Why restrict the liberties of all of Australia because of the irresponsibility of a minority ("negligent" parents)?
I'm (ahahahaha JSM) a utilitarian; if it's for the greater good, so be it.
At this stage, I think I'll just declare that I've shifted my position a bit; you guys are right in saying that there are some kinks in this filter which definitely need to be worked out a bit. I don't endorse censoring all porn (there's your question answered, /0), but I think the people in general need to have some sort of filter which is a lot more "immediate". Perhaps a pre-packaged internet filter which can be switched off (if you read the manual...) would be good, so long as there is a more active "shielding" of questionable content in general.
What is the 'greater good'? Who defines what the 'greater good' is? Who ensures that the watchers are watched? Who watches them? I've always had a problem with people using this term to justify things like this.
My take on it? It's why we have a democracy you know. Majority rules; it's how our society was designed to work. The 'greater good', therefore, is anything that is good for the majority of people. This certainly isn't.
I still don't like the term, though.
What about other institutions - scientific research, legal, medical? This would just create a whole lot of extra red tape.
What about those who want to do their own private research at home? Government should not control what I am interested in.
I concede defeat here. I endorse a built-in censor for adult material which can be easily turned off, as well as a mandatory censor which blocks content which directly harms people.
What material 'harms' people? Looking at the list, apparently WikiLeaks can harm me. I probably won't be able to access sites that talk about anonymous browsing (e.g., Tor), as it might be used to bypass the filter even though the software is otherwise completely legal.
And it will probably all fall into the mandatory filter.