Comments on: and then, Australia went dark

By: Justin

Justin — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 08:13:34 +0000

actually wolf, it’s out-Out, not opt-In. The Aus Gov currently provides free net-filter software for download from their website, the new proposal would be ISP based, and there would be two parts, a non-optional black list of extreme content, and an Opt-Out-possible extra list of non-kiddie-friendly stuff. That’s the Proposal, but a Lot of Australian professional groups are working to show the government how impossible and wasteful this project is.

By: mia

mia — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:04:23 +0000

@wolfstar Yes it’s still ok now because they haven’t introduced it yet. I am fearful of the demise of my late night porn indulgences :(

My boyfriend and I were just as shocked as you, Violet, but we wouldn’t at all mind you moving here (Melbourne is the best city, just as a heads up) ;)

By: zinta

zinta — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:48:45 +0000

Oh dear. I am an australian, but choose to live in europe for now, (they are not so up-tight here). Not sure what to do when the nuclear shit hits the fan :-) but I think you will be fine in the US, they got it planned so that it all lands in the EU.

By: wolfstar

wolfstar — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 22:48:39 +0000

actually, you have a choice. we still watch porn! (i am australian) its ony elective for if you have kids/dont believe in porn etc. its up to the payer of the internet acc. to activate it or not, k? so dont worry violet, it still safe here!

By: Agile Cyborg

Agile Cyborg — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 14:51:16 +0000

If Australia infringes on your adult right to view deviant material (unrelated to that which affects children or that is crime-based) then the free-thinking citizens of Australia need to unite and kick some ass.

The problem here is classic: Most free-thinking pluralists have no express desire to impose their sexual habits onto others and as such lack the initiative to invest considerable resources into the maintenance and protection of sexual liberty and freedom.

Classic, also, is the technical and exploitive effort of the massive conservative religious cabal consisting of ALL faiths (numbering in the billions of members) that will ‘battle’ the demon-possessed and infidelic UN-repressed until all remnants of adult sexual expression are pushed into the dark corners and back alleys of social acceptance.

By: Fiona

Fiona — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 07:47:15 +0000

I’mm just going to have to enjoy living in canberra while we can still buy real porn here.

By: violet

violet — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 17:31:46 +0000

NOOOOO! don’t let them take tinynibbles away from Australia!

By: Vampyre

Vampyre — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 17:04:54 +0000

They’re forever censoring things here in Australia. It went way past overboard years ago. Not only will we not be able to look at porn, but I bet we won’t even be able to like at sites like tinynibbles. We all know that tinynibbles isn’t a guide to being a deviant, but I bet the censors won’t see it (and other sites like it) like that. Come on Australia, lighten up.

By: Tony Comstock

Tony Comstock — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 12:38:47 +0000

And no uproar from Alison Croggon and the 2020 club. No surprise there either.

By: Jacques Richer

Jacques Richer — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 04:15:53 +0000

@MichaelK: It’s quite possible. What you would have to do is get a netblock list from the Australian equivalent of RIPE, then parse it and pull out the AU government netblocks. From the netblock list, you could then generate a minimal set of firewall rules to block those IP addresses. With a little care and a few dozen lines of python, that would take a few man-days. The toughest / most annoying part of that would be making arrangements with AU RIPE to get the netblock list – the rest is just scutwork.

By: LibertyVini

LibertyVini — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 03:42:29 +0000

And all this under John Howard’s alleged ‘liberal’ replacement Rudd – just goes to show how unreliable politicians are once they achieve power. Too bad, hope we don’t suffer the same fate here.

By: MichaelK

MichaelK — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 03:24:20 +0000

Too bad everyone else on the planet can’t simply deny access to all Australian government IPs. What they can’t see won’t hurt anyone else.

By: violet

violet — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 01:47:05 +0000

well maybe it’s no surprise from your end, but I just can’t believe they’re going to go ahead with this. I publish so may fantastic erotic writers form Australia, I know a lot of great porn sites and sex shops from Australia, there’s a HUGE sex-positive queer culture there, and more sex bloggers than most poeple are even aware of. it seems to me that the government is really not in touch with the people’s needs. and it seems to me that if they’re going to censor something as beautiful as “Xana and Dax” then Australia needs to be able to access sites like mine and yours more than ever.

so I’ll just sit here still in shock.

By: Tony Comstock

Tony Comstock — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 00:46:57 +0000

Wish I could say I was surprised. Oh, by the way last month “Xana and Dax” was banned from an Australian film festival (2008 Sexy International Film Festival). Sadly, Australia banning things just isn’t as newsworthy as it used to be.