Yarpy

Government's across the world are in a real fix as to how to stop the child porn racket. It looks like the NZ Government has used this situation to censor what is said on the Internet:

NZ internet filter goes live - gov forgets to tell public

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03...ternet_filter/

hazeandsteve

....and this is a problem why?
If censorship is needed, then I'm all for big brother if it cuts the risk to children, and we don't own any.
There may be more to this story than the original post. If there is, then I couldn't be arsed to read it.

Yarpy

It's a problem because, whilst on the one hand we need to eradicate child porn, on the other hand we don't want the Government jumping in and having editorial control over the Internet.

bananalana

what does it matter if youre not doing dodgy stuff?

Yarpy

It matters because you might be doing something that is very far from being dodgy but is something the Government simply does not agree with. Have a look at what has happened in Australia where they have got internet controls:

Australia will try to censor the Internet
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/...ensor-internet

About half of the sites on the list were not related to child porn and included poker sites, Youtube links, regular gay and straight porn sites, Wikipedia entries, euthanasia sites, fringe religions, fetish sites, Christian sites and bizarrely a tour operator and even a Queensland dentist.

and

Countries that do filter the Internet include Communist China and North Korea, the Islamic theocracies of Saudi Arabia and Iran, a number of other less than democratic countries in the Middle East and a few tin-pot dictatorships here and there.

So a policy that, quite rightly intends to shut down child porn websites ends up shutting down all sorts of other things including your local dentist and religious orgnanisations!

They could shut down British Expats if they wanted to!

Lee Lee

I have to say I haven't read the links but I'm all for censoring, I think far too many things are far too available online. They have been saying over here at the moment that young boys are spending far too much time watching stuff online and they are concerned that its changing the way they treat their girlfriends and ladies in general.

If getting rid of a load of horrible stuff off the internet means you also happen to lose the site for your local dentist then I'm sure lots of people will agree that its a very small sacrifice. I also dont think its a bad thing to get rid of some religious groups.

Yarpy

I agree but there are other ways to improve young minds than Government censorship.


Ah ! Which religious groups do you want to get rid of and how does that affect my Human Right to believe what I want to believe???

Him and Me

I really fail to see what anybody has to gain by having access to child porn? Please dont mention "human Rights",to many people hide behind this statement, nobody has the right to such terrible images.....Good on the NZ Goverment....if you aren't doing anything dodgy then what's there to worry about!!

Yarpy

One hundred per cent agree! Moreover no one has the right to create these awful images in the first place. The children need to be protected first and foremost from these awful people. Personally I would lock up kiddy perverts and throw the key away.

But my question is what other websites should the Government have the right to ban?

There have been quite a few anti NZ comments on this website. Should the NZ Government have the right to censor British Expats?

Him and Me

These aren't the same issues, what we have on here is freedom of speech, I really can't see a democratic country banning that! Banning sick images on the Internet though is just and apropriate. We live a free society but there must be boundaries, killing, stealing, child abuse are examples of such boundaries and goverments should ban access to these sites. I just can't see how banning access to such sites means we lose access to our freedom?!

Remember the power of the vote, if people feel it's becoming a big brother society then the goverment won't be here next term!!!

jennifer45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yarpy

One hundred per cent agree! Moreover no one has the right to create these awful images in the first place. The children need to be protected first and foremost from these awful people. Personally I would lock up kiddy perverts and throw the key away.

But my question is what other websites should the Government have the right to ban?

There have been quite a few anti NZ comments on this website. Should the NZ Government have the right to censor British Expats?

