Electronic Frontiers Australia is currently running a fundraising drive so that we can continue to expand and campaign for your online civil liberties.  Although EFA has been leading the Open Internet campaign against the Government's proposal to censor the Internet, that is just one aspect of our activities and interests.  In addition to Internet censorship, EFA campaigns on a wide range of issues relating to Internet regulation, including copyright, defamation, R18+ for computer games, telecommunications, ISP liability, privacy, domain names, trade marks, and the digital economy.

To highlight the diverse range of topics EFA is engaged in, and to demonstrate the importance of online civil liberties in this country, we have posting a series of blog posts from a variety of digital thought leaders on an aspect of online civil liberties of their choosing. So far there have been some really excellent contributions:

• Nic Suzor explained EFA's ongoing struggle to defend civil liberties online;
• Colin Jacobs set out why the online community needs a champion;
• Mark Newton imagined a meeting between Senator Stephen Conroy and Electronic Frontiers Australia;
• David Harrison, the editor of AusGamers looked at R18 Games, censorship and DRM and why you should care about online civil rights;
• Michael Meloni, from Somebody Think of the Children, asked for a little more conversation, a little less panic; and
• Gwen Hinze, from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, looked at global digital civil liberties and EFA's key role.

As you read these posts, we hope you will appreciate the vital role EFA plays in this space and will be encouraged to contribute to our fundraising drive. If EFA is to continue to expand and launch further campaigns to protect your civil liberties online, we need money for media, organisation and lobbying.

If you have already donated, or are unable to donate, please let your friends, family and colleagues know about this fundraising drive:

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This guest post is written by Gwen Hinze, from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, for our series of blog posts on the importance of online civil liberties as part of EFA’s 2010 Fundraising Campaign …

The Internet enables access to knowledge and new opportunities for freedom of expression for all the world's citizens. Digital communications technologies can empower citizens to live rich and rewarding lives, participate in civic life, take part in important decisions that affect them, and share with one another across borders. We have seen individuals use new communications technologies to democratize the creation of culture, up-end traditions, and create innovative new business models.

Citizens empowered with digital technology have changed the course of history, as evidenced, for example, by the worldwide scrutiny Iranian dissidents were able to bring to their country's election in 2009.

But empowered individuals can be disruptive to those who have traditionally been in control. More and more, Internet users find themselves in conflict with vested interests in the entertainment industry and governments trying to control their citizens' freedom of expression. For instance, the Iranian government was able to employ its considerable resources to censor and surveil its citizens' communications on the Internet.

While the Internet is global, it is rooted in a physical infrastructure that makes it vulnerable to national policies, laws, and technical measures.

In many countries across the globe, debates are currently raging over a suite of Internet policies, including government-mandated online censorship, whether ISPs should be required to police the speech of their users, and whether users should face disconnection from the Internet -- a type of digital exile -- on the basis of entertainment industry concerns. The results of these debates are important to all of us, because, unfortunately, short-sighted proposals adopted in one country often pop up again in other places. For example, the French HADOPI law that requires automatic Internet disconnection after a person has been accused of sharing copyrighted material three times is now being considered in the UK, New Zealand and in the global Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

As you read this, many individuals and governments are watching to see whether Australia will be the first western democracy to adopt network-level Internet filtering that follows the approach taken by the Great Firewall of China.

Defending the free and open Internet and the rights and freedoms of technology users is an international task. It requires coordination and collaboration by a global network of organizations with a passionate commitment to citizens' civil liberties, and the technical and legal expertise to know how to fight and win these battles.

Electronic Frontiers Australia has always played a crucial role in fighting against Australian government Internet censorship threats and has been a key player in the global fight for digital rights. EFA played a key part in defeating Senator Alston's previous Internet censorship proposal.

EFA now needs your support to continue the fight to protect the free and open Internet and your right to use digital technology as you choose.

Gwen Hinze is International Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a digital civil liberties organization based in the United States. Although not formally affiliated, EFF and EFA work together on many global initiatives in the fight to protect the free and open Internet and to defend the rights and freedoms of individuals in the online world.

