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The Forum > Article Comments > Incensed about censorship > Comments

Incensed about censorship : Comments

By Melinda Tankard Reist, published 5/12/2008

How many mistakes have the Classification Board made with porn magazines over the years? Someone needs to audit the Board.

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I agree with Melinda's stance on this issue. From experience, I suspect the OLO supporters will be very much in the minority.

Bronwyn has pretty much echoed my thoughts on this so I won't repeat those. There seems to be a bit of overwrought hysteria over Internet censorship.

If it was political censorship I would agree in terms of freedom of speech, 'big brother' etc but in this case we are talking about protection for children.

Censorship is not always about control but protection. We have to distinguish between the two. We place ratings on movies and games for this reason and make laws against criminal activity for the greater good.
Posted by pelican, Friday, 5 December 2008 12:03:39 PM
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What is...."Inappropriate" content?

I'd say it is whatever we by our democratic processes SAY it is.

There is a snowflakes chance in hell of pleasing everyone..so why bother trying?

THE PROGRESSION....
<<the images and symbols of pornography have become mainstream, with sexually suggestive content on billboards, kids clothing, in games and music videos.>>

So....logically and reasonably, if those pornographic themese have become mainstream.. 2 observations are needed.

1/ What has BECOME of "mainstream" society?
2/ What will the Porn industry come up with NEXT to 'push the boundaries' so that something is seen as 'naughty' again..(ie.. out of the mainstream) and thus 'alluring' to the adventurous mind.

Regarding "1" I think nothing has really changed, it's just that our true existing nature is less restrained and our carnal appetites have simply surfaced. "

"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness," (Rom 1:18)

Regarding "2".. I think all existing boundaries of age and gender and what constitutes violence and erotica will be challenged, including bestiality etc.

The simple but sad truth is.. once you begin the downward slide into the pornographic cesspool of filth and human degradation, it's a one way ride on a highway to hell.

When we as a community turn back to the Almighty, and repent of our sin, embracing the new life in Christ.. only then will the shackles of downward spiraling carnality be released
Posted by Polycarp, Friday, 5 December 2008 12:31:10 PM
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“How many other mistakes have the Board made over the years these titles have been sold? Someone needs to audit the Board.”

If the executory performance of the board is so poor

Abandon it altogether

Save the tax payer the costs of its administration

After all, tax payers are “grown ups”, required to pay taxes, forced to vote (under penalty of fines) and some are potentially liable for conscription should the time arise. I figure the bearers of such burdens are fully capable of carrying the weight of their own viewing decisions
Posted by Col Rouge, Friday, 5 December 2008 1:13:57 PM
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http://www.torproject.org/

This little program is apparently the one that will bypass the filters.

I showed to my brother who is a top programmer and he said yes it's good.
Posted by meredith, Friday, 5 December 2008 1:25:48 PM
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As a programmer, I would have to say that anyone who supports ISP-level filtering, is either a wowser with radical (and most likely religiously driven) ideas, or is a well-meaning, naive person who obviously doesn't have a very good understanding of Information Technology.

The filter won't do anything to stop hardcore and child pornography, and most illegal sites are already blocked by ISPs anyway. All this will do, is slow-down our already embarrassing broadband speeds, increase the prices of our already expensive internet connections, block many legitimate and innocent websites with false-positives and allow the government-of-the-day to determine what is acceptable for our viewing.

Arguing that censorship is a worth the risk in order to protect the kiddies is pointless and totally irrelevant. The vast majority of digital hardcore and child pornography is distributed by other means and ISP-level content filters are easy enough to get around. There's no way of ever stopping their circumvention either - many kids these days already know how to do it. One thing's for sure though, if this democracy-eroding proposal goes though, I for one will be bypassing it on pure principal.

To assume that this won't eventually become political censorship is naive in the extreme. There's no way anyone be sure of this when the list of "unwanted" material will be changed without our knowing.

I've been a Labor voter my whole life, but I don't think I'll ever vote for them again. If I had to choose between ISP-level filtering and Workchoices, I'd take Workchoices any day - and that's saying something.
Posted by AdamD, Friday, 5 December 2008 2:04:37 PM
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Hey Adam,

What do you think of that Tor thing in the link I put on?
Posted by meredith, Friday, 5 December 2008 2:11:17 PM
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