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Back in January this year, I brought up Australian governments proposed plan to implement a internet filter to all Australian ISPs. The original plan was that Australians would have the option to turn off this filter, although I would imagine most families wouldn't do so if they had young children. Meaning it would block whatever our government deems innappropriate, be it pornography or even sites like Newgrounds (just an example).

Well the news is out today and it seems that the option to opt out of this filter isn't going to happen. It's going to be hands down mandatory. It will prevent ANYTHING deemed illegal or harmful by our government unaccessible. So we're looking at something along the lines of Chinas internet censorship.

This plan does raise many serious concerns though. This could hinder free speech on the internet, as well as raise some SERIOUS security issues. Apparently, the only way they'll be able to filter secure https content is to intercept the data stream with a man-in-the-middle system. Do you feel comfortable knowing that someone could be looking at your bank details? It's just a matter of time before someone on the inside uses this position to carrying out a multi-million-dollar theft, or even just large-scale identity theft. Would such a system be truly secure enough?

It doesn't stop there. As most Australian users here know.. By international standards Australias internet is already rather poor. My understanding is that we rank under even Romania in internet quality. So as you can imagine, we've got it somewhat slow compare to the rest of the world. Now the problem with this filter is, it brings in the technical issue of "overblocking". I haven't read much on the issue, but apparently it will lead to even slower load times due to the censorship filter.

The added costs of implementing this system will of course in turn be passed down to the consumer, with the probability of ISPs raising their price tags in order to implment the filter. Of course it could be paid by the government, but that would in turn be a waste of tax payers money (which pretty much sums up the whole idea).

It scares me to think that there's someone out there who'd be the nay sayer on what the Australian public are allowed to see online. Such a dictatorship shouldn't be even considered within our country and I'm truly disgusted by this proposal.

So in short, I don't believe such a system has any place in our country.

AngryAussie Talks About Internet Censorship:

Links:
Petition against the Censorship of Australia ONLINE PETITIONS ARE USELESS.. So it's best to probably ignore this one.
No Opt Out!
No Clean Feed
Write/Call/Email to the Minister and complain! If you're going to contact the minister.. PLEASE don't be abusive. State your arguments respectively and maturely. I must recommend SNAIL MAILING to them, as they ignore emails.
Facebook Group

Thoughts?

Updated: 10/21/08 4:16 AM Log in to comment! | Share this!

The People Have Spoken

142 Comments

Oct. 17, 2008 | 7:04 AM Zhuriel says:

Politicians are stupid. Everywhere.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 7:08 AM RubberNinja responds:

You hit the nail on the head my friend.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 7:13 AM Quarl says:

Holy mother of troy that shit's insane. I'd ummm, secede?

Oct. 17, 2008 | 7:23 AM annanas says:

umm joke?

Oct. 17, 2008 | 7:31 AM RubberNinja responds:

Sadly not. :(..

This is as real as it gets.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 7:24 AM The-Doctor says:

you should rage at your government with this argument

Oct. 17, 2008 | 7:32 AM RubberNinja responds:

Because I'm from the internet.

I know these things.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 7:29 AM Orazner says:

There was a man called Omid Djalili
Who once attemped to knee me
He slipped on some muck
Fell down and said fuck
And laughed as he hit the barbi

On a serious note though, that sucks, whenever i hear from friends and family just how friendly and decent australia is, it makes it really hard to imagine why you'd need such things :(

Oct. 17, 2008 | 7:33 AM FrozenFire says:

CUM 2 YOOH ESS AY CAUSE ITS LIKE AMAZING.

Yeah that's really fucking stupid. It's going to keep expanding, this movement that is.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 7:37 AM Toniko-x says:

Yeah, I think the same thing's gonna happen here in Indonesia. They kinda stated "Acts of distributing internet pornography is illegal in Indonesia". Maybe it's because were a muslim country, which is kind of the reason they blocked youtube for a month for us due to that dutch video that totally screwed muslims in and out.

Ah, the deeds of trying to become ethical.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 7:47 AM BusterKeaton says:

i signed! shower me with love!

Oct. 17, 2008 | 7:51 AM Oney says:

thats proboly the most retarded thing i've ever heard. I also bet they're not gonna even look for bad sites, but just autmatically block out anything with the word fuck in it. that's bullshit.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 7:54 AM ransha says:

those bastards...and i thought the russians were bad >:(

Oct. 17, 2008 | 7:57 AM ChemicalVengence says:

that's gay...

