Australia Wants to Censor the Internet
Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: australia, filter, censorship, blacklist | Themes: The Internet
Australia has been heavily criticized for its plans to implement an ISP-level Internet content filter. While the government's initial statement was that the filter would block "inappropriate" material, a recent leak of the supposed blacklist has shown that seemingly innocent business websites are also in the process of being excluded from access by their customers, including a dentist.
Wikileaks.org, a website created for publishing confidential government and corporate documents while keeping sources anonymous, posted what it claims to be the Australian Communications and Media Authority's (ACMA) blacklist last week. Naturally, the ACMA and Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Stephen Conroy, denied that the list was authentic.
Among the websites in the list obtained by Wikileaks is that of the dental office Dental Distinction. The ACMA confirmed to the office that its website was indeed on the official list as well, but did not provide reasons. A school cafeteria consultancy company was also included on Wikileaks' blacklist, however the ACMA denied that the company's website would be blocked. Additionally, several Wikileaks pages have also made the ban list, which is what prompted the site to leak the information in the first place.
According to Conroy, “There are some common URLs to those on the ACMA blacklist. However, ACMA advises that there are URLs on the published list that have never been the subject of a complaint or ACMA investigation, and have never been included on the ACMA blacklist.”
The ACMA said that the list dated August 6, 2008 can not possibly be real because the official list at the time contained 1061 URLs, while the list obtained by Wikileaks contains 2395. Wikileaks later posted lists dated March 11 and March 18. The site also said that the ACMA did a cleanup between these two dates, resulting in a current official list containing only 1172 URLs, a number much closer to what the ACMA said the number was in August.
Shortly after the possible leaking of the government's blacklist, Internet Service Provider iiNet released a statement (PDF) saying it is pulling out of the current content filter trials. Michael Malone, Managing Director of iiNet, said that the ISP “only agreed to participate in the trial to demonstrate that the policy was fundamentally flawed, a waste of taxpayers' money and would not work.”
In a press release, Conroy stated that he may involve the Australian Federal Police because the release of information regarding the blacklist “undermines efforts to improve cyber–safety and create a safe online environment for children.” Wikileaks hit back at Conroy, saying, “Under the Swedish Constitution's Press Freedom Act, the right of a confidential press source to anonymity is protected, and criminal penalties apply to anyone acting to breach that right.”
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See what happens when you give up your gun rights? Australia is headed towards a very dark place and there is nothing they can do to stop it.
Unbelievable. The Internet being censored, the only place we can go too to see what we want when we want, that we pay for, is going to be Censored.. well, not ours but Australia's.
If this were to happen here, I would definantly throw my words in and join "Rallies" or w/e the hell. This is too much, TV censored, Radio, Internet..
We know what is bad for us, why do they feel forced to censor stuff for us like they know whats good and bad for us? Too much man, too fucking much.
See what happens when you give up your gun rights? Australia is headed towards a very dark place and there is nothing they can do to stop it.
gun rights? Listen, what is that going to do? If America did this.. what would you do, grab 100 of your buddies and storm the whitehouse with weapons? Yea, the Army/Police would be on you shooting. Even if nearly all citizens in America have weapons, it don't make a difference. It makes you feel like you're able to take control but you can't. considering theres thousands in the military, and thousands in the police force that would easily stop you. And on top of that, the president can easily be transported away if you tried... This whole "we have guns, so we can overthrow the president" thinking is like a blanket of "control" thrown over your head.. Guns or not, you don't have real control over the top dogs.
Yes, they'd be much better off storming their government buildings and shooting everyone in the head.
Australia is really turning up to be the land of the darkness in recent years - I'm glad my parent's didn't choose to immigrate there.
Seriously though, censoring the internet? You can't censor something like the internet! If the Australian government's spent perhaps one day on the internet they would realize this, but seemingly no.
