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Australia attacks Google
IT IS STARTING to look like Google will have to leave Australia if it is going to carry on its anti-censorship campaign.
The Australian government has launched a verbal attack on the Internet search outfit, very similar to those made by the Chinese authorities. The Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, is apparently furious that Google has dared to question his plan to censor the Internet and protect the citizens of Oz from images of flat chested women.
Speaking to ABC Radio, Senator Conroy was stunned to discover that Google had complained to the Obama administration over his plans to censor the web of anything that offended fair dunkum Aussie family values.
In the next few weeks Conroy is bringing in legislation that will force all ISPs operating Down Under to block a blacklist of "refused classification" websites for all Australians. Most porn is okay but that featuring flat chested women is out because paedophiles apparently use that instead of kiddie porn.
This sort of thing is where Conroy and Google are at odds. Google has discovered that Conroy's list includes politically sensitive and innocuous material, such as sexual health discussions and discussions on euthanasia.
Conroy has strong views on euthanasia and he thinks Aussies should look after the welfare of their own kids first.
Google also said implementing mandatory filtering across Australia's millions of Internet users could "negatively impact user access speeds", while filtering material from high-volume sites such as Wikipedia, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter "appears not to be technologically possible as it would have such a serious impact on internet access".
Most of the callers to ABC Radio were opposed to Internet censorship filters and before the end of the programme Conroy lost his rag a bit and attacked Google over its privacy credentials.
He said that the outfit that set up Buzz had no right to challenge him on privacy. Conroy said, "Google founder Schmidt said the following: 'If you have something that you don't want anyone to know maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place'. This is the founder of Google. He also said recently to Wall Street analysts, 'we love cash', so when people say, shouldn't we just leave it up to the Googles of this world to determine what the filtering policy should be...."
Of course this has only amused Google, which is still getting all sorts of praise for standing up to the Chinese government. A Google spokesperson told the Sydney Morning Herald that this is a debate about freedom of access to information for all Australians. Google also said that the Schmidt quote referred to by Senator Conroy had been taken out of context.
Conroy should have Googled his facts a bit better. He should not have labelled Schmidt as one of the founders of the company, when in fact he joined the company as its CEO in 2001.
If Google really wants to stick it to Conroy it should just threaten to pull out of the former British penal colony altogether, just as it has already pulled out of China. Then millions of Australians would be stuck using Bing, and that might cause an armed uprising. µ
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Will Microsoft be more cooperative? I expect they'll be delighted to be Australia's new No.1 search choice.
"Conroy has strong views on euthanasia and he thinks Aussies should look after the welfare of their own kids first."
That joke is so old that it's actually funny again. Good job! :-)
Please help us, we are from Australia, a Net censored nation without access to information. We're being protected you know. Ho ho.
Even if you agree with the basic premise of the filter, as I understand it will filter less than 10% of this objectionable content(it won't filter torrents!). So its a complete farce.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely/Stupidity reigns supreme.
It is understandable that the current Australian administration has adopted the censorship policies by the Chinese government, --- it campaign was paid by the Chinese Communist Party. Remember why the Australian defense head resigned?
Google were never "in Australia", that was one of the good things about this little fiasco, google said "we are not a company that has anything to do with your nation, PPpppptptttttbbbbb" when Conroy approached them in regards to getting a filtered google.
I guess it's back to the tried and true for the pedos...three hail Marys and promise not to do it again.
@bigger_luddite: Steven Conroy joins the debate...
Dear Mr Schmidt "If YOU have something that you don't want anyone to know maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place" So my request to have free and unfetter access to all your company information and activities I presume will be granted!? I'm presuming this will be OK as a corporation surely is no more or less important than people and has no greater right to privacy.
Of course i know you will deny me this as your hypocrisy has already been noted. It would appear that if an individual doesn't want his [foreign] government to know what its doing and has his email account hacked then that is NOT OK!?
Mr Schmidt I would just like to know who decides when it is or isn't appropriate to have privacy and who these thought police are!?
LOL. Numerous governments have already disarmed most Australians to the point where they couldn't even defend themselves against an armed home invasion. Let alone venturing forth outside the house to bring about change.