Oct. 17, 2008 | 7:59 AM RYNOL says:

I've heard that some countries check out the links people access. And then the government either approves or disapproves. So they will not be able to access the passwords or bank accounts or anything like that. But that's just what I've heard and I don't know if it's possible or not.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 8:02 AM Orazner says:

Placing such systems in place would surely just encourage people to try go around it (which almost always inevitably suceeds) and "rebel". It'll merely make people more attracted to accessing such sites.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 8:12 AM sirbobsalot2 says:

Signed it, hope the idea for this filter gets scrapped :)

Oct. 17, 2008 | 8:27 AM Kajenx says:

Holy wow, that's total blockage of freedom of speech! I'm surprised there isn't a mass rebellion!

Oct. 17, 2008 | 8:34 AM Kotlol says:

I think they are making a grave mistake here. We may have a credit crisis these days but blocking things from the internet is RETARDED for just 1 country.

It will lead to these things:
A: Stress (you can't acces your fav porn site to relax if you do it or something like newgrounds)
B: Insecurity (People will feel like the gouverment wants to put a leash on their people...)
C: People unable to do their jobs right (I mean it could block sites that are needed for work)
D: Roids. (No details needed)

Basicly blocking things is the stupidist idea...

The gouverment is picked by the people to serve the people, not to rule over them...

Oct. 17, 2008 | 8:46 AM lemonshaman says:

OK thats gay, lemme just cancel the idea of going to college/university to Australia.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 9:14 AM HappyHarry says:

So you're not going to be able to access NG or your account here?? Say it ain't so RN!

Oct. 17, 2008 | 2:04 PM RubberNinja responds:

I just want to clarify I was using Newgrounds as an example. I wouldn't honestly be surprised if it was blocked, as every school in Australia has Newgrounds blocked by default due to offensive content.

I've been considering moving to the UK actually, so this kinda stuff is really encouraging me to jump ship.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 9:21 AM carbonwater says:

It better not happen.

It would be really gay otherwise.

Like Richard Simmons gay.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 9:54 AM Jimtopia says:

Wait so you wont be able to get onto Newgrounds?! Say it ain't so RubberNinja! >_<

Oct. 17, 2008 | 10:23 AM WolfBlitz2 says:

we shall take it to his door step!
he is asking for modern warfare....

Oct. 17, 2008 | 10:25 AM TheUnknownEntity says:

Just another excuse for you to come to America...... or that place you mentioned earlier.. what was it.. London? Somewhere around there

ah whatever Australia sucks

-The End

Oct. 17, 2008 | 10:48 AM Wiiporter says:

goddamn communists.

signing petition, but if worse comes to worse I'll miss you buddy.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 11:01 AM Existance says:

I can't believe they'd actually go through with this. Pretty much all the Australian government does is try to win the pulc's vote. They try things like this and when and usually stop when they've realised it's unpopular and they're wasting our country's money. Hopefully they'll cancel it before the election to gain some votes.

Australia is a good country. I've always liked it and living in it, but if they go through with this, I'm gonna move the first chance I get. Which will be some time later, seeing as I'm only fifteen...

Oct. 17, 2008 | 11:01 AM badger-time says:

Then again, when have politicians ever been able to relate with the lives of the people they govern?

Their email account is probably the extent of their internet knowledge.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 11:04 AM Lipsyltable says:

How about organizing a protest where lots of people outside your government stops using the Internet? It would have a great effect. Shame I'm only a kid and far far away with no real way to do that.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 11:18 AM Vortex00 says:

More like it will commercialize the internet..
and anyone who doesn't pay them will be considered "illegal" or "harmful" sites

Oct. 17, 2008 | 11:23 AM Kirbopher says:

I've only just learned of a good number of flash animators in Australia that I wouldn't want to be restricted in such a way, so here's hoping something is done to prevent it.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 11:25 AM Infinate says:

That's an affront to the 1st Amendment! Oh wait....woops. Australia. Right. Seriously though, that's horrible. The internet is supposed to be the last bastion of unrestricted speech. A censored internet is hardly the internet at all. They might as well just take it away entirely.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 11:54 AM JoSilver says:

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!!!

Oct. 17, 2008 | 12:29 PM DWT-Productions says:

thats gay as fuck :(
sorry dude

Oct. 17, 2008 | 12:34 PM SSJ1SonGokou says:

So you're basically saying that they're blocking everything besides Nickelodeon.com?

Oct. 17, 2008 | 12:41 PM Ukinojoe says:

OH NO THAT'S FUCKING HORRIBLE!! Fucking net nanny! It's all coming back!

Hey what about that AT&T wireless satellite internet thingy you plug in? Doesn't that work all over the world? I wonder if you can get an American ISP and just use it wherever you live.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 12:42 PM Etackett2010 says:

For fuck's sake, I was planning on moving from America to Australia when I turned 28...

