<nettime-ann> CFP: Censorship and Australia

["Steve Collins" <stephen.collins@mq.edu.au>]

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CFP: Censorship and Australia
Scan Journal - http://scan.net.au

Editors:
Dr Steve Collins - stephen.collins@mq.edu.au
Adam Ruch - adam.ruch@scmp.mq.edu.au 

Censorship is a topic of hot debate in Australia. In 2008 the Labor Party
proposed a national policy of Internet filtering, justified by the rhetoric
of protecting children from pornography and online sexual predators. A
leaked list of Web sites flagged for filtration, however, suggests that the
proposed 'Rabbit Proof Firewall' goes further than "protecting children" and
will block any site deemed unsuitable for Australian consumption. The
proposed national Internet censorship raises concern over what will be
considered unsuitable, in relation to the legal restrictions on 'RC'
material. 
Although the National Classification Code states "adults should be able to
read, hear and see what they want", the Australian media classification
system does not currently permit an R18+ rating for videogames, an omission
that has led to calls for review and tension between the gaming community
and politicians such as Federal Minister for Broadband, Communications and
the Digital Economy Stephen Conroy and South-Australian Attorney-General
Michael Atkinson. 

The gaming community is not the only group to disagree with Australia's
approach to censorship: In 2010 Internet protest group Anonymous launched
operation "Tit Storm" against government Web sites in response to moves to
ban pornography featuring small-breasted women for fears that such movies
simulate child pornography.

This special issue of Scan calls for papers addressing censorship in
Australia. Topics may include, but are not restricted to: 

. Internet censorship and filtering
. Media Classification Systems
. Censorship of Videogames
. Videogames and audiences
. User-generated content and classification
. Freedom of media art and expression
. Pornography, sex and children - implications of digital media

Full papers should be submitted to the editors by 4th June 2010. Papers
should be up to 6,000 words in length and emailed as Word documents. Scan
papers may include images, sound and movies, but they should be sent as
separate attachments. 


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