The Hitchhikers Guide to Net Filtering
"Does it worry you that you don't talk any kind of sense?"
Agda, the Restaurant at the end of the Universe
Every couple of months we get the opportunity to hold a discussion directly, on the record, with Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and the senior officials responsible for implementing the Government's mandatory net filter scheme. These opportunities come about as a result of the Senate Estimates Committee process which provides a valuable, if somewhat warped, window into the world of the Australian public service.
The sessions - on the net filter as much as any other topic - are an unpredictable blend of insight and calculated obfuscation. The May 2010 session was illuminating mainly for what it failed to illuminate: between them, the Minister and the official at the table managed to take no less than eleven matters on notice. This is sometimes shorthand for 'we may respond in several months with a dismissive one-line misrepresentation of what we thought you asked for', occasionally it simply means your question is about to disappear and never be heard from again.
