http://www.staysmartonline.gov.au/
Keeping kids safe on the Internet is a big concern for many parents. This site has a whole section devoted to informing parents about kid safe surfing.
It still amazes me how some computer users will avoid antivirus software completely. Antivirus software will use up system resources while it protects your computer and when you are playing the latest game, who can afford to have something running in the background slowing down the performance. Those people are either ignorant of the dangers of infection, or they are stupid. There are plenty of both types to go around.
I did notice that the site refers to the "Internet Industry Association" fairly often.
About the IIAThe Internet Industry Association is Australia's national Internet industry organisation.
We currently have over 200 members, including telecommunications carriers, content creators and publishers, web developers, e-commerce traders and solutions providers, hardware vendors, systems integrators, banks, insurance underwriters, technology law firms, ISPs, educational institutions, research analysts, and those providing professional and technical support services.
Increasingly, our members also include businesses hoping to establish an effective online presence for the purposes of e-commerce.
On behalf of its members, the IIA provides policy input to government and advocacy on a range of business and regulatory issues, to promote laws and initiatives which enhance access, equity, reliability and growth of the medium within Australia.
- Clipped from the Internet Industry Association website on 24th October, 2006.
Right now, if you are a regular reader of my blog, you would know that there are a lot of people kicking up a stink, not only in the States, but also in Europe and other places in the world about Net Neutrality. It's not an easy subject to grasp, but it is the vast ignorance of Net Neutrality issues that may very well cause problems with our Internet. The fact that the IIA can guide government policy AND is made up of over 200 members (including Telstra, Virgin and Optus) is probably a good thing. Well, its better than the Government forming policy about the Internet on its own and its much better than the Govenment forming policy about the Internet based on the views of a single company. Anyone organization can apply for membership. Applications for membership need the unanimous approval of the IIA Board of Directors. It is interesting to note that the United States Internet Association (USIIA) is a member. All members get to vote on proposed policies for the Australian Government.
Although there are a couple of Universities on the list of members, the vast majority are comercial vendors. It would be good to see some more Universities and Open System Advocates there. Then when they advise the government on sites like "Stay Smart Online", perhaps the solutions won't be entirely comprised of commercial software. There are plenty of free security solutions for personal use (although I do not know of any that is licensed for free use for business).
I like free software. There's plenty of free anti-virus software around, a few free firewalls and of course anti-spyware and anti-adware programs are out there for anyone who can be bothered to Google it. I even link to a few on my sidebar =>
Anyway, I do recommend visiting Stay Smart Online and checking out their Seven Basic Steps for Securing Your Computer even if you are a seasoned Internet citizen. Most of it is good sense and it has some up-to-date information on hoax e-mails, spam and spyware.
Thanks Mum.
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