Sorry if I'm wrong- but I get the feeling that even though you reply to the last poster that - the purveyors of child pornography that NZ government is trying to thwart- need locking up- ETC ETC ETC- you still align yourself with the brigade of people, who were against the use of CTV cameras in UK city centres - stating they were intruding on your privacy and against your 'human rights'
Well I'm sorry for those people, who feel they have 'lost' their human rights.
When ever a government has the guts to stand up to the do gooders in our world, who insist on protecting the rights of the perpetrators of evil and fail to consider the RIGHTS of the VICTIMS, there is an out pouring of anguish for the loss of 'our' civil liberties!
Followed by scare mongering as to what 'Big Brother" governments may do in the future.
In my opinion - they should not have left it so late!
Anything that curtails the proliferation of child pornography on the net should be applauded.
I couldn't care less if I haven't been informed!
I'm only too delighted that someone/ some government has the guts to do it- and to hell with the Civil Liberties brigade!
As for the possibility of there being some check on the rest of the cr@p that's permeated the net over the last 10/15 years- Great bring it on! Parents seem to have lost the ability to say no/ not allowed or even the effort to check on what their kids are watching/ joining/ getting involved in. Hey ! if it keeps them quiet and out of mum and dad's hair- then let them alone!
Just think what a 10 year old child has access to on the internet!
Just think how many parents of such children (even younger) have no idea what they're watching, who they are 'chatting' to, or what information they are imparting.
How many parents check the 'history'. Too many use the excuse 'it would be a breach of trust"!
It's a parents responsibility- to protect and guide. Not schools- not police- not governments. Too few take on that responsibility- so if NZ and hopefully others put in checks to thwart these evil purveyors of filth- then bring it on! If they find other web sites that are shown to be of 'evil substance' then shut them down!!

Stephen Jones

This is a worrying trend that quite a few so-called "democratic" nations are beginning to follow. Today it's porn tomorrow it's "opposition" parties...

Jan n Neil

Yarpy is right in what he is saying, the law will be used to the goverments advantage it,s a slippery slope

Neil

Persephone

There are 2 different issues at stake here, child abuse and freedom of the internet. No one is saying that anyone should have the right to view images involving child porn but I really can't see how this is going to do much in the long run apart from start a trend for banning access to sites that the Government deems unsuitable.
The following quote is from the manager of the DIA’s Censorship Compliance Unit, Steve O'Brien. He said: "The Independent Reference Group has met and the filter system processes were demonstrated as set out in the code of practice, that is that the website filtering system prevents access to known websites containing images of child sexual abuse." Notice that it says known websites, presumably other websites will just come in and take their place.

I would support any ban that was effective against child abuse, stopped/reduced child porn, was an open and publicly accountable system and also works as near to 100% as possible.
A quick look at various comments on this via a search implies that it will be pretty simple for anyone to find a way round the filter and also file sharing will not be filtered. I'm not computer savvy enough to know how personally! But if I was that desperate to view something I knew was illegal then I would be looking at ways to circumvent the system 'a locked door only deters an honest thief' Or is it more a case of being seen to do something to appease the public?

A big problem with this is the secrecy-who are the three persons charged with justifying a ban, what guidelines do they work under, who oversees their decisions, what are their prejudices, religious and political affiliations, what checks and balances are in place to ensure that the power they hold cannot be abused; in fact there are numerous questions that ought to be asked about these three individuals and the public does have a right to know.

What if your website is wrongly banned, you suffer loss of business and potentially extremely damaging incorrect connection to child porn? What is in place to deal with circumstances like these? This argument really doesn't come down to 'do gooders' who want to allow unlimited access to anything and everything against those people who are out there trying to abuse or view abuse of children
No one knows what the future will hold, so issues of privacy and freedom must be dealt with as they come up before we do end up with excessive intrusion into our lives. It's interesting how arguments about the 'nanny state' disappear as soon as certain subjects are mentioned. The slippery slope argument is very valid, if the technology is already in place what safeguards are there to prevent extension of its powers? I wouldn't class myself as a raving do gooder but can see a lot of problems with this filtering system that haven't been addressed by the Government. It is hard to regain privacy once it is lost.
How many would be for this if the government had announced ' we're introducing a filter to prevent you watching sites that we deem inappropriate or illegal, the list will be secret and we will monitor it and you', with no mention made of child porn?

BEVS

British Expats is an American owned site. It's servers are in the USA.