Complaint Reference: ACMA278584515

A great example of how arbitrary our current Internet censorship is, and it's the model for the new censorship regime.  Somehow describing in detail how to make hash brownies is not "detailed instruction in drug use".

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: ACMA Content Assessment <online@acma.gov.au>
Date: 22 July 2010 06:38
Subject: Complaint Reference: ACMA278584515


Complaint Reference: ACMA278584515

Dear Mr Rumble

 

I refer to the complaint that you lodged with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) on 20 April 2010 about certain content made available at:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/you-dont-have-to-smoke-it--you-can-eat-it-1235362.html

At the time of its investigation, the ACMA was satisfied that the above content was not prohibited content or potential prohibited content as defined by the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (the Act). 

Under the Broadcasting Services Act 1992, the following categories of online content are prohibited:

  • Any online content that is classified RC or X 18+ by the Classification Board.  This includes real depictions of actual sexual activity, child pornography, depictions of bestiality, material containing excessive violence or sexual violence, detailed instruction in crime, violence or drug use, and/or material that advocates the doing of a terrorist act.
  • Content which is classified R 18+ and not subject to a restricted access system that prevents access by children. This includes depictions of simulated sexual activity, material containing strong, realistic violence and other material dealing with intense adult themes.
  • Content which is classified MA 15+, provided by a mobile premium service or a service that provides audio or video content upon payment of a fee and that is not subject to a restricted access system. This includes material containing strong depictions of nudity, implied sexual activity, drug use or violence, very frequent or very strong coarse language, and other material that is strong in impact.

The above classifications are set out in the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995, National Classification Code and the Guidelines for the Classification of Films and Computer Games 2005.

Information about the ACMA’s role in regulating online content (including internet and mobile content) is available on the ACMA’s website at www.acma.gov.au/hotline.

 

Thank you for bringing this matter to the ACMA’s attention.  Please contact the Content Classification Section at online@acma.gov.au if you have any further questions about this matter.

 

 

Content Classification Section

_____________________________


Australian Communications and Media Authority 

E online@acma.gov.au | www.acma.gov.au/hotline

 

The ACMA is a member of the International Association of Internet Hotlines (INHOPE) www.inhope.org

 

Flying to Bali

So the flight to Bali was relatively uneventful.  Surprisingly Louis was fine on the flight.  He'd developed a snotty nose the night before the flight, so we were expecting the worst, but in the event he slept, played a little and was generally very good.

We haven't ventured out yet.  Too knackered last night after the flight, so we ordered room service and went to bed.  The hotel is lovely, and I think I might just duck off for a swim while Holly and Louis have a snooze.

Bob & Blanche, Jeff Tracy & Lady Penelope

Thunderbirds are go! Watching Channel Ten's interview with Bob Hawke and the misses last night it struck me where I'd seen them before...

BandBandLPandJT

via Crikey

It's uncanny!

Now we just need International Rescue to save us from the ranga and her (lack of) policies.

Goodbye MythTV, hello Beyonwiz

Over the last few months I've had a number of hardware problems with my MythTV server.  The machine itself locked up fairly regularly, and there's been big problems with the driver for the dual-tuner card that had previously worked flawlessly.  I finally got the shits with it and bought a hardware PVR on Saturday, the Beyonwiz DP-Lite.

I've held off buying an off-the-shelf PVR because they've tended to be pretty poor.  The UI of the Beyonwiz is quite primitive, and very very confusing in parts, but it's good enough.  I wouldn't recommend it for my parents though.

You'll note I didn't buy my employer's PVR product. It has one significant limitation for me: while it has two tuners, only one can be used to schedule recordings. The other is reserved for live TV viewing, which to me is a huge lack of insight into the way you use a PVR.  Hopefully that will get fixed in one of the coming software updates.  It certainly has a vastly better UI than the Beyonwiz and the movies service is quite attractive.

There's a few things I miss from MythTV beyond the UI.  The browser scheduling interface is a lot more flexible than IceTV + Beyonwiz.  With MythTV you can ask it to record a single episode of a programme each week, which means it can shuffle the recording to a repeat in a non-peak time if there's a conflict for a tuner.  This device doesn't do that at all.  I also miss the automatic ad skipping, but that's less of an issue because we only really watch ABC and SBS.

Dear left-wing ALP voters: read this

Dear deluded fools left-wing ALP voters,

I have a bunch of friends who perversely vote for the Australian Labor Party while professing views diametrically opposite those the party actually implements. None of my friends supports offshore detention of refugees.  Most of my friends support real action on climate change.  Yet some of my friends continue to vote for the ALP, and some are even card-carrying members.

Challenged on this, they often murmur something about having to be in power to effect real change. Peter Garrett has achieved one thing and one thing only since joining the ALP, and that is to provide the perfect response to that justification. "You mean like Peter Garrett?"

So to those of you, read this short piece:

The reason the ALP keeps lunging to the right is that it thinks its main competition is the Liberals, and it’s trying to appeal to their voters. For the same reason, the more serious the competition it gets from the Greens (by ALP voters abandoning it for the Greens, the same way swinging voters abandon it for the Liberals), the more it’s going to have to compete for progressive votes – which means the ALP starting to actually listen to you! It means the ALP proposing policies with which you might actually agree.

 

This will not happen if you just vote ALP regardless of what it actually does.

 

Isn’t a vote for the Greens a wasted vote?

 

(discovered via Mareike Hardy's Being a woman won't win my vote)