Oct. 17, 2008 | 12:44 PM Leeraji says:

Holly shit...So it has begun...Theres a rumor on youtube that some time in 2012 internet is not going to be free to explore. They will allow you to buy "packs" of site, popular sites like youtube or facebook etc and you will only be able to enter those. This is seriously ridiculous. I didnt believe it. If such a thing would be made official the public will fucking..wow dude .. Guns blazing all out. This Australian bit aint any better.

Ill spread the word on that petition

Oct. 17, 2008 | 1:18 PM Harry-Slaughter says:

Wow, can they really do that? That sucks.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 1:19 PM Coaly says:

I think it's far from limiting free speech... unless you count porn as free speech. But the security risk of people intercepting "secure" data doesn't sound very good. Also the slow down would suck balls.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 1:27 PM snake23 says:

Don't worry yet! I'm fairly sure that there are some geniusses out there(in australia) who are gonna crack this and wright "fuck the police" all over the place :)

Oct. 17, 2008 | 1:45 PM darx says:

Damn that sucks RN, government always find a way to screw up something. I think you need to start applying for that job as the "man in middle" so you can just unblock all sites :P

Well I guess you never know, they could be implementing this law to rid Austrailian use of P2P sites or Torrent Sites, maybe to slow the amount of pirating going on. I doubt that the government will take away newgrounds :( So maybe it isn't as bad as it seems at the moment?

Oct. 17, 2008 | 1:46 PM malefic-puppy says:

next step: create the FREETHERNET

all hail port 1337!

Oct. 17, 2008 | 1:52 PM Emanhattan says:

during my trip to china I tried to enter hotmail and newgrounds and I could never do it successfully. It sucked. I could not check any of my stuff from back home.

I hope australia doesnt suffer the same fate because about 20% of the aniamtors in this page are australian and it would mean a great loss.

and lets not mention the audience we would not get

Oct. 17, 2008 | 2:16 PM VenomIreland says:

Wow. That's pretty harsh. I feel sorry for RubberNinja.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 2:32 PM WoodenSneakers says:

Ever read 1984? Yeah, I haven't because Orwell is a terrible author; but something like this probably happened in that book. This is so outrageous. If the states did something like this, I'd have to blow up parliament( not the america has a parliamentry system). You should seriously considering blowing something up. Just kill and kill and kill until the blood of freedom is pooling in streets and clogging the filthy gutters that these politicians came from. All of these ideas spawn from the empty pockets of greedy men whose intentions are to rape freedom. Kill until you're free, rubberninja, kill until Australia is free.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 2:34 PM RubberNinja responds:

Violence is never the answer.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 2:38 PM HappyHarry says:

I feel for ya man, come over to Blighty and we can go for a beer.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 10:37 PM RubberNinja responds:

Sounds good to me.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 2:46 PM zNelson24 says:

Are citizens of the United States allowed to sign or somehow support this petition and fight agianst this internet filtering crap?

Oct. 17, 2008 | 2:48 PM HolyPeanuts says:

That's fucking disgusting.
I cant see it being implemented long, though. Still it shouldn't have even been considered.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 2:59 PM OJSlaughter says:

well if it does happen, i just hope it dosn't work cas I can imagine the UK: "well it worked in australia and thats common wealth lets do that too, in britain!"

Oct. 17, 2008 | 3:12 PM lenkobiscuit says:

I can honestly see Britain doing some shit like this in the near future too

Sigh

Oct. 17, 2008 | 3:20 PM jakobhummelen says:

thoughts?? Well, I believe that just about every politician in the western world wants to put this sort of intervention into place just to make the people shut the fuck up in an easy way.

I also believe that these people are fricking crazy, there are too many ethical problems with this law, you guys should riot...

Oct. 17, 2008 | 3:21 PM jakobhummelen says:

P.S. V for vendetta anyone?

Oct. 17, 2008 | 3:30 PM RYNOL says:

In Sweden the Internet is as free as a bird... At least if it doesn't get shot. Here you can go to whatever website you want, the government does not care about the internet. They have no need to. Well sometimes they find criminals with the internet, once they found a killer on facebook. But that's totally unrelated. They have no need for blocking the internet, adults choose what website to go to. If parents don't want their kids watching porno then they should observe what the kids do on the internet more.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 3:30 PM RedMongoose says:

signin the petition ok

Oct. 17, 2008 | 3:37 PM IamWeird33 says:

You want more freedom?
Come to America.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 4:10 PM mrwinneranimator says:

that sucks :C

Oct. 17, 2008 | 4:14 PM Brundaty says:

Whoa, that must be like getting a knife shoved up in the ass! Major pain in the ass, man! That really sucks and i'm so sorry... I will join the Facebook Group alright?
Maybe i'll do something else to help, but for now... i'll join Facebook idea...

