Rudd's Internet Filter

[Jimi]

Why does our Government hate freedom?

Australians will be unable to opt-out of the government's pending Internet content filtering scheme, and will instead be placed on a watered-down blacklist, experts say.

Under the government's $125.8 million Plan for Cyber-Safety, users can switch between two blacklists which block content inappropriate for children, and a separate list which blocks illegal material.

Pundits say consumers have been lulled into believing the opt-out proviso would remove content filtering altogether.

The government will iron-out policy and implementation of the Internet content filtering software following an upcoming trial of the technology, according to the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.

Department spokesman Tim Marshall said the filters will be mandatory for all Australians.

"Labor's plan for cyber-safety will require ISPs to offer a clean feed Internet service to all homes, schools and public Internet points accessible by children," Marshall said.

"The upcoming field pilot of ISP filtering technology will look at various aspects of filtering, including effectiveness, ease of circumvention, the impact on internet access speeds and cost."

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) contacted by Computerworld say blanket content filtering will cripple Internet speeds because the technology is not up to scratch.

Online libertarians claim the blacklists could be expanded to censor material such as euthanasia, drugs and protest.

Internode network engineer Mark Newton said many users falsely believe the opt-out proviso will remove content filtering.

"Users can opt-out of the 'additional material' blacklist (referred to in a department press release, which is a list of things unsuitable for children, but there is no opt-out for 'illegal content'", Newton said.

"That is the way the testing was formulated, the way the upcoming live trials will run, and the way the policy is framed; to believe otherwise is to believe that a government department would go to the lengths of declaring that some kind of Internet content is illegal, then allow an opt-out.

"Illegal is illegal and if there is infrastructure in place to block it, then it will be required to be blocked -- end of story."

Newton said advisers to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy have told ISPs that Internet content filtering will be mandatory for all users.

The government reported it does not expected to prescribe which filtering technologies ISPs can use, and will only set blacklists of filtered content, supplied by the Australia Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

EFA chair Dale Clapperton said in a previous article that Internet content filtering could lead to censorship of drugs, political dissident and other legal freedoms.

"Once the public has allowed the system to be established, it is much easier to block other material," Clapperton said.

According to preliminary trials, the best Internet content filters would incorrectly block about 10,0000 Web pages from one million.

http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/10/13/no-opt-out-filtered-internet

This should be getting more attention.

No government should tell us what we can and can't view on the internet.

 

[Carn Hawkas]

Think of what this means for pr0n!

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) contacted by Computerworld say blanket content filtering will cripple Internet speeds because the technology is not up to scratch.

You gotta be kidding me. They're going to force me to use a filter that i don't even want/need, AND it's going to slow down my internet speed?

 

[Benno_900]

Bring back Howard!

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

Rudd's a moron. The sooner he & that smug redhead are voted out of office the better for Australia.

 

[Bretski]

Legend Rudd, making this world perfect one step at a time.

 

[TigerCleavage]

It won't work, it can't work, and it can't be regulated 100%
Remember John Howards internet filter that was cracked by a 15 year old kid less than half and hour after it went live.

$125.8 million for this, What an absolute load of horse sh1t.

 

[Ninty]

It can't work. ISPs will go bankrupt if so.

 

[bigdroppunt]

GTFO.... this will never work.....

 

[supersonic88]

That is bulls***, when i first heard about it I thought it would never get to the stage where it would actually happen. Yet it looks like it will. In a country where you're supposed to have free speech & view what you want to, they're pretty much going against that. Its sounding alot like china from that article, where their internet is filtered badly to hide things the gonvernment doesnt want them seeing/reading. And whats worse of all is that as the article points out, it'll slow down the net even more. Australia has rubbish internet that is far behind most of the world, yet hey lets bring in something that'll slow it down even more!

 

[clarkoscluster]

Rudd's a moron. The sooner he & that smug redhead are voted out of office the better for Australia.

Terrific post. Rudd is a ****wit of the highest order...

 

[aaronm46]

pr0n ftw!

 

[Zarrix]

It just doesn't make much sense. This government will not apply an internet filter anything simular to the horrors of China. Rudd would lose so many voters, it would be catastrophic, but then again, if this went through, to the extreme, then we may not be seeing elections for a long time.

 

[Copernicus]

Australia, beacon of freedom

The problem is that both Labor and the Liberals want this in some format - what is wrong with them? Let parents and other responsible folks do the filtering, not the ****ing government.

 

[And_ROOS]

So back to dial up with Mother Rudd looking over your shoulder while you do homework?

It will get to the point where the only accessible website in Aus will be the Labor site.

But if this goes through, and everyone hates it, ill run for PM and promise to remove it. That will secure just about every vote.

 

[Ninty]

It is as stupid as not having an R18+ rating for video games.

 

[bigdroppunt]

I was thinking about this lastnight..... it just cant happen..... they cannot block you.... there are always ways around this kinda stuff...... how can they work out if a file name .. "Homework01.avi" isnt really a pr0n file of some nuns fisting one another ?...... you cant control P2P like that.......

nice try rudd...... save the money and put it into make our net faster like your promised us you r-****.......

 

[Ry009]

pr0n ftw!

Sig-worthy.

 

[adelaide_40]

**** off Rudd use the money on something thats worth it.

Its up to the parents to monitor what the children watch/do on the net not the government.

and getting pr0n slower

 

[TigerCleavage]

YouPorn is already slow enough as it is.

 

[Jimi]

I was thinking about this lastnight..... it just cant happen..... they cannot block you.... there are always ways around this kinda stuff...... how can they work out if a file name .. "Homework01.avi" isnt really a pr0n file of some nuns fisting one another ?...... you cant control P2P like that.......

nice try rudd...... save the money and put it into make our net faster like your promised us you r-****.......

Thats the thing.
I imagine most perusers of illegal material obtain said material through things like p2p and irc, rather than from visiting web pages. How does Conroy's filter plan to block those things?

 

[Ninty]

Sig-worthy.

 

[Ry009]

Oh didn't notice mate!

Was too busy look at pron!