mean you don't notice the sing-song, and the misplaced vowel-sounds and swallowed consonants?

I dunno, it varies from person to person. I have a mate who's got a tad of English because he is. I've got a mate who's entire Australian, and just sounds plain. Apparently I have the slightest hint of German.

No mate we don't but have people ever tried to speak to a true Cockney?

My question to you is: can anyone else but a Cockney can understand a Cockney?:D

I speak old fashioned standard English - very easy to understand. :)

I can actually understand you people due to me watching so much British comedy.

Seriously FO. I cannot understand Australians. It's very grating. I sometimes wonder if my ear just rejects Australian phonetics or something. LOL!:tongue:

I hope it is just the phonetics of Australians that you reject ;)

*Prays that there is still some hope with Nanatsu* :p

My question to you is: can anyone else but a Cockney can understand a Cockney?:D

'Ave a banana!

I can actually understand you people due to me watching so much British comedy.

Well, whatever floats your boat. :)

News Flash.

Australia was originally founded as a penal colony. You might call this "getting back to the roots".

:D

Seriously though, this is almost as overblown as "OMG NEWSPEAK!!!!"

Just Southerners. Americans from the South have a horrid drawl that prevents me from understanding them.:p

The northerners are bad too.

I hope it is just the phonetics of Australians that you reject ;)

*Prays that there is still some hope with Nanatsu* :p

Maybe if I press this button and listen to Aussies talk in slow motion...:tongue:

Just Southerners. Americans from the South have a horrid drawl that prevents me from understanding them.:p

I can make a great southern accent that you'd have to be from southwest Texas to understand.

The northerners are bad too.

I never had a problem understanding northerners.

Well, whatever floats your boat. :)

Are you saying that British comedy is bad?

News Flash.

Australia was originally founded as a penal colony. You might call this "getting back to the roots".

:D

Seriously though, this is almost as overblown as "OMG NEWSPEAK!!!!"

It really isn't. The government is planning to enforce a filter on the entire country. It will block material considered illegal. Which would be fine, if our laws weren't incredibly draconian; porn will be completely blocked. Compounding that is the fact that we already have some of the worst broadband in the Western world, this will just make it ever slower.

'Ave a banana!

A'ight mate.:D

I never had a problem understanding northerners.

I can understand it, it just sounds horrible.

http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1399635276
<snip>

It's highly likely that it's just filtering out illegal certain, such as child pornography, piracy, rapesites et cetera that are illegal anyway. Not that I know for sure, but it's a pretty sound guess.

Also it's hardly Fascism, I think you're overreacting just a bit.

users can switch between two blacklists which block content inappropriate for children, and a separate list which blocks illegal material.

Yup, there we go. Optional child firewall and an illegal content blocker. Although I'll admit I do enjoy Bittorrent, it seems reasonable to me :S

Also I believe several other "Western Democracies" filter net content, like Italy for example.

My question to you is: can anyone else but a Cockney can understand a Cockney?:D

Well Adam and Eve not, but after a few donkey's ears it will be Ham'n'cheesy to walk down a plate of meat and speak to any Cockney. :p

Are you saying that British comedy is bad?

Not bad, but too dry. *nod*

I can understand it, it just sounds horrible.

The only ppl who speak English beautifully, are the Brits, IMO.

The only ppl who speak English beautifully, are the Brits, IMO.

I see how it is.

Not bad, but too dry. *nod*

I have to agree. :(

The only ppl who speak English beautifully, are the Brits, IMO.

Ah but which Brits? That is the question.

The only ppl who speak English beautifully, are the Brits, IMO.

You have a fan now. :D

It's highly likely that it's just filtering out illegal content, such as child pornography, rapesites etc. which are illegal anyway. Not that I know for sure, but it's a pretty sound guess.

Also it's hardly Fascism, I think you're overreacting just a bit.

If you actually look at Australia laws, porn on the 'Net is illegal. I don't care if I do look like a pervert; we have the right to look at porn!

Maybe if I press this button and listen to Aussies talk in slow motion...:tongue:

Or if you press this button you can get it chipmunk style down under.

You're crapping me! We have such a plain and unremarkable accent! Americans are far worse.

The Aussie accent aint that bad, I mean we have worst regional accents over here!

Or if you press this button you can get it chipmunk style down under.

Only if I can have a ride on a kangoroo pouch.:D

Ah but which Brits? That is the question.

All but the Mancs. *nod*

My question to you is: can anyone else but a Cockney can understand a Cockney?:D

Heheh of course man.

If you actually look at Australia laws, porn on the 'Net is illegal. I don't care if I do look like a pervert; we have the right to look at porn!

Then challenge the law, not the filter. Citizens still have the right to protest and petition, amongst electing candidates that could still advocate internet pornography. Whatever way you look at it, Fascism, it is not.

[Also I added a bit more to my first post (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14110164&postcount=192), not sure if it was relevant but hey]

I see how it is.