Hope things turn out for the best.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 4:29 PM Incognitus says:

That's ridiculous, I'm signing the petitions...

OKAY, WHO RICK ROLLED?!

http://img111.imageshack.us/my.php?im age=rickrolleddz1.png

Oct. 17, 2008 | 4:30 PM Kryoten says:

thats ridiculous and an infringement on free speech. It's like in MGS2, where the computer wants to censor and edit history.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 4:34 PM LichKingz says:

I feel bad for you.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 4:49 PM mikedood says:

at the bottom of the petition site:
"4364 have signed so far - help us get to 1,000."
RESULT!

Oct. 17, 2008 | 4:55 PM I-smel says:

I don't want my children anywhere near that awful nogrounds

Oct. 17, 2008 | 4:56 PM Lalo says:

Can you do something about it?

Oct. 17, 2008 | 5:02 PM Ansel says:

just signed the petition... I consider this immoral and illegal. I'm not exactly clear on Australia's equivalent of the USA's bill of rights + constitution,but whether or not it's explicitly guaranteed, free speech should be a fundamental right in any modern nation.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 5:22 PM Atgod88 says:

Time to back up all porn onto disks eh ross?

Oct. 17, 2008 | 5:27 PM Joshua-Niemi says:

Oh come on! My mother lives in australia and now she's going to get this crap.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 5:32 PM Bismarck117 says:

This is inded an "not all that good idea" I dont think that becose of this australia is an comuniste contry but i just think that they are "overprotective". You have made what you could with those link do and you did not just sit there saying that it sucks. If you consider moving, maybe a place like British colombia in the Canada could be what you are loking for (You are from Australia, you consider moving to England, i supose you like island XD Victoria may be a nice place for you!) ^_^

Oct. 17, 2008 | 5:38 PM Joshua-Niemi says:

Sorry about the second post, I signed the petition and I sent the minister a letter.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 5:45 PM TheBoogley says:

oh dear, Mr Rudd, you are such a piece of shit. I thought that was just election posturing to get the christian and conservative parent vote, shit shit shit. Oops, I said shit, now this is blocked... Just to make sure, what's offensive...? Oh, I know; "shit in a baby's mouth".

Oct. 17, 2008 | 5:53 PM Shadow586 says:

Well this just plain sucks. I may not be Austrailian (I'm from USA) but I'm starting to think that they've gone too far! Seriosuly, money whoring governers are just plain stupid with this, they're messing with normal civillians of this home we call "Earth."

(Just a note: 3 out of 11 of my REAL online friends are Aussies.)

Oct. 17, 2008 | 6:05 PM Kamui-kaze says:

Off.. I don't know much about Australia but I never thought something like that could be going to happen there. Internet-Censorship IS hinding free speech..
It's the same with every government thinking about Internet-Censorship.. nobody blames the parents for buying a Computer for their 6 year old kiddies. (Its the same with TV and so on..)

Oct. 17, 2008 | 6:11 PM wafflecake12 says:

XD newgrounds isnt blocked my school

Oct. 17, 2008 | 7:10 PM Alafooloo says:

Cause we all know parents today don't have the time to be bothered by things like supervising their kids and teaching them right from wrong, so what we as a society need to do is ban everything objectionable.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 7:11 PM BLiZAGA says:

Anyone who thinks this is a good idea is a school teacher who hates the cached button><;

Oct. 17, 2008 | 7:21 PM kokonut10 says:

That's stupid! They don't have the right to tell us what not to look at on the net! I hope this doesn't go through.

Oct. 17, 2008 | 7:33 PM LiquidSnakeNG says:

One step closer to a police state. Congrats!

Oct. 17, 2008 | 9:29 PM LiamTaylor says:

lets just say that it's handy that I know nearly every proxy server in existance. mwahhahahaha!!!

Oct. 18, 2008 | 3:58 AM STALKERClock says:

You mean they tell you what you can and can't look at on the internet there?

Oct. 18, 2008 | 6:56 PM RubberNinja responds:

Well that's the plan.

Oct. 18, 2008 | 4:04 AM EdgeoftheWorld says:

The internet is the one place i can confide in to say what ever the shit-fucking-bitch i want,and I think everybody should have that right

Oct. 18, 2008 | 6:56 PM RubberNinja responds:

I agree.

Oct. 18, 2008 | 8:02 PM diamond-armada says:

this is probably the worst thing the politicians could do. WHY DON'T THEY FUCKING LISTEN INSTEAD OF HAVING IT UP THEIR OWN FUCKING ARSE AND GO AHEAD AND SPOIL EVERYBODYS FUCKING SOCIETY?!

