Censorship – Page 10 of 14 – Pirate Party Australia

Censorship is never a positive outcome, says Pirate Party

Posted on March 30, 2012

Pirate Party Australia is bemused by the remarks of Senator Steven Conroy, Communications Minister, who recently remarked that he sees “a very positive outcome” for the future of Internet censorship in Australia[1].

Senator Conroy’s remarks come at a time when Australia’s telecommunications industry has become increasingly cautious of publicly commenting on any of the current regulatory issues being addressed, particularly any preliminary results from the Interpol filter testing underway by Optus, Telstra and a few smaller ISPs.

The Party maintains their stance that there should be no requirement to filter the Internet, but that families and private network operators should be given information on how to install client-end filters if necessary. They also reiterate the technical flaws that filtering has, particularly the ease with which it can be circumvented[2].

Pirate Party Disgusted By Rampant Government Secrecy

Posted on March 22, 2012

Pirate Party Australia condemns the actions of Attorney-General Nicola Roxon, who has refused to release documents regarding mass starvation in East Timor, despite the fact that they are up to 37 years old[1].

Revelations that the documents could “reveal Australian complicity in concealing the mass starvation of 100,000 East Timorese” highlights the real need for governmental transparency and accountability that the Party continues to advocate. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is responsible for requesting Ms Roxon deny the release, claiming that it would be contrary to the national interest. The effect the documents would have on ties between Australia and Indonesia are minimal, claims former Army intelligence officer Clinton Fernandes[2].

Pirate Party Australia holds that the continual secrecy and outright refusal of government institutions to release documents is a serious threat to Australian democracy, and must be curbed immediately. They wish to draw attention to the opacity of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) negotiations, where citizens globally were only able to inspect documents that were leaked, and no official drafts have been made public.

Don’t Sue the Messenger, Says Pirate Party

Posted on February 22, 2012

Pirate Party Australia is concerned at the recent spike in litigation aimed against communication service providers, and calls for the Australian Parliament to grant protection for social media service providers and users that guarantees the full sanctuary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights in regard to freedom of opinion and expression.

Recently, Melbourne man Joshua Meggitt sued celebrity Marieke Hardy for defamation after she wrongly accused him to be the operator of a hate blog dedicated to her via social media platform Twitter. Despite an out-of-court settlement, Meggitt is now suing Twitter for ‘publishing’ Hardy’s claim, as well as for the subsequent 60,000 retweets[1].

Pirate Party Australia argues that Twitter is not a publisher, but instead is a service provider that empowers the public to self-publish their news, thoughts and opinions to the world. Australian lawmakers continue to live in the past, failing to distinguish between a newspaper that is subject to editorial control, and a mass communications medium that enables communication between citizens worldwide without selection, judgement or endorsement.

Pirate Party Australia Condemns Copyright Industry Censorship

Posted on February 2, 2012

Pirate Party Australia is aghast at the closed-door meeting facilitated by the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport, where copyright holders have made demands that search engines Google, Bing and Yahoo actively censor search results[1][2].

“The lack of transparency is frightening, and echoes the opaque negotiations led by the Attorney-General’s Department between rights holders and internet service providers in Australia last September. Coupled with the secrecy surrounding ACTA and the TPP, we are beginning to see a clear picture of deliberate circumvention of the electorate in determining their future,” said Rodney Serkowski, founder of Pirate Party Australia. “We aim to lift the veil of secrecy that surrounds governmental decision making in both Australia and the rest of the world. The meetings here and in the UK are setting dangerous standards for the continued abuse of democratic processes.”

SOPA & PIPA – The Internet Goes On Strike, Pirates Join

Posted on January 18, 2012

On January 18 many websites have gone, or will go, on strike voluntarily[1] to demonstrate against the threat of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT-IP Act (PIPA) bills, pending US legislation that would restrict freedom of speech, negatively impact economies, and degrade internet security. Participation in the strike has been confirmed by Wikipedia[2], Reddit, Mozilla, and Free Software Foundation, among others. Many organizations, including Google, Facebook, and Twitter, have expressed grave concerns over the bills[3].