Customs porn inquiry upsets Sex Party (SMH)

FOR years the adult industry has fought to keep the government out of your bedroom. Now it is fighting to keep it out of your luggage as well.

The Incoming Passenger Card for people entering Australia was recently changed to ask if they are carrying pornography. If passengers declare they are, customs officials will be able to conduct a search to assess whether the material is illegal.

The Australian Sex Party says the move marks a new era of official investigations into people's private lives. It notes the lack of a formal definition of pornography means that a variety of erotica may need to be declared.

Customs porn inquiry

Who invited this dreadful government into our bedrooms? If anyone imagined that the netfilter wasn't just a puritan power grab this should disabuse them of that notion.

For Conroy and co., "protecting the children" means protecting the churches and their anti-porn, anti-fun campaign. You know it's policy on the run when the Australian Christian Lobby, riddled with young earther denialism, thinks it's a good idea.

ACL is on the move.

In Brief:

* Government moves to filter porn from internet.
* Sex trade and civil libertarians violently oppose this.
* Please write to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy to thank him for protecting kids.

Dear ACL Supporter

It is important Governments don't just hear from us when we want something. It is vital we thank them when they announce good policy.

Yesterday the Communications Minister Stephen Conroy announced that the Rudd Government will make it compulsory for Internet Service Providers to filter the worst of the worst pornography and violence from the internet.

This means that child porn, rape porn, bestiality and anything else judged as Refused Classification (RC) under Australia's classification laws, such as instruction in crime and drug use, will be blocked.

This is a great first step in protecting children from the harms of pornography online.

Legislation is to be introduced next year giving effect to this policy. In addition, ISPs will be encouraged, and given incentives, to offer optional filtering of X and R rated pornography on a voluntary basis.

No one argues that books, films and magazines should not be subject to this form of appropriate censorship. Now this is beginning to be extended to the internet, where of course children are particularly susceptible to being exposed to harmful content.

Trials have shown RC content from overseas websites can be effectively blocked with negligible impact on internet speed.

Sadly, the sex trade, and some internet civil libertarians who believe there should be no control over the internet, are violently opposed and are putting out much misinformation in the media.

It is important that the Communications Minister Stephen Conroy hears from us - real people with real concerns for the safety of kids online. Please take a moment to write to Senator Conroy and thank him. A personal letter would be most effective, but we also understand this is a busy time of year and an email may be more convenient. His contact details are:

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

His e-mail address is senator.conroy@aph.gov.au.

Thanks in anticipation of your response. May I take this opportunity to wish you and your family a blessed Christmas.

God bless

Jim Wallace AM
Managing Director

You heard the man. Start writing!

Link:

Conroy must explain why Christian lobby gets net filtering trial update: Greens

The Australian Greens are calling on the Communications Minister Stephen Conroy to explain who else besides the Christian Lobby will be given a background briefing on the net filtering proposal.

"The head of the Australian Christian Lobby, Jim Wallace, met with communications minister Senator Conroy late last week," Greens Spokesperson on Communications, Senator Scott Ludlam said today.

"Mr Wallace says he has not received any information on the trial results, but is reported to have told the Christian Lobby's national conference that he had "found out" enough on the ISP-level filtering trial to believe that ISP-level filtering worked."

Link to Greens site: