The representative body for Australia’s internet industry has criticised Communications Minister Stephen Conroy for his comments earlier this week against search giant Google, saying it was “very disappointed” in the Labor politician.

“Unwarranted personal attacks do not advance the Australian Digital Economy,” Bruce Linn, chairman of the Internet Industry Association (IIA), said in a statement issued today under the headline “More policy less personal attacks, please Minister”. A spokesperson for Communications Minister Stephen Conroy’s office declined to comment. The IIA counts Google among its members, as well as other online giants such as Yahoo7! and Microsoft.

Earlier this week in a Senate Estimates Committe hearing, under sustained questioning by the Opposition, Conroy had accused Google chief executive Eric Schmidt of falsehood in statements the executive had made about privacy breaches in its Buzz social networking tool. You can read the transcript here.

“Frankly, I think the approach taken by Mr Schmidt is a bit creepy,” Conroy said later on, referring to a sarcastic statement Schmidt had appeared to make about Governments being in charge of the degree of information that Google held.

The comments come as Google is grappling with governments around the globe in controversy created by what it says was its inadvertent collection of information transmitted over Wi-Fi connections in many countries as its Street View cars traversed populated areas. Conroy described the potential privacy breach as potentially one of the worst ever seen. Google has vowed to delete the data safely.

Linn questioned how Conroy’s comments advanced the digital economy which is part of the Minister’s portfolio. “What message does it send to Internet users?” he added.

“The IIA would have preferred the Minister to address the range of important questions raised about the Government’s proposals for mandatory Internet filtering, proposals that will affect every Internet user and Internet Service Provider (ISP) in Australia,” the IIA statement said.

“The IIA welcomes a reasoned debate on privacy and cybersecurity on the Internet, as fundamental enablers of the Digital Economy. The Minister’s comments did not advance that debate in any positive sense,” said Linn.

Image credit: Office of Stephen Conroy

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1. Mia
   Posted 28/05/2010 at 3:38 pm | Permalink | Reply

   People resort to personal attacks when they are losing the argument! Says it all, really.

   • Renai LeMay
     Posted 29/05/2010 at 1:56 pm | Permalink | Reply

     I agree, I think Conroy has really shot himself in the foot with this one … the industry has seen that if he doesn’t get his way with a company in one area, he is likely to link it to other areas of discussion … and that is a chaotic stance to take.

2. Carlo
   Posted 07/06/2010 at 11:33 am | Permalink | Reply

   Funny how the Government (even past Liberal & Labor Governments) can reap all the money from the ‘old cash cow’ – Telstra (for future funds, et al) – but when it comes to negotiation – Conroy has ‘no-idea !!’

   • Renai LeMay
     Posted 07/06/2010 at 9:49 pm | Permalink | Reply

     Heh I think it’s safe to say that governments think like governments, and corporations think like corporations ;) I would like to see a bit less getting on their high horse about broadband for the masses and so on from the government, and more recognition that their role is ultimately to set a good economic foundation for the private sector to build upon.

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