EFA MEDIA RELEASE - NO CONCERN OVER INTERNET CONTENT

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Media Release
Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc.

                    Media Release                  29th July 1997

NO CONCERN OVER INTERNET CONTENT

A June survey by respected Internet analysts www.consult has revealed
that only a tiny fraction of Australian Internet users are concerned
about indecent content online.  A larger, but still small, proportion
of non-users perceive it to be a problem.

In the last www.consult survey of Australian Internet users, fewer than
3% of the 8,591 respondents cited indecent material as a concern (compared
with 18% citing privacy and 28% access times).  And in a telephone survey
of over 1,000 _non-users_ of the Internet, only 15% mentioned indecent
material on the Internet as a concern, even with prompting.

www.consult principal Ramin Marzbani noted "this is consistent with
all our surveys in Australia to date (over 20,000 responses in total).
Indecent content online is simply not an issue.  If the government wants
to get involved with the Internet, then they should think about what they
can do to improve access times and alleviate user concerns about privacy."

EFA spokesperson Danny Yee welcomed the survey.  "These results
demonstrate clearly the absence of any problem requiring increased
censorship.  And users are not just apathetic about the issue --
Internet-wide user surveys from GVU have consistently shown that it is
actually _censorship_ which is the single issue of most concern to users!"

Only 6% of respondents to the www.consult survey thought the government
should take responsibility for censorship of the Internet.  And today's
Australian revealed the results from a straw-poll asking "Is Communication
Minister Richard Alston's latest proposal for Internet regulation a
reasonable compromise?" -- 93% said "NO".

"In the light of results like these", concluded Mr Yee, "it is hard to
see why the Australian government insists on pushing ahead with totally
ineffectual content-regulation proposals.  If they think it is going to
win them votes, perhaps they should think again."

EFA recently launched a petition to allow Australian Internet users to
register their opposition to Internet censorship proposals.  Details are
available at
	http://www.efa.org.au/Campaigns/petition.html

ENDS

      --------------------------------------------------------------
      Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc  --  http://www.efa.org.au/
      representing Internet users concerned with on-line freedoms
      --------------------------------------------------------------
      Media Contact

      Danny Yee
      Phone (home): +61 2 9955 9898
      Phone (work): +61 2 9351 5159
      Email: danny.yee@efa.org.au
      --------------------------------------------------------------

BACKGROUND

www.consult is the largest Internet research organisation in Australia,
considered by BRW to produce "the most thorough research into Australia's
online industry".
	http://www.consultco.com.au/

GVU survey results
	http://www.gvu.gatech.edu/user_surveys/survey-1997-04/#highsum

The Australian -- Your Say
	http://www.australian.aust.com/computer/yoursay.htm
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