BTW Conroy is a total tard. He is envisaging controls on free speech and thought that the Nazis could only have dreamed of. It's great he has strong views on euthanasia, but why should all Australians only see his point of view? Talk about myopic mind control.
Why block the site? to leave them up?
They should go after the pedo sites and kill all the adults involved, not block the internet. So the Idiots running the country would rather cover your eyes than attack the problem. I wonder if they want to keep the pedo sites up for themselves. Stupid politician. Always addressing the symptom and never the problem.
Wouldn't you rather have pedophiles look at grown women with small bosoms, rather then looking at kiddies?
I would think if you take away their only release outlet, you will likely make the kiddie porn / actual kiddie acts worse.
Part of what's changed in the last 30 years is that recent generations have no notion that corporations have been and are one of the means of oppression. It's called fascism.
go_ogle is openly merging with the NSA; that anyone regards it as pro-freedom is a measure of ignorance at best.
Here's a source for info on Schmidt, if you can stand it:
http://gawker.com/tag/ericschmidt/
Used to be on Apple's board. HMM.
OK article that ended stupid. British penal colony? Please!.
Most Australians with a brain think Conroy is an idiot. Don't think this is a national attitude, just policy from a clueless government that thinks it knows what the public wants but continues to prove how deluded it is.
What are we (i.e., Australian's) going to do about this continued attack on civil rights and freedom of information, by our government? -
Nothing!
Unfortunately, our Aussie "she'll be right, mate" attitude will prevent any sort of concerted effort to be formed against issues like this.
Thankfully, we've got an ally in the strangest of forms, being a mega-corporation (Google) that seems to have the courage and morale fibre to stand up to the immoral behaviour of dictatorships and democracies alike!
Our rights will continue to be eroded away, a little at a time (in the same manner that they have been over the last 10-20yrs); until a point when a particularly un-Australian event happens (like not being able to read a controversial religious book, read about chemical reactions that are suspected of causing explosions - or making yeast rise, or look at flat-chested ladies, pa-lease!?), which will ignite a populous uprising against the government of the day... or maybe I'll just grab another tinny, watch the next over; and see if the guy next to me organises it!!?
I think I'll watch my front door now, in case I get snatched in the evening, and water-boarded, for information about which download manager I'm using to watch episodes of 24 on!?
I have been living in the UK for almost 2 yrs now, and enjoyed railing against the lost freedoms the British put up with, but now feel I've lost the ability to retain my smug moral superiority I had; having been born and bred in the best country on earth (that's Australia, in case you're wondering).
However, "my australia" doesn't seem to exist anymore (back like when we were kids, hey Johnny Howard!?). :)
Conroy is an embarrassment to Australia; it continually shocks me that incompetents like him are the _government_ in my country. The man is religious in his support for the filter. One cannot have a straight up debate with the man without him dodging questions, ignoring your dismantlement of his arguments, and accusing you of being a paedophile in an immature "if you're not pro-filter, you're pro-child porn" attack. He simply refuses to see facts, and ignores logic and reason and is a liability to Australia.
Isn't it overdue now for the UN to put australia on the weapon-embargo list? You just know religious nutters are tricky but aussies have this violent streak too.. better safe than sorry.
Great article,
Of course no one in Australia wants the government to introduce a lot of the stuff they introduce, but what can you do about it? literally everything is illegal I kid you not. and between the ACL and Family First, if Tony Abbott gets elected we could be one step away from becoming a religous theocracy. the country has changed so much in the last 30 years its not funny. another reason they don't like the people on the internet is cause they don't like us communicating with people in other countries in forums and finding out whats going on, and finding out how our governments are working together.
The man in charge of the future of IT doesn't even know who the founders of Google are...
Correct me if I'm wrong... Sounds like he has done a few, under the table, 'favors' to get to his position.
The fact that his measures are being likened to those being taken by a totalitarian communist/capitalist regime should really be ringing bells in his head, failing that in the heads of those in his party. Aligning yourself with the Chinese Government in terms of their attitudes to censorship is probably not the route that an elected representative wants to take if they wish to remain elected. Hopefully a twat with a sell by date.