THE tender process for the Rudd Government’s much-vaunted national broadband network is to be finalised this week, but already the scheme seems doomed to failure.Communications Minister Stephen Conroy is committed to introducing a mandatory internet filtering system under the guise of blocking children’s access to pornography.Not only will government censors try to block illegal content, but the mandatory filter for all Australian internet service providers will also apply to “other material’’ which bureaucrats decide contains “unwanted content’’.It’s this added proposal that would make Australia stand out as the only democracy in the world to adopt such a draconian measure, ranking it alongside repressive regimes such as Iran and North Korea in terms of censorship.Just as worrying is the effect the filters will have on internet speeds.The national broadband network was one of the planks underpinning Labor’s election success a year ago. Though it has had its critics, the network is eagerly awaited by internet users in country areas who have plugged away for years dealing with snail-like speeds.Yet Senator Conroy’s nanny-state filters will slow down internet access. Some tests of effective filters suggest they could slow access by as much as 87 per cent, relegating us to the bad old days of dial-up speeds. Commentators rating the Rudd Government’s first year have overwhelmingly branded Senator Conroy the ministry’s weakest link. One way he could lift his profile would be to scrap his filter plan before it goes any further. What do you think?Write a letter to the editor, or e-mail editor@bendigoadvertiser.com.au