ABC Lateline on the leaked Internet blacklist, with me

Screenshot of Stilgherrian talking on ABC Lateline

I was on the ABC TV program Lateline last night as part of a story on the leaked Internet censorship blacklist.

While Senator Conroy is saying this isn’t the actual ACMA blacklist, it’s certainly indicative of the problems that come with a manually-maintained list of banned content — especially when it’s kept secret.

As I told Lateline, further leaks are inevitable.

As soon as you try and make something secret, there will be someone who wants it to be not secret. Either because they feel politically that it’s wrong that it’s secret, or for monetary gain. I’m sure that there are plenty of people out there who’d pay good money to get their hands on the current list and distribute it amongst people who would find the material of value to them.

The ABC has Real Media and Windows Media video streams plus a transcript, as well as a Flash video stream on the program home page. The vodcast will have downloadable MP4 and WMV files later today. And if none of them are suitable, there’s a copy on YouTube.

I’ll have more to say about this in Crikey later today.

3 Replies to “ABC Lateline on the leaked Internet blacklist, with me”

  1. Yo Stil, your Lateline interview was rather impressive. They didn’t screw you around with difficult questions unlike the commercial channels. That gorgeous orange glow you had… is that something to do with the $50,000 cameras they use compared with the $99 camera you use for Stilgherrian Live where your tint is noticably “NTSC” pinkish, or is it just a white balance thing?

  2. @Sabian and @Trekalong: Thank you for the compliments. Lateline is an easier gig than commercial “current affairs” because they’re genuinely interested in explaining the story, not providing some Good Guys versus Bad Guys bloodsport. So they ask questions designed to elicit useful information, not to enrage.

    As for the colour quality on Lateline, well, certainly a high-end HD video camera will be better than whatever Apple uses in its iSight webcams. The professional camera also has manual white balance, with the late afternoon sidelight streaming in. My webcam has whatever cheap-arse work lights I bought at the local hardware store.

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