On 2 September 2013 06:55, Nick Sabalausky <SeeWebsiteToContactMe@semitwist.com> wrote:
On Mon, 2 Sep 2013 02:37:09 +1000
Manu <turkeyman@gmail.com> wrote:
> Do. But the website is slow, and you probably haven't tried to use the
> internet in Australia recently.
> Also, our new government intends to set Australia's internet back
> about 10 years:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-6E5yX1E0U
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpN7VCzDTdg
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyY-xI6zgfk
>
> Quality leadership to be sure...
> Note: I can only watch these in 320p after about 20-30 seconds buffer
> time ;)
>

Genuine question, not sarcasm: Have they decided to stop engaging in
thinly-veiled censorship yet? Or at least admit that they censor? ("Oh
no, we're not censoring! We're merely 'denying classification' on things
that are outlawed without government classification!")

No.
We're the 51st state of America, so we're all about censorship and hiding information from the people at all costs. We also don't have the American constitution in our defence, we're more like a lame England acting as America's patsy; they can more-or-less just do whatever they want, and rely on the fact that even if some of the public whinge and complain about it, nobody will actually do anything meaningful to stop it. Our political representation is truly embarrassing.
We also experience 80% Murdoch media coverage, so if they don't want you to know about something, you certainly won't hear discussion/debate about it on the television, and don't talk about it with non-nerds/over-40's, because they'll just tell you you're a wonky conspiracy theorist.

The current government wants to install a nation-wide internet filtering system with a classified black-list so they an filter _specifically_ 'child pornography' from unsuspecting viewers...
I don't know about you, but I've been on the internet a long time, and while it is (or used to be, google are better at filtering it now) reasonably common to stumble upon unexpected porn, I've NEVER seen child or animal abuse in my life. Clearly this isn't the real motivator.
The child abuse department of the federal police are suggesting they give them the budget instead, and they'll be able to make a much more meaningful difference... but nobody listens to them.

Meanwhile, people are constantly asking the leaders if they're spying on us like the NSA and friends. Their preferred response is not to respond at all. They ignore the question and walk away, every time.
Whee!

Of course, investment in the nation's internet is ridiculous, who would want to invest that sort of tax-payer money on communications infrastructure which is just "essentially, a video entertainment system": https://www.youtube.com/v/DPgJA25Nso4?start=39&end=57
Again though, Murdoch has made it clear that he opposes improving the nation's internet infrastructure, because people might prefer a $10/month subscription to online tv services to his own $100/month foxtel subscriptions.
Would you believe that you can't watch Game of Thrones in Australia unless you pay at least $80/month for a foxtel (cable tv) subscription? And they wonder why all the statistics appear to show that Australians are the worst media pirates on earth...