Internet filter goes bye-bye!

By David Hollingworth
10:56 Apr 29, 2010 | 22 Comments
Tags: internet | filtering | news

Breaking news: Conroy's filter to be shelved until the next election.

Broken by The Australian's IT section, and trumpeted already on our forums, it seems netizens have earned a reprieve from Communications Minister Stephen Conroy's internet filter. According to AusIT:

"A spokeswoman for Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said yesterday the legislation would not be introduced next month's or the June sittings of parliament."

We'd rather see it shelved for good, of course, but we're not going to look a gift broken-promise in the mouth.

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22 Comments

RaRaDawg Apr 29, 2010 11:31 AM	Just in time when Labor realise that they will lose most of the geeks voting for them!! :D
qwakqwak Apr 29, 2010 12:00 PM	only because an election is on it's way
Count Apr 29, 2010 12:07 PM	Like most people, I saw this as good news at first glance, about 2 minutes after reading it I realized this is a disaster. If it was pushed through before the election, we could at least block it, thanks to a united Liberal/Green majority in the senate. But if the election comes through, Labor will most likely win more seats in the senate and be able to push this through unopposed. This is probably the worst thing for the internet filter opposition, and may guarentee it's deployment next election.
Genisis X Apr 29, 2010 1:08 PM	I still won't vote for the pricks for thinking of it in the first place! -X
majestic975 Apr 29, 2010 1:20 PM	I'm not voting for them either. Hopefully 18+ for games will still get through though.
gun_sl1nger Apr 29, 2010 2:04 PM	I won't be voting for them either. Purely based on the filter proposition. To have the rest of the english speaking world group us in with Iran and China in terms of censorship should be an affront to every Australian
sUpEr gEEk Apr 29, 2010 2:27 PM	YYYYYYYYYEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAA Lets party like its 1999 no filter aleast for a while YYYEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHA
TOTTHEAD Apr 29, 2010 2:31 PM	With any luck it will allow more time for debate on this stupid idea before it gets put on the agenda again
xFOADx Apr 29, 2010 3:28 PM	Greens FTW in the senate
brissietex Apr 29, 2010 5:26 PM	Not that I care much for the internet filter but it appears that this current government is more about trying to dodge an actual decision rather than actually getting something done or decided. ETS was a big "must be done" last year but is now on the back burner til 2013. Daycare centre plan canned because of a not so apparent lack of demand. Rudd and company just don't want to take flack for doing something that may cause them to lose votes so it is better to put it off or swept under the covers of the back page.
CamSkene Apr 29, 2010 8:05 PM	more time for me to escape this decrepit backwater of a country :P
MagnumXY Apr 29, 2010 9:53 PM	and live where?
Hasimir Apr 29, 2010 10:57 PM	Well, I'm glad I was able to chip away at it a bit (ref.: http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/News/165671,the-clean-feed-under-the-microscope.aspx). The real problem is when they return after an inevitable win at the next election and claim that now we know the policy is mandatory, they have a mandate to implement it that way. It sucks that I live in a safe Labor seat (Wills, previously held by Bob Hawke), but I still get to put Conroy last by voting below the line in the Senate.
sm1ddy Apr 29, 2010 11:38 PM	Bad article title. The filter is just waiting until Labor gains some more power and support in the senate after the election. Then they will be pushing it as hard as ever.
Hawkeye Apr 30, 2010 8:13 AM	And why is that, sm1ddy, when the standfirst clarifies the actual situation? A title is there to grab attention, the standfirst to add further clarity. But I guess some folks like to complain...
Sparky Apr 30, 2010 10:50 AM	hmm. I had heard 'shelving' something was 'to stick it up your arse. So I cant think of a more appropriate thing to do with mr conroy and his filter.
Ducky Punky Apr 30, 2010 12:42 PM	YEAHHHHHHHH BOOOI thankgod that happened
Harpy Queen Apr 30, 2010 7:55 PM	Doesn't really mean anything, just pushing it back. I wanna see it gone completely. I'm on optus, they trialled it. Made my net so damn slow. It'll just make our damn net slow and then people can use proxies. Let's build the national broadband network, with a filter to make it slow and achieve nothing else! -face brick-
Martyr Apr 30, 2010 10:09 PM	well crap, i thought they might have ditched the bloody filter and decided to actually do something productive with our hard earned tax monies. Gee i'm naive sometimes.
bowiee May 3, 2010 11:30 AM	@sm1ddy and count, do you really think that labour will be returned with a bigger majority than it has now ? considering their performance, they at best, will be returned by the skin if their collective teeth. Internet filter aside,I hope they are returned because I for one don't wish to see a return to "Work (no choices)".
alexdtree May 5, 2010 9:49 PM	ill be 18 next election labor aint gettin my vote already mostly cus of this
Awatif Jun 2, 2010 11:48 PM	This article title is not as content, he says goodbye to internet filtering, but in fact only been postponed to the next primary election I expect with the people's rejection of the total net filtering will always remain the delay because it is not the Australia Government's right to prove this resolution with the people's rejection of him and it will as expressed by the crime of violation of the rights of the Australian people

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