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Dear Minister INTERNET REGULATION I write to express my concern regarding the direction the debate on Internet regulation has taken over the past twelve months, particularly the NSW Government's draft legislation. I am aware that the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG) will meet in July to discuss the NSW draft bill which has been proposed as a national model. As a regular user of on-line services and a reasonable adult, I am disturbed that the NSW proposals will result in ineffective and unworkable laws. The laws will do nothing to achieve their stated objectives but will instead place innocent Internet users and access providers at risk of prosecution for events beyond their control. The Internet is the most valuable information resource ever developed. It singularly has the potential to provide more beneficial information to students, teachers, business people and others than any other resource in the world. It has been recently reported that over 1 million Australians now have access to the Internet. The vast majority are everyday people whose interest in illegal activities is non-existent, yet the legislative proposals currently being mooted would place these ordinary Australians at great risk of being wrongly prosecuted. It is simply not good enough that common law or other defences exist. The mere commencement of legal proceedings against an innocent citizen, the confiscation of equipment and private records for an extended period, and the expense and trauma of fighting a legal case against the power and might of government are experiences that ordinary citizens should not be expected to endure. Yet this is what will happen if these haphazardly-prepared proposals become law. Having read the draft proposals I conclude: - that those who drafted it have no real understanding of the internet; - that they undertook no consultation with users, providers or technical experts in developing this proposal; - that the proposed laws provide little protection of children; - that the legislation is not workable; - that laws like this will be responsible for the closure of many small businesses (Internet Access Providers) and the relocation of technological businesses off-shore. The proposed law will: - make service providers liable for any unsuitable material that children might access, irrespective of the location from which the material originates. This will effectively make it legally impossible for any IAP to operate in NSW or any other State which enacts such laws. - make it illegal to transmit material via the Internet that is legal to transmit by mail. - invite malicious or vendetta actions by failing to take account of how easy it is to assume another identity on the Internet. - redefine the everyday meaning of the word "transmit" to mean "send or receive" thus making criminals out of people who innocently download objectionable material. - force service providers to monitor their users activities, including reading private E-Mail. This is equivalent to forcing the Post Office to randomly open letters, or Telstra to listen in on phone calls, both of which are serious offences. I hope that you will take note of my concerns, and help to ensure that Australia does not become the police state that these proposals will surely introduce. The adoption of industry-developed technologies such as PICS will do far more to achieve the objectives than ill-conceived legislation. Yours faithfully, Signature