I have sent this e-mail to Stephen Conroy and have reproduced it here as an open letter:

Date: Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:38:11 +1100
From: David Taylor
To: minister@dbcde.gov.au, senator.conroy@aph.gov.au
Subject: Against censorship and loss of freedom

Stephen Conroy,

I am writing to express my deep concerns about the proposed
internet filter.

Censorship of any kind should not exist in a civilised society.

Of course, racism, sexism, anti-semitism, homophobia, child
porn should not exist in a civilised society, either.  However,
the way to combat such unethical or immoral behaviour is 
through education, not through censorship.  Censorship raises
the values of the censor above the values of those being 
censored, enforces those values regardless of the lack of 
acceptance, and it deprives us of freedom and deprives us
of choice.

Ultimately, the proposed censorship will be misdirected, expensive
and ineffective.

The proposed censorship will be easy to circumvent, even trivial
for many people.  The means of circumvention (virtual private
networks, tunnels, encryption, proxies, alternative DNS servers,
etc) will make it even harder to detect the very behaviour
you intend for this censorship to address.  You will drive the
individuals you hope to deter or catch even further underground.
By doing so, you will also reduce the scale and frequency of
success by policing bodies, which will result in less visible
deterrence.

Do you also intend to censor our telephone lines and postal
service?  After all, all it takes are some modems to set up an
electronic bulletin board.  Or some phone calls to setup a meeting
place.  Or an envelope, delivered by the local postie, to deliver
many more gigabytes of offensive material than could be delivered
over the internet, and in a more timely and reliable manner.

I am a parent.  I have children.  I plan to protect them from
offensive material.  How?  Simply, and without depriving anyone
else of their freedom or choice, by being a responsible parent,
by educating my children, and by being there to supervise them.

I do not want the government stepping in.

This proposed censorship is unwelcome.

It is an international embarrassment.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
David Taylor.

"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary
security, deserve neither liberty or security." Benjamin Franklin

"When liberty is taken away by force it can be restored by force.
When it is relinquished voluntarily by default it can never be
recovered." Dorothy Thompson.

"We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home." Edward
R. Murrow

I hope it isn’t simply ignored, although I suspect it will be.