But, but, but... aren't you an innocent Southern boy that knows nothing about nothing?:(

Well Adam and Eve not, but after a few donkey's ears it will be Ham'n'cheesy to walk down a plate of meat and speak to any Cockney. :p

Heh try droping the second word of the rhymeing couplet and you'll be speaking almost like a native.

Heheh of course man.

Who, I ask.

Then challenge the law, not the filter. Citizens still have the right to protest and petition, amongst electing candidates that could still advocate internet pornography. Whatever way you look at it, Fascism, it is not.

[Also I added a bit more to my first post (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14110164&postcount=192), not sure if it was relevant but hey]

It's easier to stop this filter than it is to change the law, unfortunately. We've been trying to do a similar thing with getting video games the same ratings as films, but it's just fucking hard.

I have to agree. :(

What do you mean by too dry?

Only if I can have a ride on a kangoroo pouch.:D

Of course, just check for any killer koalas that may have dropped in there.

I have to agree. :(

Who, I ask.

Well I aint a cockney, but I can speak it, I am a Londoner, but no cockney, my dad is though.

It's easier to stop this filter than it is to change the law, unfortunately. We've been trying to do a similar thing with getting video games the same ratings as films, but it's just fucking hard.

Also internet pornography isn't illegal in Australia, just monitored the same way television is. I understand your anger
at this, but it's really just cultural conservatism.

Heh try droping the second word of the rhymeing couplet and you'll be speaking almost like a native.

Hey, I was close, so do you mean instead of Donkey's ears I just say Donkey's? Which actually would make sense considering that I have heard it like that before.

But instead of Plate of meat just say meat?

Of course, just check for any killer koalas that may have dropped in there.

That's something else. Those killer koalas! Vicious critters, vicious Aussie critters.

Also internet pornography isn't illegal in Australia, just monitored the same way television is. I understand your anger
at this, but it's really just cultural conservatism.

I think the most upsetting thing about this all is that the youth were a big part in getting Rudd and Labor elected, and now they're really just cracking down on us.

Well I aint a cockney, but I can speak it, I am a Londoner, but no cockney, my dad is though.

How far from the bow bells where you born?

Hey, I was close, so do you mean instead of Donkey's ears I just say Donkey's? Which actually would make sense considering that I have heard it like that before.

But instead of Plate of meat just say meat?

Yeah. 'I aint seen you for donkey's' is valid as is 'Ohhh me plates hurt'.

Its kinda odd, sometimes you drop the second word and sometimes you don't. I have never heard of a wife being called 'the trouble' rather than 'the trouble & strife'

Well I aint a cockney, but I can speak it, I am a Londoner, but no cockney, my dad is though.

Well, you understand it cos you have been listening to Cockney since you were a child. I can't understand it for the life of me. And I've tried, alas, I've failed miserably.

What do you mean by too dry?

Well, British comedy these days allways seems to try to be too clever, or too gross. It's just not funny any more.

So I make my own comedy. :)

I think the most upsetting thing about this all is that the youth were a big part in getting Rudd and Labor elected, and now they're really just cracking down on us.

Aye, 'tis a shame. Actually, I think I may have been wrong about internet pornography and its legal status in Australia, it all seems needlessly complicated.

Fuck it, go have a riot. Riots are great :D

That's something else. Those killer koalas! Vicious critters, vicious Aussie critters.

Hey you don't know the half of it. Cassowary's, emu's can get nasty, not to mention the sharks, jellyfish, octopi (sp?), spiders, snakes (some of the deadliest on the world of those last two) crocodiles amongst others.

How far from the bow bells where you born?

Shit a long way away, other side of the city, not north you understand, I'm still from the proper side of the river(South) but I was born in Bromley which is South East London and going into Kent, rather then Bow which is streight East London.

But, but, but... aren't you an innocent Southern boy that knows nothing about nothing?:(

Of course I am... and my sweet innocent southern accent doesn't do anything for you. I see how it is.

Yeah. 'I aint seen you for donkey's' is valid as is 'Ohhh me plates hurt'.

Its kinda odd, sometimes you drop the second word and sometimes you don't. I have never heard of a wife being called 'the trouble' rather than 'the trouble & strife'

Oh ok interesting though trouble hardly rhymes with wife. But yes I do like to dabble i Cockney when the mood takes me my favourite one is I would like some Horse with my eye. Though I suppose it should be pronounced 'orse.

Hey you don't know the half of it. Cassowary's, emu's can get nasty, not to mention the sharks, jellyfish, octopi (sp?), spiders, snakes (some of the deadliest on the world of those last two) crocodiles amongst others.

You must admit, mate, that your country has the weirdest flora and fauna in the entire world. Come on, you have the platypus! That animal's proof that God has a twisted sense of humour. There, right there. And to top it, now it will be Fascist fauna. *nod* :D

Well, you understand it cos you have been listening to Cockney since you were a child. I can't understand it for the life of me. And I've tried, alas, I've failed miserably.

