Internet Pornography
Something can be done! 12/4/06 Tasmanian Senator Guy Barnett announced an upcoming trial of ISP level filtering for all of Tassie, to begin in mid-2006. If you live in Tasmania, you will need to "opt in" (ask your provider to be included in) the trial.
When this trial proves successful (and we have no doubts that it will), the country needs to follow suit and require that all providers use filtering systems. Telstra and Optus are dragging their feet on this issue and we need to contact their CEOs and let them know that Australians are concerned about internet content filtering. More good news: the national filter proposed by Senator Barnett would cover mobile phones as well!
Communications Minister says price to protect our children is too high
A plan to establish a national Internet filter has won support from both the Labour Party and 62 Coalition Senators and MPs, says The Australian of 22 March 2006. The Sydney Morning Herald reported on March 21 that "Under the 'clean feed' system, pioneered in Britain, users would be unable to access any content banned by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) because it contained graphic sexual or violent material, rated R or higher."
Kim Beazley said that "research suggests that the exposure of children and others in the community to this sickening content can lead to aggression towards women and child abuse." Research doesn't just suggest it, it proves it. How long has AFF been telling people this? Maybe our elected representatives are finally beginning to consider the facts.
But Communications Minister Helen Coonan has sided with Internet Industry Association chief executive Peter Coroneos in opposing the plan. Apparently, Minister Coonan thinks the price is too high to protect Australian families from child pornography and other atrocities via the Internet. "A national filtering system could cost $45million to set up and a further $33million a year to maintain, she said." (The Australian.)
Rightly, Senator Guy Barnett said the high cost of the scheme "could be seen as a small price to pay to protect our children". Amen to that! Or are we happy to spend 1 billion Australian dollars on the Commonwealth Games celebrations, but not a fraction of that amount to protect young Australians from the worst depravities and dangers of the Internet
We, at AFF, use Bsafe Online. You can download a free trial from our website.is hailed by computer industry magazines as the best family filtering service available is endorsed and used by Dr Don Wildmon with American Family Radio, American Family Online and the American Family Association’s newsletter the AFF Journal.Wildmon, a close friend of AFF, has been called one of the 10 most influential men in American advertising!Don Wildmon did not think Bsafe was the best filtering service available he would not use it or endorse it.is also endorsed by Promise Keepers (a huge men’s Christian ministry in theUS), Campus Crusade for Christ and others.use it, we recommend it, and if you have a computer and want to keep your family safe, we strongly recommend you use it too!
ACTION: Support the plan to install national Internet filters.
1.Now is the time to contact Mr Howard and your federal MPs and tell them that no price is too high to protect our children. What else do we pay taxes for, if not to secure a healthy and safe future for our community? As always, you can use the Click and Lobby feature here on our website to contact the Prime Minister, your Senators and MPs.
2. Although Communications Minister Helen Coonan wrongly believes that a filter will slow down your internet browsing experience, she has come out against the proposed .xxx "adult content domain" and we need to encourage her to continue to oppose it. Ask her to support a national internet filter.
3. All readers please contact Telstra and let them know that you want internet content filtering at an ISP level. Tasmanian readers: mention your support of Senator Barnett's internet filter trial. Write to: CEO Sol Trujillo [or Telstra Corp Chief Executive Sol Trujillo]; Telstra; 242 Exhibition St, Melbourne VIC 3000. You can ring Telstra on 1300 368 387 but writing to the CEO will be much more effective.
Ditto Optus: CEO [or Chief Executive Officer] Paul O'Sullivan; 101 Miller St, North Sydney NSW 2060; ph 02 9342 7800 fax 02 9342 7100
4. Install Bsafe on your family and work computers until the nation-wide filtering program is in place.
Need the pros & cons of ISP level internet filtering explained? Contact Jack to visit your church, club or community with an “Effecting Your Community” Seminar: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Television
Did you know that free-to-air television in Australia is worse than in the US? There are a lot of misconceptions about America (prostitution is legal in only ONE small city outside Las Vegas and the covers of porn magazines are displayed openly nowhere in the US). Some of what is shown on Australian TV would land American broadcasters in jail! The US rates about midway in countries of the world where records are kept concerning rape and sexual assault – Australia tops the list.We can change all of that if we are willing to get involved in this ‘winnable war’!
A success story that shows we can win
American advertisers and American smut producers have more money and resources than their Australian counterparts. So why is it worse here? The answer lies with ordinary families and individuals like you. In the past, we have failed by allowing American smut merchants to openly flood Australia with products that are not tolerated in the family marketplace in their own country!
The good news is that this is slowly changing. The OFLC had twice as many complaints in 2005 as they did in 2004. This shows that ordinary Australians are taking responsibility for what influences their culture. The smut peddlers rely on our complacency and approval to operate as they do. It is up to us to show them - by our letters, emails, phone calls and consumer dollars - that Australia will no longer support the abuse of its children by such easy accessibility of pornographic and violent material.
The Australian Broadcasting "watchdog" and how to contact themAustralian Broadcasting Tribunal (ABT) when we first arrived in Australia insisted that there was “nothing on Australian television, at any time day or night, that was indecent, obscene or blasphemous”.TV Channels had to publicly renew their licenses every year and that was what the chairman of the ABT told my wife Margaret at public hearings in Melbourne.
Then they changed their name to the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) and took Fat Cat off the air because it was not a realistic presentation of an animal (Fat Cat wore pants!).for some reason they left Mr Ed on the air!the talking horse?Now they call themselves the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
ACTION: Keep our “Action Procedure Manual” handy and use it. Always request a reply! It’s so easy to become desensitised, but “do not grow weary in well-doing for in due time, if we faint not, we shall reap.”