Now come on, If the parent doesn't want a child to see such a website, THIS IS WHY THEY HAVE PARENTAL CONTROL! USE IT? I FUCKING THINK SO!!! and the ironic thing is, ALL KIDS ARE GOING TO FIND OUT ANYWAY! EVERY SINGLE FUCKING KID will find out some day about porn, sex, all sorts, THIS IS WHY THEY HAVE SEX EDUCATION! We already HAVE these things, it's just POLITICIANS CANT REMEMBER CUS THEY'RE SO FAR UP THEIR CRAP FACTORIES, THAT THEY DECIDE TO COMPLETELY DEMOLISH THE WHOLE IDEA TOGETHER, AND JUST STAMP ON A NEW AND WORSE ONE! and they expect PETITIONS to prove that people are against this idea. IT DOESNT TAKE A FUCKING ROCKET SCIENTIST TO FIGURE THIS OUT, THIS ISN'T FUCKING ROCKET SCIENCE! There is 1 VERY simple thing in this world in which kids will ALWAYS find it out through, even when they're young: SEX EDUCATION! And if the parents are not happy about the website, theres One special kind of thing you can do, what's that called? oh yeah, PARENTAL CONTROL!!

And for the love of crap, if they know that australia is fucking messed up with the internet being slow, YOU'D THINK THEY WOULD DO SOMETHING FUCKING SENSIBLE ABOUT IT INSTEAD OF MAKING IT WORSE! I tell you, if this gets around the fucking world, WHAT WOULD BE THE FUCKING POINT IN THERE BEING AN INTERNET AT ALL!

This is why I think there should be special services in which the parent / guardian can buy a package which contains extreme web filtering and understands full parental control, which in the end WOULDN'T AFFECT EVERYBODY ELSE IN THE WHOLE FUCKING WORLD, AND KEEP THEIR KIDS AWAY FROM PORN! sure, they could go over to somebody else's house and watch the porn, but the thing is, THIS IS WHAT "THINKING AHEAD" IS ALL ABOUT! YOU RECOMMEND PEOPLE AROUND THE LOCAL AREA TO USE THIS SOFTWARE! and if they don't agree, THEN IT'S THEIR LOSS WHEN THEY FIND OUT WHAT THAT HUGE THING UNDER YOUR TROUSERS IS ACTUALLY USED FOR, INSTEAD OF PUTTING OT FIRES... and lets not forget urinating.

I'm gonna finish there, even though I still have a ton of issues around the world to talk about and why it's retarded, however I dont want to flood this whole bloody news post. so i'm gonna finish there.

Oct. 20, 2008 | 4:03 AM zeedox says:

This is awful. We need to spread the word of this as much as possible.

Oct. 21, 2008 | 3:31 PM Roaltyx says:

Aww f*ck, that just means that new zealand is next in line...

Oct. 21, 2008 | 3:38 PM Catoblepas says:

Why are Australian bigwigs so scared of everything? I thought you were descendants of HARDCORE FUCKING PRISONERS!

Oct. 22, 2008 | 9:37 AM RubberNinja responds:

We're scared of going BACK to jail okay.

Oct. 21, 2008 | 3:53 PM SupaPeeves says:

NO MOAR POARN 4 U LOLOLOL

Oct. 21, 2008 | 3:58 PM MysticShinHanKu says:

that's so wrong! That's not fair! Seriously, that's awful! Rights? Hello!

Man... that's a bummer. And the additional slowness for what you can reach is quite a drag as well (no pun intended.) Man, that's like having a middle school connection for the entire country! Every good site is blocked - even sites that aren't even remotely offensive but they flag 'em anyway... and slow as hell.

Sorry, Ross... is this definitely going to happen? Do you guys even have a fighting chance to keep it open and free?

Oct. 21, 2008 | 4:13 PM Quidoo says:

Holy shit fuck christ! I'm supposed to be moving to Australia soon...this sure was a steel toed boot in the balls for me =[

The internet is supposed to be a place where you can speak your mind, voice your beliefs, piss everyone off......and have a good ol' tug

Britain will probably hop on board with this 'plan' next, we just seem to copy every other country that might have a minor tiff with us if we don't

Well, at least that half ape Tony Blair did

Politicians, who are basically people after some form of power, cannot be trusted with power...people who do not want power are usually the ones who make the right decisions when they do have power...'tis a shame really, eh?

Oct. 21, 2008 | 4:35 PM OmnipotentHairdo says:

This is so wrong.
I have like 5 cousins in Australia and if I were them I would definately get the fuck off that country.
Besides I rarely see them so it would be nice having them around :)

I could go on and on about the reasons this is so wong, stupid and useless but that anryaussie dude gor it covered.

Oct. 21, 2008 | 4:51 PM MiddleFingerRings says:

Bastards. I live in Australia.

Oct. 21, 2008 | 4:58 PM JakBaronKing says:

Wow...That sounds scary!

