Late last month tango posted about a report on Australia’s Internet filter. It sparked some discussion and one of the main points was that we, those in the discussion, believe that user education is more important than filtering.

With this in mind it was interesting to read on The Australian IT website an article entitled “E-security lessons for Aussie kids“. The main thrust of the article is summed up by a quote attributed to a Digital Economy department spokesperson:

“Children are recognised to be the heaviest users of the internet, and most comfortable using new technologies … Given this, e-security education within schools would provide children with the knowledge they need to protect themselves. It is envisaged that students will use the skills they learn at school to improve the e-security measures taken at home.”

It is encouraging to see that user education is a component of the plan. It’s also interesting that it is being specifically targeted at children. I would hope that parents listen to their children and participate in learning about these issues as well.

I would also hope that the information that the children are given to “recognise the legal and other consequences of sharing software, music, movies and other copyright information” will include open licenses such as the Creative Commons licenses and the GPL.

The photo “iMac Delight” was uploaded to Flickr by Jennie R. F.