Draconian Internet Laws in Australia :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

The Internet is a revolutionary new medium that has provided hatful the world round a new medium of communication. In earnings as the Internet has been nicknamed, every unrivalled can puzzle a voice and it is comparatively easy for one person to reach a very banging audience. In addition to revolutionizing the focal catamenia messages are broadcasted, lucre has also revolutionized peer-to-peer communication. e-mail and instant messaging have a bun in the oven become a very pleasant method of communication for many people, oftentimes replacing the use of telephones and established postal mail. However, the new methods of communication emerging on the Internet have also created a new communication medium for criminals. Many criminals have found e-mail to be a safer method of communication as opposed to the telephone as it is impervious to wiretaps. Instances of criminal use of cyberspace include espionage and drug trafficking. Cyberspace has also led to the rise of a new for m of nuisance - cybercrime. Such crimes include child obscenity and online stalking. The Internet is an international medium, therefore, it cannot be regulated by any one government, however, as crimes committed using the Internet have serious ramifications at heart real world borders, it is necessary that governments of affected nations take safeguards to protect its citizens. The way in which governments prevent crime on the Internet, however, has become a point of contention for many people. For example, privacy advocates in the get together States oppose the federal official Bureau of Investigations implementation of Carnivore a program that reads all e-mail flip through mail servers on which it is installed. They argue that while Carnivores purpose is to interfere correspondence between criminals, it invades the privacy of all Internet users as it allows the FBI to monitoring device all e-mail that passes through a system1. However, of all the nations implementing prec autions to prevent cybercrime and crime committed with the aid of the Internet, Australias are perhaps the most draconian. On November 25, 1999, the Australian Parliament passed laws permitting the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) - the counterpart to the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) - to gain access to private ready reckoner systems and alter data for surveillance purposes without the knowledge of the owner of the computer. It is important to differentiation also that the ASIO is not subject to the Privacy Act of 1988. This makes many Australian citizens uneasy that the government may now not unaccompanied to monitor their actions on the Internet but also to compromise their computer systems.