We should not loose sight that this is a shelved policy for the election and not a dead policy. one could argue this is just their way to kill the policy without loosing too much face. What seriously concerns me is this can come back in 2011 or another time in the near future. If we don't act as an industry and community, we will end up with further stupid policy decisions. <br>
<br>As the election is coming up, this is the ideal time to get the message to the policy makers that we can and will make a difference to votes.<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Jul 9, 2010 at 4:37 PM, Sean K. Finn <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:sean.finn@ozservers.com.au">sean.finn@ozservers.com.au</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
<div link="blue" vlink="purple" style="word-wrap: break-word;" lang="EN-AU">
<div><div class="im">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> It’s
the same now except we control the new media.</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">That's crazy talk. We don't control the new media any
more than Australia</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Post controls newspapers and magazines.</p>
</div>
</div><div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Whoa there big fella, collectively we do.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> It’s the digital equivalent of collectively
controlling 99% of the paper-presses in days gone by, and all of the corner
street urchins selling your papers for you.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">And since Australia Post handles the distribution network, it has
access to every post box in Australia to add an extra leaflet or two in their
normal rounds.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Don’t think it doesn’t already happen, because that’s
where I got the crazy idea from in the first place.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
</div><div class="im">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">The postal service provides an international communication
platform</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">which is used by virtually every individual to for personal
purposes and </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">by virtually every business to enable commerce. It has
its own set of</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">protocols, economic issues, cross-jurisdictional issues, and
so on. Over</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">time systems of regulation and understanding have coalesced
so that</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">the postal service can do what it does with a minimum of
interference.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">ISPs provide an international communication platform which
is used by</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">virtually every Australian for personal purposes and by
virtually every</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Australian business to enable commerce. It has its own
set of protocols,</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">economic issues, cross-jurisdictional issues, and so on. It
has NOT matured</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">into a normal part of our regulatory landscape precisely
because there</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">are so many people trying to portray it as something it
ain't -- particularly</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">"new media" </p>
</div>
</div><div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">It is definitely an intrinsic part of whatever came after print
on paper. Would you prefer to hand around CD’s with web pages on them?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Call it whatever you like.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
</div><div class="im">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">When the Minister talks about his distrust for
"internet companies", he's</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">referring to companies like facebook and google. He
lacks the knowledge</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">(and the desire to acquire knowledge) necessary to
understand that </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">ISPs are like the postal service and Facebook is like a
newsletter that</p>
</div>
</div><div><div class="im">
<p class="MsoNormal">just happens to be sent via post.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
</div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">I don’t think he lacks the knowledge at all, I think he
doesn’t care.</span></p>
</div><div class="im">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">As long as he continues to lack that understanding, he'll
continue to </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">make stupid decisions and say stupid things.</p>
</div>
</div><div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Or deliberate actions. Stupidity only gets you so far in life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
</div><div class="im">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">In particular: One never talks about censoring
Australia Post to get</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">rid of "unwanted" postal content, one instead
focuses one's energy</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">on the publishers and distributors of the content <i>who
just happen to </i></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>use the postal service as an incidental part of their
distribution strategy.</i></p>
</div>
</div><div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">The government owns Australia Post.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">They use sniffer dogs all the time, Customs services on
international borders inspecting random bags, hell they can even X-Ray entire containers.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">It’s already being censored, just not inernally.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Just like you wouldn’t censor peer to peer traffic at
every pop, which is essentially what Australia post is, but only at the border between
National and International (Ingress/Egress points, International transit).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
</div><div class="im">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">We know he'll never want to acquire that understanding, so
we need</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">to focus our efforts on his parliamentary colleagues and cut
him out</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">of the loop -- If he doesn't want to be part of the picture
then he's simply</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">irrelevant and we shouldn't waste our time with him.</p>
</div>
</div><div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">I agree.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
</div><div class="im">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">That's why lobbying MPs -- even ALP MPs -- is so important.
Our elected</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">officials would look like dolts if they couldn't tell the
difference between</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">a magazine and a post office. For the ISP
industry to have any rational</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">future,<i> </i>those same officials must feel equally
foolish if they can't tell</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">the difference between the Internet and a website.</p>
</div>
</div><div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">I agree.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">The trouble is as the Communications Minister it’s pretty
obvious that it’s his job to brief the PM and anyone else who doesn’t
have a clue, which means he swings it to his agenda.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Gov’t needs support of a small minority in another party
to help get other things through, so they can’t let this one get through.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Perhaps we should concentrate on ousting the independants or
minor party members that Labour is relying on for their small but deciding vote
in parliament / senate and shift the balance of power.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">(If the upcoming election doesn’t do that).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Labour is non-committal on the filter at the momement because to
drop that policy would be to remove support from non-labour non-liberal
fanatics in a power broking deal, that they are probably silently waiting to go
away, and could cost them the next election.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">They can’t about face now because to do so would mean
dropping any futher support from the other fringe parties who want this.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Silently I think after the election the shift in power will make
it go away.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">I bet a can of coke on it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">S</span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
</div>
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