(0_0)

i hope all goes well for you guys.

Oct. 21, 2008 | 5:12 PM JakBaronKing says:

There shouldn't be a restriction to information...

It would be highly unethical to put restrictions on things that your government feels is restricted.

But should illegal things be found...it should be reported to internet security.

Oct. 21, 2008 | 5:23 PM Hoeloe says:

Some Douglas Adams is due here.

Anyone capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.

This really sucks. Some of the greats on Newgrounds come from Australia, Chulaid, JAZZA etc. Fuck, we can't lose them. I say nuke the bastards.
...waaiit...

Oct. 21, 2008 | 6:29 PM SlashFirestorm says:

I remember when Myspace started doing the "not allowing to link to certain sites" thing, and AdultFanFiction.net, where I have quite a few long-as-fuck stories, was arbitrarily blocked. Apparently they just wildcarded "adult" in their URL filter). I had to pester them for a month before they let you link to it again (eventually making the subject of my complaint e-mails as "I'm receiving death threats from someone" to get their attention, which got me a response in a couple hours, lol).

I can only imagine the frustration of anyone hosting/using a site that is randomly labeled as inappropriate by THE FUCKIN' GOVERNMENT. I mean, I don't know if the Australian government is as slow and inefficient as the American government, but if it's even half as bad, there's gonna be a decade-long wait before any webmasters can appeal their filtering (assuming they have an appeal system at all). Maybe that wouldn't be so bad for someone who just posts their perverted fanfictions on the internet, but there are a lot of webmasters who make their living off of their sites, and losing a continent worth of business probably won't make them happy pandas.

Or, in this case, koalas.

:'(

Oct. 21, 2008 | 6:46 PM phsychopath says:

I see the boiling pot [America] boiling over with Australians on the horizon.

Oct. 21, 2008 | 6:57 PM Maxxor says:

FIGHT THE POWER!

Oct. 21, 2008 | 7:08 PM bkdude says:

to think a country once reserved for British outlaws and prisoners is now facing internet filtering.

one reason why i'm glad i live in the US. crap like that wouldn't happen here :p. then again you guys could always use proxy servers to watch your porn or plan your terrorist attacks.

Oct. 21, 2008 | 7:30 PM Masquatto says:

Does Australia have an equivalent to the American Bill of Rights' First Amendment (free speech, etc.)? If so, I'm surprised this is getting seriously considered. If not, then... um... I'd get on trying to write one? :0

Good luck to you and your internet.

Oct. 21, 2008 | 8:14 PM MattTheParanoidKat says:

This is borderline fascism. I mean, gamers have a hard time in Australia because the Conservative Government hates ANYTHING obscene. What the fuck were the voters THINKING when they wanted to have a consewrvitive government. I mean, the shitiness of it... man. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the MPs have Kiddy Porn somewhere on their own computer.

Seriously, I find this absolutely pathetic, and pointless, considering I'm not even Australian I find that this is horseshit on the highest level.

Seriously, Poiticans suck. Anyway, I hope they don't do this, and eventually get voted out of office and die very fast. Well yeah... hope this fascism doesn't see the light of day in your country.

P.S. Who Watches the Watchmen?

Oct. 21, 2008 | 9:51 PM JT1 says:

That is insane. I thought that Australia was a free country. The government of Australia has no authority to violate the natural rights of its citizens through censorship of the Internet. I hope this plan is never realized.

Oct. 21, 2008 | 11:50 PM DariusR says:

Don't proxies work? or will you get arrested by the kangaroo police?

Oct. 22, 2008 | 12:10 AM RubberNinja responds:

Kangaroo police are all knowing.

Oct. 22, 2008 | 12:07 AM wynand says:

instead of writing a massive wallotext here, i think a "this is fuking bullshit" coment will do. But i'm angry at the media, more so than even, this just goes to show that they only show us what they intend and arnt keeping in the best intrests of their viewers. i mean a massive cutoff of every person in australias freedom of speech has got to be somehow news worthy. And i must ask which fukwit suggested this?

Oct. 22, 2008 | 12:25 AM RubberNinja responds:

Rudds Communications Minister.. I forget his name. But his contact details are linked in the post.

Oct. 22, 2008 | 12:14 AM higgles says:

What a bunch of gronks! We thought we were getting something good when we elected Kevin 07, we were wrong...

Oct. 22, 2008 | 12:28 AM RubberNinja responds:

I didn't vote for him.

Couldn't trust that smug grin.

Oct. 22, 2008 | 12:45 AM stewii says:

This is such a coincidence I'm doing this topic for my english presentation tomorrow so thanks for the information I'm gonna get everyone in my class to write a letter!

