Issue No 45 | 10 March 2000 | |
NewsTeachers’ Website Mysteriously Blocked
Teachers attempting to access the NSW Teachers Federation website from schools this week were surprised to discover the site was blocked with a notice stating they were accessing explicit pornographic material.
Fearing a cyber-lockout of the union, Teachers Federation officials sprung into action - contacting the Department of Education through which the site was accessed. A flurry of phone calls between the Federation, the Labor Council, the Minister for Education's office and the Department ensued as the prospect of Cyber-Ken striking again hit home. Eventually the federation received an explanation: it wasn't them the department of education, it was the computer's , or rather their server, Ozemail, the Department's ISP. Seems the department l has a large security "net nanny" filter to stop undesirable sites being downloaded into schools and the filter had decided to prevent any access to any 'Geocities' web site, one of the world's largest free web hosting sites.. The Federation current site is hosted on Geocities while they are rebuilding their site with Social Change Online. By midday departmental technical officers had done a "work-around" so the URL (the web site location) would not be affected. "While it caused some excitement, it got resolved quickly - it does show the potential of the employer from preventing our access to the DET's intranet and our members," the Federation's John Dixon told Workers Online. "It shows we need to enshrine in award terms our access to our members and particularly our Fed Reps in schools. "It also raises the need for protocols around our members rights individually and collectively to privacy and confidentiality in E-mail and web correspondence.
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Interview: Working Women Nareen Young talks about how services are being delivered to our most vulnerable workers - and what unions need to do to make them their own. Unions: Into the New Frontier IT professionals are part of the new workforce that unions need to win over - and while they are often contractors, they're workers too. History: Handling The Ladies 1943 - women were filling the gap in the workforce left by the diggers abroad and Australian managers needed some advice on how to deal with these strange creatures. Technology: Building The Hypermacho Man In a stinging critque of the ‘Wired’ culture, Melanie Stewart Miller argues digital cultural is creating a new super-Man. International: The Long March Home Trade union women round the world used International Women’s Day to launch the World March of Women Against Poverty and Violence. Satire: Kerosene Dilution Racket The nursing home industry has been rocked by a new scandal with the revelation that some unscrupulous proprietors have been diluting their patients’ kerosene baths with illicit liquids. Review: Power and the Back Bar In an upcoming book, Julia Gillard argues the ALP retains a male culture that is fast losing step with contemporary society.
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