Mark it down in

your diaries. Friday, August 13 is officially the Fight the Filter day of action, and we need every one of you to be a part of it.

Over the coming weeks and in the lead up to August 13, we’ll be arming you with the best arguments and skills to persuasively argue against the filter. On the day, we’ll be pushing a multi-pronged attack on the filter’s supporters, including:

* A mass ministerial letter campaign, where we want every one of you to send a letter, email and call your local federal minister and opposition candidates to voice your disappointment and anger over the planned mandatory filter.

* A media push, where we want all Gizmodians to send letters to the editors of national, regional and local newspapers around the country, call talkback radio to argue against the filter, plus comment on any websites and forums you’re a part of in the online world, in an attempt to spread the word.

* Another online social campaign, which we’ll share more details of later this week.

Our biggest strength – and our biggest hope for success – isn’t in the content we produce, but in you, the Gizmodo audience. By banding together on Friday, August 13, we can send a loud and clear message that at this coming election, we aren’t going to sit back and let the Labor government’s plan for mandatory internet censorship slide through parliament against the wishes of the tech-savvy public.

For more info go to Gizmodo's Fight the Filter Facebook Page

Souce: http://www.gizmodo.com.au

WayOut, a suicide prevention initiative for young gay and lesbian people in rural Victoria, is bringing a discrimination complaint against a business run by the Christian Brethren church. The hearing is to be heard by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal after nearly two years of preliminary legal proceedings.

The complaint arises from a 2007 incident in which the group claims it was barred from hiring the Brethren’s commercial campground on Phillip Island because of that church’s stance on homosexuality.

“One of the aims of WayOut’s camp was to take some of the kids most affected by homophobia and give them a bit of a break from the situations involving discrimination,” says Associate Professor Anne Mitchell, of the Australian Research Centre for Sex, Health and Society, “It is somewhat ironic that in the process they experienced what we say is further discrimination.”

Although the Victorian Equal Opportunity Act (1995) prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, it provides exemptions for some religious organisations and people who discriminate because of their religious beliefs.  

WayOut will argue that such exemptions do not apply when the religious group is operating as a commercial entity and that the Christian Brethren’s description of why their religious beliefs required them not to allow the WayOut group to use their camping facilities falls outside the exemptions.    WayOut will argue that they should have comply with laws in the same way that any other business would.

“If these exemptions are interpreted broadly, they could authorise discrimination against a wide range of people on religious grounds - people who use contraception, people who have sex before  marriage, people of other faiths, agnostics, those in de facto relationships - just because the business in question has a church behind it and that Church has particular beliefs,” says Associate Professor Mitchell

The proposed camp eventually went ahead several months later without further incident – at a campground run by the YMCA, which is also a faith-based organisation.

“WayOut welcomes young people with religious beliefs and regularly work with religious groups,” says Mitchell, “They don’t feel the need to hide behind equal opportunity exemptions. Nor should churches. It’s time to end the exemptions.”

Source:  WayOut Media Release

Despite being deferred, mandatory filtering remains a key government policy and one that’s likely to feature heavily in tech-centric discussions of the forthcoming election. But will it make a difference to your vote?

Lifehacker readers have been pretty vocal about opposing the filter ever since it was announced, but back when that happened an election wasn’t looming. Gizmodo’s Fight The Filter campaign will be running a Day Of Action on August 13, but ahead of that I’m interested in a simpler question: will policies surrounding filtering and censorship affect the way you vote?

The same poll is being featured on multiple technology sites around Australia, which will give us some idea of how important this issue is to the tech-savvy.

To cast your vote,  go to the lifehaker article and explain your reasoning in the comments.

Angry Messiah presents the biggest name in Australian comedy for over 3 decades.

Parade Theatres,
215 Anzac Parade, Kensington.
July 13th - 17th, 8.15pm

Link to PDF

Several of Stephen Conroy’s harshest critics have backed the idea that Julia Gillard should hand his Communications portfolio to fellow Labor Senator Kate Lundy in the event Gillard took the Prime Ministership this morning and conducted a cabinet re-shuffle.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd tonight acknowledged on national television that Gillard had challenged him for the Labor crown, with a leadership spill to be held this morning at 9AM. Multiple reports — including Lundy herself, who will vote for Gillard — expect the deputy PM to win the vote.

It is not yet known which way Conroy will vote, although he is believed to be part of the ALP right faction which has been reported to have been instrumental in building support for Gillard within the party ranks.

Electronic Frontiers Australia chair Colin Jacobs — who has been engaged in a running battle with Conroy over the Government’s controversial internet filter — said there was “no question” that Lundy understood the technology industry better than Conroy and had great relationships in the sector.