This post is written by Michael Meloni, from Somebody Think of the Children, for our series of blog posts on the importance of online civil liberties as part of EFA’s 2010 Fundraising Campaign …

When I was fifteen some friends and I wrote an e-zine about school and what was happening around town. It was lowbrow satire and only twelve of us read it, but we were pleased to be sharing our ideas. Here we were, in a small town with not much else to do but cause trouble, creating something.

The Internet was changing the way my friends and I communicated. We were having conversations that weren't localised between a set of people at one given time or place. We were exchanging laughs across the span of a week or even months when somebody read a copy long after it was published.

Little did I know this very means of open communication was under threat, seen by governments as a scary film or book that could be easily edited (or deleted) rather than as conversation.

A year earlier I had become an instant fan of Silence of the Lambs after renting it from the local video shop. Despite being a squeamish kid, I was beginning to understand movies weren't real and the blood was just tomato sauce. Standing in front of the VHS lined shelves, I debated with myself about whether I was really brave enough to watch it. I'd heard it was terrifying but I was interested in film making and couldn't resist watching one of the greats. Part of me knew I was ready and I was right; I watched it, enjoyed it and understood why it was so highly regarded.

On the opening day of its sequel, Hannibal, I dragged mum along to the cinema for the first session because none of my friends were fans and it would ease any concerns she had about me seeing it by myself. It was classified MA15+ but not for long. A ludicrous scene where Anthony Hopkins removes the top of Ray Liotta's skull to cook part of his brain stirred up Australia. Within a week of opening the Queensland Attorney General, Judy Spence, requested the rating be reviewed and subsequently Hannibal was reclassified R18+. Only adults could see it.

It was here that I realised that mum and I weren't the only people deciding what I was permitted to watch and read. No kid is a stranger to be being told what they can and cannot do; it's part of growing up. However, on the verge of adulthood I struggled with the concept of another party deciding what fiction and fact was appropriate for me. I knew what was right and wrong, legal and illegal, but this was a story I had read in a book borrowed from school and was now not meant to have seen on the big screen. Talk about an eye-opener.

As a family our only exposure to classification existed when we read the labels on the front of video jackets or the warnings before television movies. I was sent to bed many times as a child after that deep, drone-like voice uttered 'The following film contains violence and is suitable for mature audiences only'. When I wanted to see Hannibal, even as teenager, I had to make a case.

It's this conversation between parent and child that is missing when we look to technology such as ISP filtering as a solution to keeping children safe on the Internet. Where along the way did we forget that the best way to protect children online is the same as we do off-line; by talking to them. Discussing Internet safety with them is just as important as discussing road safety, pool safety, sex and stranger danger. And it's parents, family-friends, community leaders and teachers who are best placed to have 'the talk'.

Remember the sit-down most of us had with our parents before we went to our first party in high school. They knew there would be alcohol, potentially worse, but by talking to us about it beforehand they were instilling trust and responsibility. The Internet is no different.

We are now part of a global village and we are having global conversations, although not always ones appropriate for all ages. It's ultimately why a one-size-fits-all ISP filter is a poor substitute for good education. Even PC filters with their faults still remain a far better option for families because access can be tailored to individual users. While the Australian Government may have good intentions introducing mandatory ISP filtering, they'll probably do more harm by giving parents a false sense of security. Their filtering policy will do little if anything to make the Internet safer for children and that leaves me wondering what's the point?

It's been over 10 years since I wrote that e-zine and I'm still creating content online. Somebody Think of the Children has reached an audience far bigger than that zine ever could. I like to think every sentence I write is a conversation with my readers and it's organisations like Electronic Frontiers Australia that help us little guys keep doing so. It's their hard work and effort that links our voice with the policy makers and media. If you take a moment to think about how you communicate online and how important it is to you, I believe you'll understand why it's crucial we support EFA in their fight to protect and promote civil liberties in Australia.

