So Kim Beazley has decided that a Labor government would enact legislation that would require ISPs to block porn and violence. This block would be the default configuration, and users would need to apply to their providers to have the ban removed. Hefty fines would be imposed for ISPs that don’t censor (I mean, filter).

Helen Coonan, the current Federal Minister for IT and Communications, feels that PC based censor-ware is the way to go.

I thought this idiocy would stop when Alston left the Senate. It seems both the current government and their opposition are almost as clueless.

I don’t think there is going to be any argument that forcing content filtering onto the ISPs is just plain stupid. It won’t work, and companies will end up having to pay penalties for something that really isn’t their fault.

So should parents install software to restrict their children? No. For starters, your kids are probably smarter than you are, and will be able to defeat whatever software you install without breaking a sweat. And you’ll never know.

I’m a big fan of – wait for it – supervision and education. Don’t stick a PC in a child’s bedroom and let them go for it. Put it in the lounge room, and surf together. Spend time with them. Teach them what is appropriate, what isn’t, and why it isn’t.

Bottom line: A piece of software is not a replacement for a parent.