Mr Abbott has campaigned upon a platform of economic responsibility having built up a formidable armoury of bullets to fire against the Rudd/Gillard Government after a number of costly project fiascos. However, he appears to have badly misjudged the mood of the electorate on the issue of the NBN.

 Ben Shipley, the managing director of Brisbane-based telco Comscentre, typifies the mood of the powerful and influential Australian telecoms industry when he describes the Abbott Coalition plan as being from the “dark ages”.

“We’ve got a very clear and concise plan from the Labor Party but we’ve got nothing from the opposition except a threat to shut down the NBN,” Mr Shipley said.

“Are they going to throw away the billions that have already been spent and take us back to a Telstra monopoly, or are they going to do nothing and leave Australia like a Third World country?

 

It is truly in your hands! Will billions be wasted? No. Will the Coalition halt further development? Possibly. Will they follow their cause and sell off the assets to let business reap the benefits? Probably.

My question is, so what? Siimply through sensible competitive legislation and operational telecommunications frameworks, the work and investment being made by existing telcos will see Australia reach the milestones that the NBN have as its aims.

Can the Coalition deliver this? Of course. So can Labor. So what is the deal? Labor had the opportunity to fight the sale of Telstra many many years ago. Labor will reinvent existing notions, but then sell it off anyway. What? You don't think? Its in the NBN Business plan folks. Its a part of the framework.

But.

The real difference?

Censorship.

Labor will censor your access. And, if they succeed, it won't be repealed. It won't be taken back. Labor fought the introduction of GST at one point. Have they rolled it back? No. Of course not.

Want fast but censored internet? Or do you want to let business do its job? The fight is there, but don't be pushed in the wrong direction. Again!

Non NBN trials are already underway in real-world tests, using consumers, with consumer grade technology, including paired-DSL, cable and wireless. In some cases these tests are already seeing speeds of around 100Mbits/second. This is without the NBN in place.

Keep the internet you have? Or get the internet they want you to have? Its your choice.

Sylvestor

Unregulated internet not an option: Conroy - iTWire

Leaving the online world as an unregulated distribution medium actually "weakens all that is good about the internet," Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has told the Sydney Institute in a detailed defence of the Rudd Government's digital policy agenda.

Internet filter not censorship: Conroy

Senator Conroy said ISP level filtering alone was not enough to help fight child pornography or keep children safe online, which was why the government supported the block of content such as child sexual abuse imagery and material advocating terrorism.

"This is a modest measure, which reflects long held community standards about the type of content that is unacceptable in a civilised society," he said.

"Those who claim the government's approach is akin to the sort of political censorship practiced by authoritarian regimes are simply misleading the Australian public."

Filter unnecessary: US ambassador

The United States' ambassador to Australia last night said there were "other means" available to achieve the goals of the Federal Government's internet filtering project, adding to the impression that the US disapproved of the project.

US Ambassador Jeff Bleich (Credit: US State Department)

US Ambassador Jeff Bleich responded to a question on the ABC's Q&A program last night, saying the US had told the Australian Government that it had been able to accomplish the goals of the filter — which Bleich described as capturing and prosecuting child pornographers and others who use the internet for a "terrible purpose" — without using internet filters.

"We have other means and we are willing to share our efforts with them in order to allow them to at least look at a range of choices, as opposed to moving in one particular direction," he said.

Just a wrap up of recent comments. Necessary, not-necessary, effective, not effective. Will help, won't work, Is mandatory, can be bypassed - legally.

And how much is this costing me Senator Conroy?

Sounds a bit dodgy to me!

Sylvestor

The Government was aware that tech-savvy people were likely to find a way around the filter, the spokesperson said.

"The independent report on the ISP-level filtering pilot trial found that technically competent people could circumvent filtering technologies," they said.

"Under the Government’s policy it will not be an offence to circumvent the filtering measures or to show someone how to circumvent."

Mr Wood said the internet filter didn't address many of the "real" problems faced by young people online, such as internet addiction.

"For the real problems online like security, privacy, addiction — especially with kids — filtering doesn't help them at all. Given the lack of education and services there are the moment I think that's what really should be given the most attention," he said.

The Government says its cyber safety policy includes "a range of measures including education, law enforcement, research and technical-based solutions

If you Senator are going to spend millions and millions of our (the Australian taxpayers') money on a service that has no level of compliance and integrity and is accepted as being mandatory but not really mandatory - perhaps you could explain why?

This is more than a joke.

Perhaps you could invest this money Senator Conroy in the AFP and their internet fraud/crime unit. How much difference would 20, 30, 100, 500 million dollars make to them?

Perhaps you could invest this money Senator Conroy into education. Not just for the kids (yeh yeh, will someone think of the children! sure!) but for anyone who wants to learn about using the internet - without being subjected to all the nasties you keep banging on about!

Perhaps Senator Conroy, this money could be better spent on something a little more useful....to us ALL!

But no, sadly, Senator Conroy has a bee in his bonnet and so the money goes.

Sylvestor