If I were in the military and ordered to shoot citizens determined to oppose governmental tyranny and oppression I think I'd shoot my commanding officer before laying my life down to protect said tyrants.
Hopefully the men in our military are not military drones, but people.
I'm in favor of blocking child porn and other nasty bits but blocking most anything else would pretty well irk me.
Where's Randomizer?
And since when is it the governments responsibility to choose the environment children live, work, and play in? Isn't that parents' jobs?
gun rights? Listen, what is that going to do? If America did this.. what would you do, grab 100 of your buddies and storm the whitehouse with weapons? Yea, the Army/Police would be on you shooting. Even if nearly all citizens in America have weapons, it don't make a difference. It makes you feel like you're able to take control but you can't. considering theres thousands in the military, and thousands in the police force that would easily stop you. And on top of that, the president can easily be transported away if you tried... This whole "we have guns, so we can overthrow the president" thinking is like a blanket of "control" thrown over your head.. Guns or not, you don't have real control over the top dogs.
I'm sure he was joking, moron. Besides that, Giving up the right to bear arms would only start a massive downhill trend for the removal of every right that we american citizenes value.
Giving up firearms rights to a publicly ran government means that the 'people', and things stop being 'for the people, by the people', and instead staring being 'for the order, by the new world'.
I'm sure he was joking, moron. Besides that, Giving up the right to bear arms would only start a massive downhill trend for the removal of every right that we american citizenes value. Giving up firearms rights to a publicly ran government means that the 'people', and things stop being 'for the people, by the people', and instead staring being 'for the order, by the new world'.
No, you're wrong "Moron". There are other Countries with just as many rights, and if not, better living then America atm and they're not allowed to weaponry. You people are taught that without the right to bear arms, the Government is going to control you all and your rights will be gone. Give it a rest, christ. You think that if ANY country, that doesn't have the same exact laws as your country has, is oppressed and controlled and the citizens rights are gone.
Really, get real "moron". I personally would love the right to own my own weapon, but I don't need one because in my entire lifetime I have never been robbed, mugged, or hurt from others. Nor have my friends, family co-workers. Well, maybe it is needed in the US, since the US has one of the highest Crime rates overall.
To sacre:
Would you care to site the sources for your assertions? Please, enlighten us...
To sacre:Would you care to cite the sources for your assertions? Please, enlighten us...
No, you're wrong "Moron". There are other Countries with just as many rights, and if not, better living then America atm and they're not allowed to weaponry. You people are taught that without the right to bear arms, the Government is going to control you all and your rights will be gone. Give it a rest, christ. You think that if ANY country, that doesn't have the same exact laws as your country has, is oppressed and controlled and the citizens rights are gone.Really, get real "moron". I personally would love the right to own my own weapon, but I don't need one because in my entire lifetime I have never been robbed, mugged, or hurt from others. Nor have my friends, family co-workers. Well, maybe it is needed in the US, since the US has one of the highest Crime rates overall.
Well at least here in the USA we are FREE to choose, unlike you my poor miserable friend.
No government should have the power to dictate what is or is not freedom.
"McHugh and I were sitting in O'Rourke's one day when a guy we knew came in for a drink. The guy pulled back his coat and we could see he had a handgun in his belt. "Why are you carrying a gun?" McHugh asked. "Because I live in a dangerous neighborhood," the guy said. "It would be safer if you moved," said McHugh."
- From rogerebert.com
No government should have the power to dictate what is or is not freedom.
This is all governments do. It is why they exist. There are no inalienable rights. Rights are given by governments, and can be taken away by governments. If you live in a dictatorship then this is a real problem, but if you live in a democracy, then the rights you gain or lose are determined mainly by public consensus.
It would seem that the Australian people have not been paying close enough attention to the kinds of people they have been voting for.
