It's 2007, and in comes the Rudd Labor Government, and Stephen Conroy. And a filter. What makes it bad?

This filter *isn't transparent*. And that has instantly cancelled out the idea of democracy and free speech. Because nobody will know *what is being filtered*. Imagine a future Government blocking even more than that. Opposition parties. "Undesirable material". The list goes on. And no citizen gets a say.

This proposed filter is *ISP side*. That means the ISP gets to front the cost. Your internet becomes more expensive.

This proposal will use a *lot* of taxpayer money (you can research this yourself). You over 18 yet? Isn't your hard earned cash going into good use?

Even if the filter is ISP-side or is a central filter that all internet access goes through, millions of people having to have their internet access checked by the filter at any given time? Slower internet! Google Chrome is about as fast as a potato being boiled in water when your internet is being filtered.

But wait, the National Broadband Network is meant to be fast, isn't it? Gee, that filtered 1Gbps network sure feels like 1Gbps!

And what if you don't support it? Oh, Stephen Conroy will think you must be a pedo, because you're opposing something that will filter child porn! Ordinary people can't find such sick material, it's been widely mentioned that pedos don't use the very thing that the filter is applied on; they don't use standard web pages and people have admitted to it.

So come on, if a friend of yours doesn't know, *get them in the know*! You as a citizen of a democratic, first-class nation should have the right to free speech, lest we become the next country that clamps down on free speech.

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Filtering discussion on Whirlpool:
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum/100?g=175

General information on the filter:
http://nocleanfeed.com/

Electronic Frontiers Australia:
http://efa.org.au/