iTWire - Conroy’s Christmas TV crusade: may it be digitally merry

Conroy’s Christmas TV crusade: may it be digitally merry

by Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Friday, 12 December 2008
Page 1 of 2 Australia’s Minister for Broadband, Senator Stephen Conroy, has taken time out from politics’ silly season to encourage Australians to “enjoy a Digital TV Christmas”. It's a handy distraction and channel change from the Internet filtering debate! Register now to win a Canon EOS 500D Although the final switch to digital-only TV won’t happen until 2013, Senator Stephen Conroy is urging Australians to take action now, saying “Christmas is the perfect time for Australian viewing families to experience the many benefits of digital TV”. While many Australians would much prefer the real Christmas present of a “no compulsory Internet filtering” announcement so they could enjoy “the many benefits” of an unfiltered Internet service on an ongoing basis, this appears unlikely to happen. Instead, Australia’s filtering Scrooge, Senator Stephen, is trying to distract Australians with shiny announcements about Digital TV. Ah well. Perhaps after the silly season is over and the business of politics starts anew, the idea of a web content filter will do the same as the analogue TV network and get scheduled for deactivation. But back to the distraction of the idiot box, which has been available in digital for some time now. Australia’s Federal Government recently released a comprehensive switchover timetable, setting out a region-by-region transition to digital TV. The switchover will begin in the Victorian city of Mildura in the first half of 2010 and will be completed across Australia by 2013. As Senator Conroy notes, there are many choices available for people to make the shift to digital TV - from a simple set-top-box through to a high-definition digital TV, the choice is yours. About the only thing Senator Conroy didn’t add was all the names of retail outlets that will not only sell you a digital TV set top box (in SD or HD formats), but could likely sell you a range of Internet filtering programs too, aside from the free one available at NetAlert. So, what else did the “Minister for Communications over a censored and filtered Internet” have to say about digital television? Please read on to page 2. << First page < 1 2 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>