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Yep, TV3 were forced by the courts to include Peter Dunne and one of Aardvark's favourite politicians: Dim Jim (otherwise known as Jim Anderton).

Like children whose dummies had fallen out of their prams, Pete and Jim ran crying to the High Court claiming that TV3 wasn't playing fair.

Willing to ride roughshod over the rights of a private broadcaster, the judge grabbed TV3 by the collar and effectively said "you boys let Jimmy and Pete play in your game or else!"

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Of course I was going to invite Jim to write a guest column (as Minister for Economic Development) in which he could outline his plans for this country's hi-tech future under a government that might include him.

Unfortunately, I now realise that if I were to allow *any* politician to air their views in this forum I'd likely be besieged with court orders and judgments forcing me to invite them all (yeah, I *am* kidding).

However, in light of this draconian directive from the courts, all I can say is "Hooray for the Internet!"

Until the politicians work out a way to slip the thin end of one of their legislative wedges under the door to cyberspace, we'll be able to continue airing our views and publishing our opinions without the interference of the courts.

But, the way things are going, The State appears so hell-bent on controlling every aspect of our lives that it is probably just a matter of time before (in the name of a war against terror perhaps) all Net content is carefully sanitised by a national proxy or filter system. This will of course, be all for our own good -- just like the mountain of other rules and regulations which assume we're all complete morons and incapable of taking responsibility for ourselves.

But what do you think?

Should privately owned broadcasters (or publishers) be forced by the courts to provide all politicians with a platform any time they offer such a platform to *any* politician?

How would you feel if you, out of political loyalty or for money, stuck a banner for a political party on your website and then found yourself obliged to also carry banners for every other party that demanded it?

So far the Net remains almost our last bastion of free speech in a public forum -- but for how long?

What can we do to preserve the right (politicians would say "privilege") that this represents?

Lighten Up
Yes, time to shuffle free from the tedium of the week that's just been and enjoy some more from the lighter side of the Net.

Now I am taking a risk with this one. There's a chance that after seeing this link on Aardvark, all those politicians will get court orders demanding that I link to their snake-oil too :-)

And while on the subject of fighting a war against terror here's a strategy that I think will be a winner!

Here's something that ought to get the endorphines flowing, it's really funny and makes Bart Simpson's prank calls look so amateur.

Keep em coming folks!

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