Media Release

Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc.

Media Release                                        25 April 1999

THE INTERNET IS NOT TELEVISION

Electronic Frontiers Australia today criticised the government's Online
Services censorship legislation for treating the Internet as television.

"An underlying assumption of the Bill is that the Internet is a form
of television.", said EFA board member Danny Yee.  "This is apparent
both from the choice of the Film and Video classification system for
Internet content and the decision to give jurisdiction to the Australian
Broadcasting Authority."

The explanatory memorandum accompanying the Bill asserts that
'technological convergence ... means that online services will become
more and more akin to broadcasting and therefore warrant a higher level
of regulation'.  It also claims that 'access to online services is less
discretionary than access to conventional content in hard copy form'.

"Broadcast-style 'push' technology has only a minor role online",
said Mr Yee, "and user selection will continue to dominate Internet
content delivery.  It is also unlikely, due to bandwidth constraints,
that significant amounts of streaming video will be delivered over the
Net in the near future.  The vast bulk of online content will continue to
be text and graphics, and rating this as if it were video will result in
publications sold without restriction in bookshops being illegal online."

"The second claim is also wrong, as anyone who has actually used
the Internet will know.  Access to online content is in fact highly
discretionary, arguably more so than access to printed materials.
Internet search engines return only a small amount of sample text, while
the covers of books and magazines and newspapers are hard to avoid if
one wanders through a newsagent or bookshop."

"Using the Internet is far more like using the telephone or visiting a
library than watching television", concluded Mr Yee.  "The Publications
classification scheme is vastly more appropriate for most Internet
content than the scheme for Films and Videos."

"Australia can not hope to take advantage of the opportunities afforded
by the Internet while it has a government that insists on forcing it
into a totally inappropriate mould."

[ENDS]

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

      Kim Heitman                           Darce Cassidy
      Phone: 08 9458 2790                   Phone: 08 8362 5183
      kheitman@it.com.au                    Darce.Cassidy@efa.org.au
      --------------------------------------------------------------

BACKGROUND

The explanatory memorandum accompanying the Bill:
        http://www.multiline.com.au/~kheit/explan.html

A look at the economic effects of the Bill
        http://www.gtlaw.com.au/pubs/newdarkage.html

A look at some of the problems with applying Film and Video classification
standards to Internet content
        http://www.anatomy.usyd.edu.au/danny/freedom/99/classification.html
        http://www.anatomy.usyd.edu.au/danny/freedom/99/content-providers.html

Other information about the legislation
        http://www.efa.org.au/Campaigns/99.html

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