Anecdotal, but...
I have a friend (yes just the one) who is intelligent, highly educated, tough, strong-willed, non-religious and remarkable free of abusive ex's. She firmly believes that the internet should be censored, that Northbridge* is a very dangerous place after dark, that illegal drugs are inherently dangerous (otherwise they wouldn't be illegal), that violent video games are bad for kids and therefore shouldn't be sold, and that pr0n is abusive to women and should be banned. Alongside that, she also believes that everyone should obey all the rules regardless of their chances of being caught, and that therefore banning something is a useful thing to do if that something is 'bad'.
Needless to say I, like most Reg readers, don't share these views. I actually find it vaguely horrifying that someone so otherwise clued-up should be so...naive? is that the word?
It has, however, opened my eyes to the fact that Australians largely get the politicians we deserve. You can see it in the Aussie press, their continual peddling of fear-based stories of hoons and bikies running amok and ruining the lives of good old Aussie battlers.
As long as this viewpoint in the public persists, pollies will be able to get votes for pandering to it <shrug>
and yes, this has no IT angle at all.
*Northbridge is the closest equivalent to a 'tolerance zone' in Perth. It's massively policed, and very safe compared to any UK city centre after dark, but every month or so the West Australian will run a story about the horrific violence and call on the govt to ban something new.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