Well if not senxored then you have to regulate it but dont leave it to the Americans there the ones that got us in this finacial crisis in the first place because they have no regulations on the banks
You have to have rules and regulations otherwise you have everyone jumping around like spoiled little children doing what they want disrupting everybody else
The right to protest dosnt give you the right to destroy graffete other peoples property and thats what happens you need control and regulation but how can you do that without takeing away peoples rights to act like idiots
If this doesn't post correctly I'm not typing it again...
Where's Randomizer?
And since when is it the governments responsibility to choose the environment children live, work, and play in? Isn't that parents' jobs?
Parents are happy to let the government do their job for them. They're too busy with their careers to worry about monitoring their children.
No government should have the power to dictate what is or is not freedom.
As Thunderfox also said, that is precisely what they have always done and will always do. Freedom is a mirage, it doesn't really exist. There is always someone in control.
Seriously though, censoring the internet? You can't censor something like the internet!
You can try, and if you're a good politician, you can hide the fact that you are computer network-illiterate to most of the population. One problem is the latest filter trial shows that there will be a network slowdown of up to ~78% with the "best" filter. It was 98% in 2005. Given that 22% of the country is on dialup, a 78% slowdown is not viable.
The Australian population has far too long been ignorant of the Internet. There are ads on TV advertising a (quote) "massive" 2GB of monthly bandwidth for a mere $59.95/month including line rental. People think that's perfectly reasonable to pay for. The ISPs prey on people's ignorance of our third-world Internet and reap profits from it.
The government preys on people's trust. They will tell you that this filter is for the children, without telling you any downsides. In a manner of speaking, nobody is "thinking of the children", because their future is being eroded every day.
I'm in favor of blocking child porn and other nasty bits but blocking most anything else would pretty well irk me.
What about anti-abortion sites, are they bad for children as well? Why would children even go there? I'm fairly sure parents don't need to worry about their children curiously looking for porn there.
Whirlpool.net.au was going to be fined by the ACMA $11000 PER DAY for having links somewhere on their site to a now-banned anti-abortion site.
No, you're wrong "Moron". There are other Countries with just as many rights, and if not, better living then America atm and they're not allowed to weaponry. You people are taught that without the right to bear arms, the Government is going to control you all and your rights will be gone. Give it a rest, christ. You think that if ANY country, that doesn't have the same exact laws as your country has, is oppressed and controlled and the citizens rights are gone.Really, get real "moron". I personally would love the right to own my own weapon, but I don't need one because in my entire lifetime I have never been robbed, mugged, or hurt from others. Nor have my friends, family co-workers. Well, maybe it is needed in the US, since the US has one of the highest Crime rates overall.
Well said sacre.
Just look at Japan, guns are not allowed to be owned by citizens and they don't have nearly as many issues as we do. Same can be said for the U.K. and countless other modern countries.
VNP.
This pathetic excuse for "protecting the children" won't do much, and is an epic waste of $45+ million(?).
Too many people here are ignorant of the net and pretty much everything associated with it. As randomizer said, the big companies (Telstra and Optus, etc) feed these people dodgy plans and they accept it because they don't know any better.
I wonder how much uproar there will be if a tube made of red (heh) gets blocked...
This headline is incorrect Australia DOES NOT want to censor the internet. A single moron in the government does. 9 out of 10 people surveyed on this are opposed in our country. Additionally there have been protests across the country from ISPs and citizen's alike. Methinks this govt wont be re-elected if this gets forced through.
This headline is incorrect Australia DOES NOT want to censor the internet. A single moron in the government does. 9 out of 10 people surveyed on this are opposed in our country. Additionally there have been protests across the country from ISPs and citizen's alike. Methinks this govt wont be re-elected if this gets forced through.
Just clicked back into this topic to suggest the exact same thing.
One tard in the government, and a few ignorant "head up ass" pareants, want this censoring crap to go ahead. The majority of people with an IQ higher than a rock don't.
This headline is incorrect Australia DOES NOT want to censor the internet.
Titles often get changed by editors before publishing, including this one. However I think what you are saying is only partially correct. Those who are opposed include:
1) Those who know anything about the technical feasibility of this filter.
