No one likes a whinger.
Including me.

One of the trickiest things about this debate is that the government has already framed it in terms of “clean feeds” and “filtering”. Filters remove bad things, as in “filtered water”. Every time you repeat “clean feed”, even to say you don’t want one, you reinforce the government’s meme that the Internet is dirty and needs cleaning.

I’ve tried to use the word “censorship” rather than “filtering” at every opportunity for that reason. This is also who I went for the Rabbit-Proof Firewall, to evoke images of an old-fashion, ineffective barrier and to piggy-back on BigPond’s “keep the rabbits out” meme.

We definitely need a new frame for this, though.

Maybe I should have done exactly that.

I’m not a marketing whiz, the concept was put together in a manner of seconds. I didn’t want these peoples enthusiasm for a good cause going to nothing. Sure, It was a ‘small time lunch rally’, but people aren’t going to be out for blood in the streets over these types of things.

most people don’t appear to care a tinkers cuss about freedom of speech and censorship until it directly effects them and they see it happening.

My intended message was that ALL SORTS of people, be it perceived ‘normal’ people, the weird looking people, everyone is against this thing; not just a typical ‘campaign’ like ad with just bright-eyed and bushy tailed youth with no logos and nobody looking vaguely different.

That these different people are against the ‘clean feed’ and not ‘pro child pornography’ which conroy has spouted at near every turn whenever criticised.

If I get people saying “what the fuck is a clean feed?” and the impression that some people are going “clean feed = bad thing” that’s good enough for me. I’ve shown it to people whom I expected not knowing anything about it and that’s the exact response that I’ve gotten. I’ve learn’t some valuable lessons with this video too.

but, Who the hell watches youtube over dinner? I didn’t expect this to be picked up by mass-media. I expected this to be handed around ‘viral’ style. and from the statistics, it appears I have achieved this goal.

Thanks for the criticism and I think you’re mostly right – but I’m doing something. you’re whinging on a blog.

I invite you to one-up me sir.

Sorry about the whinge.
I’ll shut up now.

One of the facebook protest events with a special message for Senator Conroy -

Youtube – Message to Australian Politicians – NO CLEAN FEED

I don’t necessarily think we should be giving people free training, since politicians already pay their own advisors and us muggins taxpayers pay for the public service. But I do see problems with the current model.

1. The advisors they employ directly are part of the political machinery. They tend to come with pre-programmed political biases and are keen to tell the politicians what they want to hear so they can keep their jobs and climb further up that greasy pole.
2. The public service bureaucracy still moves too slowly. The ACMA’s annual report for 2007–08, for example, was only published this week. Trying to steer the nation through a time of great change using that sort of document is like trying to drive a fast car by reading last week’s newspaper reports of traffic jams. I’ll have more to say about that another time.

@Sean the Blogonaut: Yeah, I saw the Courier Mail piece, Web filter ‘needed’ to protect kids from porn. I didn’t see this so much as an attempt to change the debate, but simple the media exploring different angles as the story evolves — though yes, some of the people quoted may be rent-a-pundits provided by PR companies.

I suspect also that the speed at which the hyperconnected Interne-based freedom of speech campaigners can move caught “the other side” off guard, and they’re responding now that the discussion has reached “the mainstream media”. It’ll be interesting to see how it unfolds from here.

I rather think that we the netizens should be offering free and accessible training to these people so they understand the world we now live in. ICanHasCheezBurger101 if you get my drift.