Charles added some additional, thoughtful alternatives:

Depending on your belief or not in an afterlife/reincarnation, it could be 301 Moved Permanently, or if you believe John Edward, 305 Use Proxy.

Yes — we do think this is funny If you do to, perhaps you should consider joining us?

Hi,

Just wanted to let you know that the insidious, annoying, inline pop over ads that feature on the front page of smh.com.au have now driven me from using your site any more. I’d much rather use news.com.au and abc.net.au/news rather than putting up with the frustration and distraction of your needlessly obstrusive advertisements.

When will the online media learn that frustrating users does not engender their goodwill toward you or your sponsors and in fact has quite the opposite effect?

Sincerely,
Chris

I just don’t understand the tactic. If this type of thing was possible with printed newspapers would they do it and would their readership put up with it?

While I have been the number one hit on google.com.au for some time, on google.com I had been battling the awesome power of the actor Chris Owen (the Sherminator of American Pie fame) and, even more embarrassing, the previous number one hit: a page on mugshots.org listed under the “Sex Offender” category. Hurrah!

I do actually encourage readers to check out the mugshot and verify that indeed the photograph looks nothing like me… thankfully. I won’t link to the pages in question for fear of losing this hallowed status.

Here’s a quote from an email sent out by Dale Clapperton, chairperson of Electronic Frontiers Australia:

EFA is quite simply appalled by this Bill. It is an affront to the rule of law and will likely be used as a tool of political censorship by the police. Australia is not a police state and the police should not be the judge, jury, and executioner of Internet content.

Parliament may not sit again before the Federal election is called. This Bill is typical of the contempt with which the coalition treats the Internet and the rights of all Australians to be free of ill-conceived government censorship. Should the coalition be returned to power, this Bill is likely to become law. Remember these issues on election day.

I grow more and more unhappy with the powers that legislatures are granting authorities in the name of defending our freedoms and values. I’ve always been particularly concerned with preserving our online liberties given the immense promise of a free Internet. I don’t particularly have the time however to be as vigorous as necessary to aid in this cause directly. That’s why I am a member of EFA. I basically contribute financially so that my rights in this digital age can be defended by people with the necessary expertise and means. If you have similar concerns and interests, I urge you to consider joining the EFA or equivalent advocacy group in your country. We need organised resistance to proposals such as these, lest they continue to erode our freedoms while ostensibly defending them.