Oct. 22, 2008 | 4:05 AM RubberNinja responds:

Thanks, please do.

Oct. 22, 2008 | 12:51 AM TitanAura says:

This is one step below the bullshit the cable and phone companies in the US are trying to pull. They're actually trying to buy the internet. Can you believe that? They own the media already so nothing is being reported on this but they want to BUY THE FUCKING INTERNET. Now of course Google and Microsoft have both given them the big "FU" but that isn't stopping them. Now their trying to lobby it in Congress. I doubt it'll get through though, the idea is just too retarded.

Oct. 22, 2008 | 1:33 AM JKAmovies says:

No way dude. Stuff getting Newgrounds blocked. It's my favorite website. I'm Aussie and if that happens. I don't know. I'll get hell angry I guess. Anyway that SUCKS :(

Oct. 22, 2008 | 1:46 AM Koalafish says:

Gah why the hell would they implement something like this, whats good about the internet is you can do whatever you want. On the news (today tonight espically) they always talk about school bullying with youtube and make it sound like the worst site thats ever created

Oct. 22, 2008 | 3:02 AM dreaming-loudly says:

this is total bullshit and must ultra vires with the constitution >:(

Oct. 22, 2008 | 3:03 AM SpeedMetalSandwich says:

Fuck the government. I have hated them since i was old enough to understand it all properly, not when i was an angsty little cunt.

Really. Fuck them to hell.

Oct. 22, 2008 | 3:22 AM BoonChild says:

It's really disgracing this part of our national anthem too.

"Australians all let us rejoice, for we are young and FREE"

notice how i emphasize on free
well....not anymore if this is gonna happen.

Oct. 22, 2008 | 3:26 AM Alienslushie says:

Kevin Rudd... I'm 16... and I voted for you...WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?!?
Look... his hearts in the right place about war and the environment... but you're making one big mother fucking mistake here. You don't filter the internet. You can give filter options or make some sites harder to access at worst. But you don't just slice out a massive chunk just so that some 12 year old boy has to buy his first porno now. Man-o-man... He's also decided that everyone bellow my year level gets X amount of dollars towards a laptop(I forget the amount) bellow my year level... WTF? Thats bullcrap. He promised everyone who was heading into the year level above me would be getting laptops.
FUCK YOU KEVIN RUDD! FUCK YOU!

...beats Howard.

Oct. 22, 2008 | 4:07 AM RubberNinja responds:

How do you vote at 16? Lmao.

Oct. 22, 2008 | 4:32 AM dumassstudios says:

oh my fucking god

this is really shit

Oct. 22, 2008 | 4:37 AM jt-dirge says:

Dontcha just love politics?

First Rudd proposes for better internet access to all Australians (never happened), then he was going to distribute laptops to all secondary school students (never happened). Now he wants to pull an anti-net-neutrality scheme? Rudd's a load of shit, and if he does go through with it it's every 18+ person's fault for getting him into parliament in the first place. Either that or it's the Governor General's fault for not kicking his lying shitter out of parliament in the first week.

What a great country we Aussies live in, huh?

Oct. 22, 2008 | 9:36 AM RubberNinja responds:

I voted for John, because at least I could see he wasn't promising bullshit like Kevin.

Oct. 22, 2008 | 5:31 AM daleluck1313 says:

I wish the countries of the world would actually elect GOOD politicians. Hell, the world has gone to the dumps since... well, existence began.

Damn us humans, damn us to heck.

Thank god there are decent people such as yourself, RubberNinja. Let's hope there are others such as yourself.

Or God help us all.

Oct. 22, 2008 | 7:01 AM bobjimmy says:

If This really is put in, which when you look at it, Will probably will not work, or be figured out and fucked over in the next day.

Cause comn, We have 1337 H4X0R5 right?

right? that and the ISP providers would probably lose money and buisness. afterall, why have internet if we cannot use it at our own leisure.

Oct. 22, 2008 | 8:06 AM REDSPADES says:

Australian, and of hearing this, am a pissed off Australian. If that cyber-nazi gets his way where does our free speech go? Or for that matter, the freedom of information on a local to international scale go?

Rudd wants to give us "World class internet broadband" but this censorship will give us only half of the world class internet services that we deserve.

- Angry, but writing to the minister calmly.

Oct. 22, 2008 | 9:43 AM RubberNinja responds:

Great, thanks for doing so.

Oct. 22, 2008 | 11:34 AM blaalb says:

i'm romanian :3 .. why do you think that romania is poor on internet.. :| go pick on another country..

Oct. 22, 2008 | 8:49 PM RubberNinja responds:

What I was saying, is your internet is GOOD. Ours sucks.

Sorry to use you as an example of comparison.

