Australia bans web suicide trade

"For months, Australia's Dr. Death, Philip Nitschke, has been doing an impression of Chicken Little, claiming the 'sky' is going to fall on him and his work," the US. International Task Force reports in Update, vol. 19, No. 2. "On June 23 2005, the 'sky' did fall: the Australian Parliament passed laws outlawing just about everything Nitschke and his organisation EXIT do via the Internet.

"The laws have banned the use of the Internet to incite people to commit suicide or to instruct them on how best to kill themselves. Violations of the new laws carry fines of up to A$110,000 for individuals and up to A$550,000 for organisations. The laws also apply to other means of communication, such as telephones and faxes."