Get Up - Save the Internet Campaign

Great news this week that the Greens appear determined to vote against the proposed mandatory ISP filtering that the Government is trying to introduce. Of course they do not hold the balance of power completely so more work needs to be done to ensure that this draconian regulation is not implemented.

Get Up are running a Save the Net campaign. I urge everyone to sign the petition and send it on to all of your friends and family and encourage them to get involved. As the material on the GetUp website explains, mandatory ISP level filtering will slow up internet speeds by up to 87%, will block 1 in 12 legitimate sites and will miss much of the inappropriate content - especially the 60% of traffic from peer to peer sites. It is completely unnecessary, expensive and ineffective to filter the internet in this way. Have your say today and do what you can to stop the Government from introducing the worst internet access in the world outside of China.

You can also write to Stephen Conroy (as I already have - see here and here) and express your concerns directly:

Senator, The Hon. Stephen Conroy
Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy
Level 4, 4 Treasury Place
Melbourne Vic 3002

minister@dbcde.gov.au

More Information
Get Up, Save the Net <http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/SaveTheNet/442> at 26 November 2008

News.com.au, Greens Could Block Plans for Internet Filter (25 November 2008) <http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,24703499-5014239,00.html> at 25 November 2008

ZeroPaid, Australian Web Filter to Block More than 10,000 Unwanted Sites (14 November 2008) <http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9842/Australian+Web+Filter+to+Block+More+than+10%2C000+%27Unwanted%27+Sites> at 26 November 2008

ZeroPaid, Australian ISP Agrees to 'Ridiculous' Net-Filter Trial to Prove 'How Stupid It Is' (12 November 2008) <http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9838/Australian+ISP+Agrees+to+%27Ridiculous%27+Net-Filter+Trial+to+Prove+%27How+Stupid+it+Is%27> at 26 November 2008

The Register, Is the Internet Going Down Down Under (5 November 2008) <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/05/aussie_internet/> at 26 November 2008

ZeroPaid, Australian Govt's Plans to Censor the Internet is Stricter than Iran (24 October 2008) <http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9821/Australian+Govt%27s+Plan+to+Censor+the+Internet+is+%27Stricter+than+Iran%27> at 26 November 2008

ArsTechnica, 'Net Filters "required" for all Australians, No Opt Out (16 October 2008) <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081016-net-filters-required-for-all-australians-no-opt-out.html> at 26 November 2008

TechDirt, Australian Internet Filters Have No Real Opt-Out; Only Opt-In to Fewer Filters (13 October 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20081013/1135502530.shtml> at 26 November 2008

The Australian, Net Censorship to Cost Users (5 August 2008) <http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24128728-15306,00.html> at 26 November 2008