We may think that the Internet and Government policy towards it has little to do with filmmaking, but I think we should be looking broader than our fill of news, Facebook, email, web browsing and Twittering.

Many years back I was having difficulty with a specific video many have seen on YouTube - also embedded here. To get the advice I needed to get the look I wanted, a good friend (Douglas Spotted Eagle for those in the know) offered  to view the work so far. This was before the days of YouTube or Vimeo, or indeed of ADSL itself; everything was dialup and most video was streamed via RealVideo which while revolutionary, was not exactly pristine or quick.

In short, the whole operation for around 3 minutes of video using ftp to send a reasonable clip was around a 24 hour turnaround jobbie.

Fast forward to today, and this operation could have been completed in seconds, literally.

If this theory is extrapolated, it also means that filmmaking can be expanded to bring in specialists with knowledge or techniques we don't know, haven't mastered, don't have the appropriate tools for or simply the time and inclination to deal with.

I remember giving up on web development as I didn't have the necessary time or skill set to learn all the new technologies necessary for Web 2.0 and this is now happening in the video world. It makes sense then to cut costs, increase productivity, expand the skill set and therefore make a better product, and this is where the Internet is the key.

You could be in Wagga, the motion graphics whizzbang in Broome, the 3D boffin in Hobart, the soundie in Cairns and the genius in creating great titles in Alice for all it mattered. Throw in collaborative tools such as Skype, Windows Live, Outlook, Google whatevers and so on, and here we have a fully functioning studio - just virtually that's all. Even casting could be done this way via Skype etc.

So the Internet and its speed DOES matter and any attempt at throttling it needs to be cut off at the pass. And to my mind, as a creator of things as well as a technology beast, this includes Mr Conroy's filter that has been shown time and time again to be a waste of time and money. To my mind, it is simply an election tool - scaring the masses needlessly about the electronic boogie man. There are better and simpler ways of keeping the nasty hard core stuff away from enquiring young minds.

And as a final thought, think back to when you were 8, 9,10, 11 or 12; were you as naïve then as we think the youngsters of today are supposed to be? Those who are WAY ahead socially of what we were in the 60s and 70s. And we didn't even have these electronic tools at our disposal.

By David Hague

David is the owner and publisher of AusCam Online. He has a background in media dating back to 1979 when he first got involved with photojournalism in motorsport, and went from there into technology via a 5 year stint with Tandy Computers. Following that, he ran a software distribution company on the Gold Coast and was one of the first to recognise the potential of Microsoft Windows.

Moving back to WA, David wrote scripts for Computer Television for video training for the just released Windows and Office 95 among others, and was then lured to Sydney to create web sites for the newly commercial Internet in 1995, building hundreds of sites under contract to OzEmail including Coates Hire, Hertz Queensland, John Williamson, the NSW Board of Studies and many, many more.

He went back into full time journalism as the Managing Editor for Channel 7's 'Gadget Guy', Peter Blasina's publications VideoCamera and Pixelmag, before starting Australasian Camcorder magazine when these publications were shelved. He lives at Sydney's Avalon Beaches nearly on the ocean front with dog Budweiser and in his spare time is a nut for motor sport, road safety, fishing, science fiction - especially Dr Who - and technology.

David can be contacted via david@auscamonline.com