LIUYUAN, China — They arrive at this gritty desert crossroads weary from a 13-hour train ride but determined. The promised land lies just across the railway station plaza: a large, white sign that says "Easy Connection Internet Cafe." The visitors are Internet refugees from China's western Xinjiang region, whose 20 million people been without links to the outside world since the government blocked virtually online access, text messages and international phone calls after ethnic riots in July. It's the largest and longest such blackout in the world, observers say. Every weekend, dozens of people pile off the train in Liuyuan, a sandswept town on the ancient Silk Road that's the first train stop outside Xinjiang, 400 miles (650 kilometres) east of Urumqi, the regional capital. "We must get online! We must!" said Zhao Yan, a petite, ponytailed businesswoman from Xinjiang's capital, Urumqi. She has rented the same private booth in the Internet cafe every weekend since August in an uphill battle to keep her small trading business going.

diggredditstumbleupon The anti- internet filtering campaign has been hijacked by zealots and ideology-driven windbags and has consistently failed to articulate to moderate Australians what we stand to lose if the policy proceeds. And there is nothing being put forward by the old-school libertarian campaign crowd that has been able to undo the damage being done by a hardcore set of misguided geek activists. There is nothing like the internet filter debate to bring out the worst in people. And so it has been with the reaction to my last column chiding internet ferals. Yes, the term 'internet ferals' is inflammatory and unnecessary. You're right. You got me there. But the debate within the tech community has been so counterproductive, and so full of disinformation and rubbish, I simply could not help myself. Forgive me, please. Nah, I don't mean that. There is an element of the anti-filter crowd that has been so damaging to the broader, mainstream campaign that they need to be called out. If you don’t like the term internet ferals, think of yourselves as idiots. You know who you are. In the meantime, here are some thoughts about the campaign, which is not going well. There are some real problems. Not least that this noisy minority is killing any chance of bringing onboard the mass of reasonably-minded, moderate, everyday Australian voters that are needed to effectively influence the process. And that makes it difficult for the Opposition senators who are uncomfortable with the filter plan. It makes it more difficult for them to get vocal, let alone try and bring their colleagues along with them. For the benefit of the noisy minority: It helps to be positive. It is more effective to be FOR something, rather than simply AGAINST something else. Much better to argue the very real merits of the existing open regime for the internet – to put forward the very reasonable case that the existing environment has served us well. It is much more productive to point out what we are putting at risk by considering even this mild set of internet censorship plans. Secondly, abuse does not help. Whether the abuse is aimed at Stephen Conroy, his staff, Kevin Rudd, journalists, or others in an electronic forum who might wonder aloud whether there should be limits to freedom of expression, abuse does nothing except distract potential supporters from the reasonable arguments that the anti-filter campaign has at its disposal. Thirdly, the disinformation and hyperbole being put forward by the extreme elements of the debate are a gross distortion to the point of being fundamentally dishonest. Start campaigning against the scheme that is being introduced rather campaigning against a more sinister made-up version of it. Dishonesty does not impress people. Stop whining. And stop the obsession with Stephen Conroy as being some kind of Dark Rider in league with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The filter started as ALP policy (if poorly articulated) and has been a policy of this Government. The policy started life in a kind of game of one-upmanship with the then Coalition government, which saw votes in cleaning up the internet and which had a backbench full of filter agitators. Then Communications Minister Helen Coonan was saddled with that particularly turd sandwich, and managed to hose it down as best she could. Conroy inherited this policy. Who knows what he actually feels about it, and who cares? Cabinet wants it done and the Government could not have been clearer about its intentions. Start talking to people who can actually influence the process. And at this point, that is the Liberal Party. The Greens have already said they will vote against filter. Which means the government needs the Opposition to vote with it to get the filter passed in the Senate. There are a many Opposition senators who are uncomfortable with the very notion of an internet filter. But there are many who are supportive of it. And you do the moderates no favours by seeding the debate with intentionally misinformed vitriol. Finally, the No Clean Feed slogan is completely ridiculous and counterproductive. Not exactly the kind of message that is likely to capture the imagination of millions of time-poor mum's and dad's who already feel uncomfortable with the internet. While the Electronic Frontiers Australia organisation is now doing something about this, it is very late in the game. To paraphrase my colleague David Heath, the campaign would do itself a favour if it stopped presenting itself as outraged geeks and started to instead behave like informed and reasonable voters. Tags See All Tags Electronic Frontiers Australia James Riley No Clean Feed Stephen Conroy internet filtering Powered By Joomla Tags What do you think? Author reads all comments (6) View by petert posts: 49 I cannot understand all of the complaints against Conroy. You voted for him, so accept your punishment! That aside, this Government is driven by Christian… by Akers posts: 15 Flame resistant jackets are available here James: http://www.alluniforms.com/unisaf3.htm A fine selection of colours and styles for the discerning gentleman… by kimheras posts: 1 Nice post, James. Funny that I posted something similar today over at The Next Web Austalia - http://thenextweb.com/au/2010/01/18/rea ... ship-saga/ Different… by rene posts: 1 James, With regard to this statement of yours "The filter started as ALP policy (if poorly articulated) and has been a policy of this Government", I… by Camaban posts: 6 I can't help notice that this article fails to really address any of the comments made on the previous article whilst dismissing the writers of them. On… by Akers posts: 15 Camadan, it is a fundamental error made by many people in this whole discussion around the proposed filter, that maintains that the only or highest level of… Post your comment

VIENNA (Reuters) - Europe's main security and human rights watchdog said on Monday that Turkey was blocking some 3,700 Internet sites for "arbitrary and political reasons" and urged reforms to show its commitment to freedom of expression. Milos Haraszti, media freedom monitor for the 56-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said Turkey's Internet law was failing to preserve free expression in the country and should be changed or abolished. "In its current form, Law 5651, commonly known as the Internet Law of Turkey, not only limits freedom of expression, but severely restricts citizens' right to access information," Haraszti said in a statement. He said Turkey, a European Union candidate, was barring access to 3,700 Internet sites, including YouTube, GeoCities and some Google pages, because Ankara's Internet law was too broad and subject to political interests.

AUSTRALIA Day won't just be celebrated with the usual barbecues, pool parties and the Triple J Hottest 100 this year. A throng of Australian websites will mark the event by fading to black as part of a week-long, national protest against the Federal Government's proposed internet filter. More than 150 website owners have joined The Great Australian Internet Blackout, so far, and organiser Jeff Waugh predicts many more will sign up during the week of national action. The January 25-29 protest is based on a similar campaign in New Zealand last year to protest mandatory internet disconnections for those accused of copyright theft. Waugh says that action resulted in the laws being removed from the New Zealand parliament, and he hopes for a similarly meaningful result in Australia.