Though most people who understand how the internet works knew this was a large waste of money, only now are child group organizations in Australia coming around to the fact that net censors don’t work.

The common internet users, as well as politicians, such as Conroy, believe that the internet is like television.  If you don’t want something to be seen, you simply block the content.  Many people believe that this will help to censor what children can see and hear.  Unfortunately, you can’t just flip a switch and eliminate what is on the internet.

In a joint statement with lobby group GetUp, both Save the Children Australia and the National Children’s & Youth Law Centre believe the resources could be better spent on law enforcement agencies battling to eradicate child pornography on the internet.

GetUp national director Simon Sheikh said the mandatory filter won’t work on most of the content it is intended to block, and that would be money down the drain…Mr Sheikh estimates the sum could fund 300 extra police officers to fight online child pornography.

If they had thought of this before implementing the idiotic censorship laws, they could have been fighting child porn for the past two years.

“The tens of millions of dollars that such a scheme will cost should instead be diverted to appropriate child protection authorities and police to prevent the abuse of children,” Mr McDougall said.

“It should go towards effective community-based education strategies that give children and parents the skills to protect themselves.”

“Educating children about safe internet use is a more effective and sustainable way of protecting them from cyber crime than the proposed internet filter,” Ms Petit said.

“Teaching children how to recognise and steer clear of inappropriate online content is a more proactive and powerful way to shield them from internet crime.”

Hey, what a great idea.  It’s not like the people against censorship haven’t been telling you this for years.  You must have come up with this all by yourself.

Is is possible that, somewhere in the world, politicians actually listen to people with the knowledge of a particular technology so we don’t waste craploads of money on idiot laws and stupid trial periods?  Massive, government censorship programs should always be denounced and protests should arise whenever a government attempts to institute one.  Never let, “It’s for the children,” be used as an excuse to curb your rights.