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

[Tom Fifield]

Great work Tyson.

+10 points for using a poem

-T

emdeex wrote:
> 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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>> Melbwireless at wireless.org.au
>> http://wireless.org.au/mailman/listinfo/melbwireless
>>
>>
>>     
>
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