[MLB-WIRELESS] Government Internet Filter - proposed speech and meeting reminder.

[emdeex]

I think its a good speech as well.  I'm sure it will make a difference.

I believe in keeping the focus on the censorship issue.  The technical
argument, "the current technology can't manage it" is just setting
itself up to be pushed over.


On Fri, Dec 12, 2008 at 8:04 AM,  <mw at freenet.net.au> wrote:
> Hi Tyson,
>
>
>
> You obviously put a lot of thought and time into that speech – well done.
>
>
>
> It is suitably cheesy and melodramatic for the kind of forum that I suspect
> this one will be.
>
>
>
> If I were delivering this speech, I would leave out all the rhetoric and
> symbolism.  But, since I'm *not* delivering it, then I reckon you should
> just go along and recite it exactly the way you have written it.  I think I
> might even go along just to see the faces on the folks who are hearing it!
> ;-D
>
> Nice of you to ask, but I don't think that you really need the blessing of
> all members to deliver any speech – we aren't a socialist collective, and
> the audience will surely understand that it is your own personal opinion
> that you espouse.
>
>
>
> Good on you! :-)
>
> Cheers.
>
>
>
> From: melbwireless-bounces at wireless.org.au
> [mailto:melbwireless-bounces at wireless.org.au] On Behalf Of Tyson Clugg
> Sent: Friday, 12 December 2008 3:57 AM
> To: Melbourne Wireless
> Subject: [MLB-WIRELESS] Government Internet Filter - proposed speech and
> meeting reminder.
>
>
>
> Dear Melbourne Wireless,
>
> I came up with the following speech, but it has little to do with the
> policies you have all so graciously contributed to.  I thought I should
> share it all the same, as it takes quite a different tact than the technical
> view that one might expect coming from Melbourne Wireless.  I have no
> intention of giving the following speech unless widely supported by members
> of the group - ie: you.  So once again, please let me know your thoughts and
> opinions.
>
> If you wish to discuss this matter with me in person before the rally on
> Saturday, I strongly suggest you attend the Melbourne Wireless general
> meeting this evening (Friday 12th December) from 7:30pm at the Hawthorn
> Scout Hall, opposite the Auburn Train Station on Victoria Street in
> Hawthorn.  Everyone is welcome to attend, please invite anyone you think may
> be interested.
>
> Regards,
> Tyson Clugg.
> President, Melbourne Wireless Inc.
>
> ----
>
> I thank you all for this opportunity to address you all today as a fellow
> citizen of this great land we all share and call our home.
>
> It is of out of great concern and fear that I stand here before you today.
> A concern that has gathered us together, and a fear that leaves us
> questioning the very fabric of our society.  I fear we are at a fork in the
> road, and that without proper guidance by our government the values we hold
> dear to our hearts will be forever lost as we wander along a long and very
> treacherous path.  The path I speak of is the path of censorship at the
> highest levels and the loss of our privacy within the most intimate places
> of our lives – the workplaces in which we toil, and the very homes in which
> we live.  I'd like to cast a light down a different path today, but first
> I'm going to start with a small poem I wrote.
>
>     Without sex, we die.
>     Without death, we age.
>     Without age, we are innocent.
>     Without innocence, we are mature.
>
>     With maturity, we are consenting.
>     With consent, we are responsible.
>     With responsibility, we are empowered.
>     With empowerment, we govern.
>
>     In government, we trust.
>
> We have bestowed our government with great powers.  We trust the government
> should act in a mature and responsible manner to uphold the rights of all
> decent citizens, especially those who cannot fend for themselves.  Our
> children are especially important as we want them to enjoy the future of our
> great nation just as we have enjoyed its past.  We cannot however allow
> ourselves to forget our own life experiences while teaching our children how
> to be model citizens of the future.
>
> Learning how to cope with sex, sexuality, life and death are all parts of
> the aging process.  Preventing access to material that is sexual or horrific
> in nature in the name of protecting the innocent is indeed a noble concept,
> but ultimately fails to teach our children how to cope when faced with such
> scenarios later in life.  It is clear that our children will not stay
> innocent forever.  Without proper guidance, children don't know how to say
> no to drugs, nor do they know about stranger danger, nor do they know how to
> deal with their first sexual encounter.  We must accept that there will
> always be undesirable elements within our society such as paedophilia, and
> that simply burying our heads in the sand is not going to make us effective
> parents.  Having the government bury our heads for us through mandatory
> content filtering is certainly no better.
>
> The real solution to effective child rearing is effective parenting, in
> combination with the excellent work being done in our schools by the
> education sector.  Our teachers are obliged to report all suspected abuse
> cases, and are well trained in various aspects of child psychology making
> them effective at detecting when something is wrong.  Parents are empowered
> with trust by the government to act responsibly and raise their children in
> line with community expectations.  Should adults abuse or neglect this
> trust, the government has means of removing affected children from harm and
> placing them in the care of the state.  We trust the government to only
> enact these powers in extreme scenarios where the trauma to a child of
> continued abuse would be greater than the trauma of being forcibly removed
> from the custody of their parents.  Fortunately even in this day such
> extreme measures are rarely called upon.
>
> The government has undermined the trust placed in us by seeking to play the
> role of the parent directly, by selecting what content both we and our
> children can access online.  Clearly the government does not trust ordinary
> Australians to be responsible parents, and instead seeks to play the role of
> protective mother for all citizens through the guise of Internet content
> filtering.  Furthermore the government want to achieve this by
> systematically abusing the privacy of all Australian homes and businesses,
> where it will tap in at the heart of our telecommunications infrastructure
> and monitor all our communications with family and loved ones, colleagues
> and friends.  Australian families neither want nor need Internet filtering
> Mr Conroy, and neither families nor business can afford to implement
> Internet filtering in these harsh economic times.
>
> I call upon the government to drop all plans for a costly and unmanageable
> mandatory content filtering system and instead focus its efforts on
> supporting the existing IAA family friendly ISP program.  By providing
> additional funding and subsidies to family friendly ISPs which already have
> experience in delivering content filtering services, concerned Australian
> families could have access to effective content filtering at little or no
> extra cost should they feel it is required.  With a much more manageable
> customer base the cost to taxpayers will be greatly reduced, and Australian
> families will be able to choose from a range of content filtering services
> rather than being lumped with a one size fits all approach that can never be
> a perfect fit for all Australian families and businesses.
>
> The path of mandatory content filtering is a very treacherous one that I
> hope we can avoid for the benefit of all Australians.  I trust our
> government will see the light and lead us back onto a much brighter path,
> where educating our children gives them the power to avoid the dangers they
> may face in life and become model citizens of the future.
>
> I thank you all for your time today.
>
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