Copyright Law

Parody of Conroy?s Controversial Australian Filtering Plan Surfaces

By Drew Wilson

While the idea behind filtering the internet is no laughing matter, that doesn’t stop satirists from making fun of the situation. A word of warning though, it’s not advisable to be consuming anything while reading this hilarious piece.

While the Australian government has been pushing for mandatory filtering of the internet, many have been criticizing the plans and implementation. Now, Australian satirical web news site WetPaper News had a rather humorous spin on the whole situation by pretending to have an article approved by the Australian Government National Classification System. The article describes a prediction that the filtering plan would be a “roaring success”.

“The highly effective filter will protect internet users from devastating material such as pornography,” the website says, “drug use, crime tips and cyber terrorism. Without such a filter, Australia would be left morally corrupt, and at risk of attack by religious fanatics.”

“The aim of the internet filter, as told by our glorious leader,” the article continues, “is to protect children from harmful online content, which according to newspolls is linked to up to 87% of childhood depression. The filter will also allow parents to filter materials they feel is offensive or dangerous to their children, such as anti-government websites and information on protests and demonstrations.”

The article finishes with the hilarious conclusion of, “God speed Mr Conroy. Uphold our true Australian values. Maintain our Glorious Government.”

While the article as a whole is absurd, the real filtering plan isn’t much less absurd. The move to filter the internet in Australia isn’t unprecedented as a similar plan was hatched clear back in 2007. It came to an embarrassing conclusion when a teenager spent 30 minutes of his free time cracking the governments previous $84 million porn filter. What’s generally different between then and now remains to be seen, but this satirical piece isn’t too far from the truth.

Have a tip? Want to contact the author? You can do so by sending a PM via the forums or via e-mail at drew@zeropaid.com.

Full post as published by ZeroPaid on December 17, 2009 (boomark / email).