Oct. 22, 2008 | 11:49 AM STALKERClock says:

You could go to Russia, nothing is blocked here.

Oct. 22, 2008 | 3:03 PM Rikco-the-Robot says:

Ironic, STALKERClock, as people in Russia actually have move freedom nowadays than Americans.

Oct. 22, 2008 | 3:24 PM BobtehLog says:

Would this also include New Zealand?

Oct. 22, 2008 | 4:26 PM cozzy123 says:

thats some good engrish right there

Oct. 22, 2008 | 6:39 PM I-fang says:

I cant believe it, the rubish brains of those dammed polititians are reaching the level where they are able to actually control computers!
I hope Mexican neanderthal polititians never get to that stage, they can only think about food and cigarrets.

Oct. 22, 2008 | 7:10 PM Sorachi says:

Kevin Rud is an abo-fucking-lute moron. The whole time his been in office all he's done is make dumbass suggestions just like this.

When I was in year 8 we had something like this, wanna know how long porn and shit was blocked? It took 28 minutes. 28 minutes into the filter and a bunch of STUDENTS found a way around it completely.

Imagine what a bunch of desperate adults could do in 28 minutes.

Oct. 22, 2008 | 9:29 PM ShadowRage says:

Ouch...doesn't the government realizes that they hurt tourism this way? Have they really gone.....bloody insane?

Oct. 23, 2008 | 1:10 AM sonic98 says:

Thank God it never happened.

Oct. 24, 2008 | 11:46 PM RubberNinja responds:

I never said it wasn't happening.

Oct. 23, 2008 | 4:00 AM munio says:

the filter doesn't work for politicians, and their friend and family just as in China

but if you are able to somehow get internet from a non- australian/ non chinese source you would be allright, right?

Oct. 23, 2008 | 8:10 AM Revann says:

This is like your opinion of spore!!

Oct. 23, 2008 | 1:48 PM Skittles135 says:

The government is just going to keep pushing and pushing for less freedom. And if nobody stops them, they're going to end up getting it. Worldwide.

Oct. 23, 2008 | 3:41 PM OathKeeperRoxas says:

........George bush coulden't be stupider than this.

Oct. 23, 2008 | 4:10 PM RyanPridgeon says:

Waitwaitwait.

This is coming from a country who need MORE people?

Lol.

Oct. 23, 2008 | 9:31 PM supasonicfan says:

how will that even work? no offense but australia's goverment is making a terrible move. not to mention royally pissing people off.

Oct. 23, 2008 | 11:10 PM Riraito says:

That's bullshit. Internet is the best thing since sliced bread.

Would you censor sliced bread? Didn't think so.

Oct. 24, 2008 | 1:33 AM MightyGeko says:

Every time I hear about this sort of mandatory security, be it internet or otherwise, I keep thinking that we're heading closer to a "1984" future. (shudder). The thought of someone monitioring my internet activity, watching everywhere I go, is more than a few shots beyond creepy.

Thanks for shedding some light on this .

Oct. 24, 2008 | 6:08 AM the-hero-of-darkness says:

damn it i hate the aussie goverment i say we over throw them and take control

Oct. 24, 2008 | 6:20 AM chainsawmurderer53 says:

Stupid politicians, what do you think will happen to NG?

Oct. 24, 2008 | 7:31 AM Tom-Arto says:

What?!?!?!?!?!?!??!
*jaw hanging open*
i had no idea,

no one knows a thing about this, this is being censored already.

Might have to move to NZ...

Oct. 24, 2008 | 7:48 AM JonBro says:

The Internet is a way of being entertained, receiving information, and being able to contact others across the globe. An entire continent with every questionable site censored ever created is just ridiculous.

Spread the word, everyone in Australia should move out.

Oct. 24, 2008 | 11:42 PM wtfuguyz says:

If you can't say what you want on the internet do it in real life. Run up to a christian conservative and FUCKING UNLOAD.

Oct. 25, 2008 | 8:44 PM AlkaSeltzer says:

I can't loose newgrounds to some ban. There has to be ways around this.

Oct. 26, 2008 | 12:58 AM Sonni says:

Ah ha ha ha, it's worst here. The government never plan or ask opinion from the people, they just applied the "filter" to the internet of Thailand because of some local news media that attacked the internet, claiming that it's "corrupting" the youth back in around 2006. As a result, I couldn't access Newgrounds normally and was forced to use some bypass to get through for over half a year. They still use this filter but for some unknown reason, Newground is out of the list for now.

If you consider Australian internet poor by international standards, I'm not really sure what to say about the one in my country.

Oct. 27, 2008 | 1:10 AM sushifish says:

Stupid Politician

Oct. 29, 2008 | 6:47 AM Powergames says:

use a proxy - try unblocked.org