>...My concerns were with the concept of the ACCC "sweeping the Internet"
>on a particular day looking for scams, followed by warnings on TV.
>It has all the hallmarks of a media publicity stunt...
Yes, it is a bit hyped, but you need to do that to get the media's attention.
>Does the Internet community need warnings on television?...
People who are new to the Internet do need such warnings. They may believe
everything they see on the computer screen and so be taken in, or be too
worried to log on in the first place.
>Surely anyone who is going to be caught by such "scams", no examples
>of which spring easily to my mind, would be better reached via the Net...
I don't know of any instances of people taken in by Internet scams. An ACCC
spokesperson made a claim of "thousands" on ABC Radio this morning, but gave
no details. However, we are likely to see variations on age old scams soon
enough. Having ACCC on the case early will reassure people their interests
are being protected. Of course how much they need to, or can, be protected
is an issue and it doesn't help to just alarm the public.
>This approach reeks of the "widespread community concern" that we often hear
>of when politicians are trying to impose censorship on the Net. Such
>concern seems to be almost non-existent amongst Internet users themselves...
Current Internet users make up only a small proportion of the population.
The rest will either not join if they see they will be at risk, or may be
the most vulnerable if they do join.
>One can only speculate that, if such concern is real, it exists only amongst
>those who have never used the Internet...
Real or imagined, the concern exists.
Tom Worthington <tomw@acslink.net.au> President, Australian Computer Society,
GPO Box 446, Canberra ACT 2601 http://www.acslink.net.au/~tomw
Fax: +61 2 62496419
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ACS on Information Ministry: http://www.acs.org.au/news/alston.htm