We are five days in to EFA's 2010 Fundraising Campaign and we have been delighted by the generosity and the level of support we have received from you all. However, it it not too late for you to contribute to our campaign. If EFA is to continue to expand and launch further campaigns to protect your civil liberties online, we need money for media, organisation and lobbying.

If you have already donated, or are unable to donate, please let your friends, family and colleagues know about this fundraising drive:

	Tweet Your Support
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This post is written by David Harrison, the editor of AusGamers, for our series of blog posts on the importance of online civil liberties as part of EFA's 2010 Fundraising Campaign ...

I've lost count of the number of times that I have literally seen eyes glaze over when trying to explain to people why digital and online civil liberties are important. I'll say something like "hey, that's a nice iPhone, but do you realise that even though you own it, Apple don't think you should be able to do certain things with it?", or "There's this great zombie game coming out, but you won't be able to buy it in Australia because there's no R18+ classification rating!"

It is hard to get people motivated to care about something when they feel they have no direct, immediate interest in it. Some people don't want to jailbreak their iPhones. Some people don't want to play violent video games, or mod their console to extend its functionality. Some people don't care that their DRMed music or video collection might one day just stop working. Some people don't even care that the government is planning to censor the Internet! Unfortunately, many people learn to care about these things the hard way - when it's too late.

Fortunately for them, other people do care about these things, and are right now trying to educate by fighting against the fear, uncertainty, and doubt that surround these issues. Certain interest groups are telling everyone that violent video games will result in children turning into murder machines. Big media will tell you that without DRM, artists won't get paid and there'll be no more music or movies. The government invokes the spectre of child pornography to explain why they need to control access to the Internet.

On the surface, these all sound like reasonable arguments - no-one wants to stop the music! Unfortunately, to counter these points and explain why they're bad and scary to us nerd-types often involves invoking technical arcana (like the importance of open, DRM free media formats), mentioning obscure fringe cases (running homebrew code), or acknowledging that various abuses are possible (such as copyright or patent infringement). Several arguments also touch on highly sensitive issues, such as violence, abortion or euthanasia, which cloud judgment and make it hard for rational discussion to take place. So it becomes an even bigger challenge to explain to the average citizen why exactly we care about these issues - and why they should, too.

At this point, when in a discussion with my friends, I find I need to shake them out of their glazed-eyed stupor, as typically they have fallen out of the conversation and are thinking about the cool farting application they've just installed on their iPhone.

I will then try to convince them that these issues are really important to understand. They're important because they are fundamentally about freedom. They're about having the right to make your own choices, and not have to worry that someone else doesn't like it and thus might stop you doing it. They're about having the right to do what you want with your own property - things you have paid money for and own. It's about having more freedom in the choices you make for yourself, not less.

AusGamers has been on the front lines of online civil rights battles recently in the struggle to get an R18 classification for video games. We believe that more awareness about issues to do with online and digital civil rights will create a more open and freer society, and we're doing what we can to encourage more discussion.

We firmly believe in the right of gamers to make their own choices, and we especially believe that adult gamers should have the right to make adult choices. We know that Australian gamers desperately want to be able to play these games, not because they're obsessed with violence and are dark, scary, individuals plotting murder and mayhem from their parent's basement, but because these games are fun. Adult gamers have adult tastes - we can vote, we can drink, we can go to war, and we can watch adult movies - but when it comes to video games, we can't choose how we spend our spare time.

We know that - regardless of whether an R18 rating exists - gamers will get their hands on these games one way or the other. Giving them a channel to obtain these games legitimately gives Australian gamers the freedom to make their own choices - and ensures they won't become criminals just because they wanted to play a video game that a few people thought was too violent.

While we're doing what we can at AusGamers to make sure issues of online civil rights are in the minds of Australian gamers, we strongly feel that the EFA is the best positioned organisation in Australia to tackle these issues head-on. If you're at all concerned about the fate of Australian gaming, Internet censorship, or the myriad of other important issues facing us in the Information Age, I strongly urge you to consider contributing to the EFA's fund raising drive or becoming a member today!