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Plankowner
Posts: 9165
Location: Upper lefthand corner of the map. | Subject: What the hell is going on in OZ?
'Net filters "required" for all Australians, no opt-out
By Jacqui Cheng | Published: October 16, 2008 - 11:14AM CT
Australians may not be able to opt out of the government's Internet filtering initiative like they were originally led to believe. Details have begun to come out about Australia's Cyber-Safety Plan, which aims to block "illegal" content from being accessed within the country, as well as pornographic material inappropriate for children. Right now, the system is in the testing stages, but network engineers are now saying that there's no way to opt out entirely from content filtering.
The Australian government first revealed its filtering initiative in 2007, which it expected to cost AUS$189 million to implement. That money would go toward imposing filtering requirements on ISPs, who would have to use the Australian Communications and Media Authority's official blacklist, which is in turn based on the country's National Classification Scheme.
Australia moved forward with its plans despite widespread public outcry and began testing the system in Tasmania in February of this year. At the time, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) said that the filters would be enabled by default and that consumers would have to request unfiltered connectivity if they wished to opt-out of the program.
Well, it turns out now that those promises were only partially true. Internode network engineer Mark Newton told Computerworld that users are able to opt out of the "additional material" blacklist—which targets content inappropriate for children—but not the main blacklist that filters what the Australian government determines is illegal content.
"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," Newton said. "Illegal is illegal and if there is infrastructure in place to block it, then it will be required to be blocked—end of story."
A spokesperson for the Australian Communications Minister seemed to confirm this revelation by saying that the filters would be required for all Australian citizens.
Assuming this is in fact the way the scheme is implemented in practice, it raises plenty of troubling questions. "Illegal" is a broad definition, leaving users wondering exactly what kinds of content will end up falling prey to the government's apparently mandatory filtering restrictions. Will Big Content be ringing up the Aussie government soon to have tracker sites added to the blacklist? What about sites that discuss topics like at-home bomb making, or something a little less explosive, like DVD decryption tools? And how about those sites that advise users on how to get around the filters? Will various Wikipedia pages be blocked?
Australia continues to ignore its own government-funded studies from 2006 that show ISP-level filtering to be ineffective and costly. The Australian government's disregard for those prior studies suggests that the driving force behind the current plan is more political than technical.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081016-net-filters-required-for-all-australians-no-opt-out.html
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 892
Location: Palo Pinto County, Texas | Subject: RE: What the hell is going on in OZ?
Apparently it is what I would call call "bureaucratic censorship" that obviously is acceptable under West Oz rules. Just ask POD or Paul or Andrew for confirmation.... I wonder if they consulted BHO, the messiah? |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 2357
| Subject: RE: What the hell is going on in OZ?
...and you wonder why I have always had a strong dislike for politicians of all Parties and of all countries.
...I just deleted a 'rant'....it was inappropriate of me to have wrote what I did and I would only have regretted it later.....one fo those few moments in life when one actually 'thinks' before speaking/writing.
Blue *_* |
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 566
Location: Inyokern, Ca. | Subject: RE: What the hell is going on in OZ?
Blue from West Oz - 2008-10-17 3:22 PM
...and you wonder why I have always had a strong dislike for politicians of all Parties and of all countries.
...I just deleted a 'rant'....it was inappropriate of me to have wrote what I did and I would only have regretted it later.....one fo those few moments in life when one actually 'thinks' before speaking/writing.
Blue *_*
Wow, you're becoming so 'civilized.' Dare I say almost 'British.' 
Going waaay deep.
BB |
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Mess cooking
Posts: 18
| Subject: RE: What the hell is going on in OZ?
Oh, I don't know - British might be hitting below the belt.
To me, this kind of thing is pretty scary, but that's an American "they can't tell US what to do" attitude. Its something I'd personally have a difficult time adapting to, but its not the way we were raised.
Brian |
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What the hell is going on in OZ?
