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Discussion: The Great Firewall of Australia
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Mugwort |
The Great Firewall of Australia
Oct 18 2008, 1:22 AM EDT
In case you guys weren't aware, the current govt in all it's wisdom is planning to place a mandatory ISP level filter on the whole of the country's internet. Apart from the abuses of government censorship this will screwup the web pretty badly. More details here:"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 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 10,000 Web pages from one million. " http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1399635276 There is an action site here: http://nocleanfeed.com/takeaction.html This is obscene abuse of power akin to what was attempted in China. Is this the type of government we want in Australia? 1 out of 2 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Posted Anonymously |
1. RE: The Great Firewall of Australia
Nov 19 2008, 7:30 PM EST
Although I do support the idea in principle I don't believe a workable system can/will be available in the near future that can function to an acceptable degree and not diminish internet speeds. I believe the money would be better spent in further development of installable software for all public computers and free for home pc owners. Even distributing a free cd with newspapers to all homes to ensure it actually gets out their to families who want to use it.
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Posted Anonymously |
2. RE: The Great Firewall of Australia
Nov 20 2008, 2:18 AM EST
There is already a system in place where concerned people can download free filtering software for their PC's. This move by the govt. is simply meant to be one more step in limiting the free flow of information between honest citizens and has nothing to do with porn. Witness Stephan Conroy's blacklist which has gone from censoring 'illegal' sites to 'unwanted' sites. 10000 sites so far and he's still not saying what sites they are. A very scary and dangerous state of affairs, especially as it's being widely supported by so-called Christian groups in spite of the knowledge that this will NOT stop porn in any shape or form. What a sad state of affairs, lets hope sanity prevails and we can at least hang on for a little while to the shreds of what's left of our freedom.
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