Promoting And Protecting Digital Rights Since 1994
EFA is an independent non-profit association that relies on membership subscriptions and donations. If you’re concerned about digital rights in Australia, please join or donate today.
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Disappointing L4D2 demo released; write to the Minister!
The Australian version of the Left 4 Dead 2 demo has been released, and the highly cut version is a bitter disappointment for many Australian gamers. First impressions from Australian gamers indicates that the highly-censored version results in a vastly inferior atmosphere to the original, uncut version. The lack of an R18+ rating is likely to significantly harm Australian sales of the game, and we expect that many Australians will…
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Australia's lack of an R 18+ rating
Asher Moses is reporting on the outrage caused by leaked footage of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which allows players to play the part of a terrorist as part of a cut-scene. Once again, this story really shows how expressive video games can be. They’re constructed, like films, to elicit emotional responses in players, and some of them deal with fairly gritty subject matter. Films often show the villain’s…
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EFA Annual Report for 2009
The EFA Board has released its annual report to members for the year 2008/09. The EFA AGM will be held on 16 November 2009. Thank you all for all of your continued support throughout the year. — Nic Suzor, EFA Chair
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A short story about the olympics and non-commercial CC photos
Richard Giles has a few posts on his blog about a matter you may have heard about. Richard took some photographs at the Beijing Olympics and posted them on his Flickr account. Last week he was sent a rather forceful cease and desist letter from the IOC, which he also put up. The story was picked up by a number of influential sites, and people all over the world voiced…
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Senate Interception (Network Security) Amendments submission
EFA will shortly make a submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee on the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment Bill 2009 (Cth). We previously made a submission to the Attorney-General’s Department on the exposure draft of this Bill. We are happy to say that our concerns were addressed and that the new Bill appears to provide an appropriately limited exception for permissible interception of telecommunications for network security…
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Left 4 Dead 2 reclassified MA15+, no longer banned
The Classification Board appears to have reclassified Left 4 Dead 2 to MA15+, the highest rating level in Australia. The good news is that L4D2 is now cleared to be distributed in Australia. The sad news is that adult Australian gamers are still restricted from playing games that we deem suitable for people aged 16 and up. edit: it appears that Valve modified the game and re-submitted it to the…
Help fight for our digital rights
What We Do
Policy
We actively monitor a number of policy areas and specific issues. The topics below provide a detailed view of EFA’s policy positions.
Copyright
Australia’s copyright laws are outdated, inflexible and not fit for the digital age. As such, EFA is a long-standing supporter of reform of Australia’s Copyright Act.
Privacy & Security
Privacy is fundamentally about consent and control over access to information, and goes hand-in-hand with security. Privacy is a human right.
Censorship
Adults should be able to make their own informed decisions about what content they create and consume.
Encryption
Access to encryption technologies is vital for individuals and groups to be able to safeguard the security and privacy of their information.
Internet Safety
Surveillance is not safety. Safety for whom, against what? This complex problem is more likely to be exacerbated, rather than solved, by measures that allow for unaccountable surveillance and the undermining of communications security.
Surveillance
EFA is committed to ensuring that Australian’s home life is not subject to arbitrary interference.