2) Those who know what else it could be used for even if it is feasible, besides protecting children.
3) Those opposed to everything the government does.
You know who support it, so I'm not going to rant about minority groups all day. But the general population probably don't care, or don't see a problem. Ignorance is the problem.
Those protests you refer to, have any been successful? I read that the March in March protest was a failure with a small turnout. Although I didn't look for any concrete information about the day.
I am not sure about re-election. I think Kevin Rudd's little slip of the swearing tongue last week, as well as the well-earned nickname Keven-747, would make a bigger impact on most people than what some IT "nerds" say this filter will do; or the "tinfoil hat" people for that matter. Mum and dad don't care about network throughput, nor do they car about conspiracy theories of government control. They want to "protect" their children and that is what Kevin said he would do on TV, so that's fine by them.
Additionally, the Coalition have been in power for a long time before now, so it is unlikely that Australians we switch back so quickly. Australia doesn't like political changes much, just look at how long NSW has let the Labor government destroy the state. Yet they re-elect them every time.
Methinks they'll care once news and other things get censored as being inappropriate content, they're internet speeds slow to levels of 10 years ago and they start paying more for a slower service. The thing is us "IT nerds" will say told you so just like y2k, then some pollie will step up and take the legislation away (just like what happened with the Australian workplace agreements debacle) and we'll be back at square one.
I do agree that bringing the liberals back wont fix it. Sounds like we need a viable alternative govt here coz both parties are rubbish.
For all the Americans that say this kind of shit doesn't happen at home, already forget about the Patriot act?
If I were in the military and ordered to shoot citizens determined to oppose governmental tyranny and oppression I think I'd shoot my commanding officer before laying my life down to protect said tyrants.Hopefully the men in our military are not military drones, but people.I'm in favor of blocking child porn and other nasty bits but blocking most anything else would pretty well irk me.
Kent State comes to mind....
Personally, if I feel the need to 'protect' myself from porn, internet gambling or other sites I'll get my own software.
Too bad Conroy isn't in my electorate, he just lost my vote. Hopefully Rudd will pull him into line and give up on this censorship crap for the good of the nation's reputation.
To sacre:Would you care to site the sources for your assertions? Please, enlighten us...
Murders with Firearms. Per Capita
#8 United States: 0.0279271 per 1,000 people
#20 Canada: 0.00502972 per 1,000 people
#32 United Kingdom: 0.00102579 per 1,000 people
I'll feel safer with gun control, personally.
Site - Nationmaster.com
I'm not saying America is a bad place, it isn't. The American people are great too, but there are some that make all other countries out to be shit.. and these people are the ones who make America look bad. Unfortunately there are a lot of these types of people, that try to spread their hate by stating if any country other then their own operates differently, that you're not "Free" You don't have proper "rights". Well, if you are one of those who says this.. Get out more? What else can I say.
I'm an Australian, and for a greater part, there is no where else I would like to be. We have a true democratic society, where everyone has to vote (its a good thing, means the ones we actually want to get in, get in, 'cough' George bush) but this 1 guy just isn't listening! It does look like it will be squashed due to a greater part of our politicians not agreeing, and they need a majority vote. A lot of Australian citizens don't want it (I think its over 60% strongly disagree with it), I doubt it will go ahead
I speak for the vast majority of Australians when I say we do not want this! And on the topic of Gun Laws, gun related violence and firearm offences have escalated in this country since the reforms of 1996..
I speak for the vast majority of Australians when I say we do not want this! And on the topic of Gun Laws, gun related violence and firearm offences have escalated in this country since the reforms of 1996..
I think the increase in offences is more likely due to the fact people are hanging on to guns that are now illegal or selling them to shady people for more than the buy back scheme would pay. I also seem to recall a nation wide pvc pipe shortage around the time those laws came in because people were burying their illegal guns.