Yeah true, but even though there are actulay not so many true cockneys around, I think most Londoners(of a certian age) have a smattering of it.

Guys, you're all threadjacking this to hell. This thread actually has a topic, and it seems that Ferrous Oxide and I are the only ones discussing it.

Aye, 'tis a shame. Actually, I think I may have been wrong about internet pornography and its legal status in Australia, it all seems needlessly complicated.

Fuck it, go have a riot. Riots are great :D

We've actually found a use for Facebook, there'll be protests.

Of course I am... and my sweet innocent southern accent doesn't do anything for you. I see how it is.

That's cos you never use it for me, man.

Guys, you're all threadjacking this to hell. This thread actually has a topic, and it seems that Ferrous Oxide and I are the only ones discussing it.

I don't mind too much. We did get a fair bit of discuss out of it anyway.

My accent is actually kinda unique... it's actually... I must admit, part Australian. I had speech therapy you see, so I was taught to speak by a posh Australian lady... my accent ended up being unique, but universally understandable. A few people on here who have herd my voice can confirm that. :)

*Haz a hybrid accent*

You must admit, mate, that your country has the weirdest flora and fauna in the entire world. Come on, you have the platypus! That animal's proof that God has a twisted sense of humour. There, right there. And to top it, now it will be Fascist fauna. *nod* :D

lol, ah we do indeed we do but I love it and all the survival techniques we have to learn.

The female Platypus is also dangerous and can kill you if she gets you with her spurs. I wonder if the wombat or lyrebird are dangerous, perhaps not, one of the few.

We've actually found a use for Facebook, there'll be protests.

If they've banned porn, odds are they've never been on the internet. Throw shit at their houses instead, I'm sure it'll all pan out fine.

The only ppl who speak English beautifully, are the Brits, IMO.

Bu-...Wha-....

You make me very sad.:(

Oh ok interesting though trouble hardly rhymes with wife. But yes I do like to dabble i Cockney when the mood takes me my favourite one is I would like some Horse with my eye. Though I suppose it should be pronounced 'orse.

Heh yeah ya gota drop them aitches!

We've actually found a use for Facebook, there'll be protests.

Facebook could be used for terrorists to organise and group together. Better inform the Australian government so they can add it to their blacklist.

That's cos you never use it for me, man.

Aww, comn darlin'. We'll go cruisin' in the hotrod 'til somethin' happens.

My accent is actually kinda unique... it's actually... I must admit, part Australian. I had speech therapy you see, so I was taught to speak by a posh Australian lady... my accent ended up being unique, but universally understandable. A few people on here who have herd my voice can confirm that. :)

*Haz a hybrid accent*

Your accent is distinctively British though. But it is most elegant and very easy to understand.

Your accent is distinctively British though. But it is most elegant and very easy to understand.

Why thank you, Yuki-Chan! :D

*Takes a bow*

Aww, comn darlin'. We'll go cruisin' in the hotrod 'til somethin' happens.

I'll be right there, hunny!

If they've banned porn, odds are they've never been on the internet. Throw shit at their houses instead, I'm sure it'll all pan out fine.

I get the feeling that too many factors will get in the way of this legislature. The people hate it, the opposition will side with the people, the ISPs dislike it, and in the long run, even the banks with disagree with it.

lol, ah we do indeed we do but I love it and all the survival techniques we have to learn.

The female Platypus is also dangerous and can kill you if she gets you with her spurs. I wonder if the wombat or lyrebird are dangerous, perhaps not, one of the few.

I mean, I know that not all Aussies talk like Steve Irwin. But it is a harsh English accent and I have problems understanding it.

I get the feeling that too many factors will get in the way of this legislature. The people hate it, the opposition will side with the people, the ISPs dislike it, and in the long run, even the banks with disagree with it.

The gov tried to get ISPs to sign up to a similar scheme over here, 'cept voluntarily, and the ISPs didn't like it one bit. Except Virgin of course, but all they did was sent out 'warning' letters to its users to reiterate that using Virgin broadband for illegal purposes breached their terms and conditions. Monitoring individual IP addresses without warrant is still generally frowned upon, however.

I mean, I know that not all Aussies talk like Steve Irwin. But it is a harsh English accent and I have problems understanding it.

See, I'm sure you could understand me. There's just so many variants of the Aussie accent that you can't just blanket it all under one definition.

I'll be right there, hunny!

I got a large backseat and heavily tinted windows my dear. :p

I mean, I know that not all Aussies talk like Steve Irwin. But it is a harsh English accent and I have problems understanding it.

"Crikey", that's what I forgot to use, mainly cause we never use it.

Yeah I know what you mean and yes we do have strange ways to pronounce words, and if you have problems understanding it that is fair enough.

Bu-...Wha-....

You make me very sad.:(

But, but but... how can I make you sad, CM? That makes me sad now. :(

I got a large backseat and heavily tinted windows my dear. :p

You are one dirty boy good sir.