“I personally would love to see a change in direction in the ministry, given what we have seen in the past few years,” Jacobs said, noting particularly industry disapproval of the filter policy. Lundy is currently pushing for modifications to be made to the policy that would allow Australians to either opt-in or opt-out of having their internet connections filtered at the ISP level.

“The filter has dominated and totally tarnished Conroy’s reputation when it comes to these issues,” said Jacobs. He noted also that Conroy’s personal demeanour – including his “tough parliamentary style” had not made him the most popular person.

Internode engineer Mark Newton — also a notable Conroy critic — said “without question”, Lundy had more respect in the technology sector. “Conroy is a laughing stock in the IT world,” he said.

“You could put a pot plant in the ministry and get a better response.”

In comparison, he said, Lundy had demonstrated a personal style that was “a lot more nuanced” and more consultative than Conroy. Newton noted that Lundy had spent a lot of time in parliament working within committee structures. “You can see that in the way she has approached the filter censorship issue,” he said.

Lundy has been vocal on the internet filter issue, but one question about the ACT senator would be how she would handle the National Broadband Network issue — one of the biggest tasks in the Communications Portfolio.

Jacobs noted that Conroy had achieved some breakthroughs in the NBN area recently — especially the $11 billion deal that brought Telstra into the NBN fold over the weekend. Conroy’s tough style might help in negotiating with powerful telcos like Telstra, he said — but ultimately the EFA chief said he would still back Lundy over Conroy in that area.

Newton said he believed the NBN was misplaced in the Communications portfolio in the first place.

“The Rudd front bench has an infrastructure minister, and yet the largest infrastructure project in Australia’s history is being looked after by a Communications Minister,” he said, noting it might be worth creating a separate minister just to look after the NBN.

“Give it to someone who can provide it with dedicated attention,” Newton said. “If you leave it to a Communications Minister, they’re going to be distracted with issues like internet censorship.”

Rudd and Conroy have appeared to have a strong working relationship over the past few years, with Rudd backing his Communications Minister on issues ranging from the NBN to the internet filter and even about Google’s inadvertent collection of payload data through Wi-Fi scanning by its Street View cars.

Less is known about Gillard’s relationship with either Rudd or Conroy, or even Gillard’s own attitude towards technology policy.

Jacobs noted that the ALP’s right faction had, however, been instrumental in putting Gillard forward to challenge Rudd yesterday. With Conroy being a member of the right faction, it would have to take some “pretty crazy” moves to see him losing his portfolio, the EFA chair noted.

Newton said it was a bit hard to say what Gillard’s views on key issues such as the NBN and the filter might be — because he believed Gillard would have been fairly restricted in what she could say, as she had been under Kevin Rudd’s shadow as his deputy for several years. However, he noted that Rudd had kept his ministers very strongly under control, and flagged the potential for Gillard to allow her cabinet more leniency.

Although Newton and Jacobs were interviewed separately, both ultimately expressed frustration about the choices that party leaders have made in the communications portfolio.

“I don’t think Australia has ever in its history had a successful communications minister,” said Newton. “As far back as I can remember, Australia has been poorly served by communications ministers,” agreed Jacobs.

Source: http://www.itwire.com/

While Police have declined to explain why they raid particular adult shops at particular times, the Australian Sex Party (ASP) has outed Sydney’s porn hunters.

There is a building in Mary Street Surry Hills with several theatrettes. This is where Commonwealth Censors watch and classify films from G to X-rated, or refuse classification (RC), effectively banning them. A fee of $850 is charged on any film seeking classification (and therefore legal status).

But also in the building are the offices of Ron Robinson and David Lock. These “Censorship Classification Liaison Officers” hunt down pornography for sale and inform the police, says the ASP.

These men visit adult shops and find X-rated or unclassified material for sale.

The ASP has published two “Not Wanted” posters warning these men that they are not wanted on private premises and accusing them of foregoing their educational role in favour of enforcement.

Aside from X-rated material being perfectly legal to own, the ASP says this was especially hypocritical as their office is partly funded by the very fees that are paid to have these films classified in the same building.

Meanwhile some conservative Senators are pressing for far greater police response against pornography, noting in an estimates hearing that 441 titles had been called in by the Classification Board, without response from people selling them. The Board then notifies Police who are expected to enforce the order, but the Senators see lack of such action as a “system breakdown” rather than considering that police might have more serious matters to attend.

A Commonwealth-state working group is also attempting to have soft erotica as currently sold in newsagents restricted to adult-only premises.

Source: http://www.altmedia.net.au/