Will soon conduct tests on system intended to have ISPs filter porn and other content deemed inappropriate for kids.Forces around the world continue to try and get ISPs to become the gatekeepers of content. It's been well publicized how the entertainment industry has been lobbying govts around the world with varying degrees of success to get ISPs to filter copyrighted content, but now Australia is breaking new ground with attempts to get ISPs to filter porn and "inappropriate" content as well. The Australian govt is moving ahead with plans to have ISPs filter porn and other internet other internet content deemed inappropriate for children despite findings that they aren't effective and do little to fight the real threat to children - predators using social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. It's something that even the Australian Communications and Media Authority(ACMA) admits. "The risks to Australian youth are primarily those associated with Web 2.0 services - potential contact by sexual predators, cyber-bullying by peers and misuse of personal information," said the ACMA. Coupled with a dive in the use of email, it has become even more difficult to filter content. "Filters are currently unable to sift the content of communication between users using instant messaging or chat services," ACMA said. The agency concluded that education was the most effective way of addressing risks associated with illegal contact online. The new plan to institute ISP-level filtering comes after three govt-funded studies showed that ISP-level filters would be less effective and more costly than PC-level filtering. Despite the studies, ISPs were still forced to begin offering PC filtering software to subscribers. It was only after 16-year-old Tom Wood demonstrated the ease with which they could be bypassed that plans for filtering at the ISP level were called for. Thus we have plans for testing out the new system. The filters will be automatic, sending so-called "clean feeds" to homes, but subscribers can be exempted by contacting their ISP. [Via Australian IT ] |
 
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Funniest story to come out of Australia in a while at that point. Either way, won't work.
I just don't see why once again the govt is made to be everybody's babysitter. Its a stopgap for lazy parenting.
Might send off some letters of complaint now I think. Even though it's easy to get around, it's just wrong to start censoring because a small minority think something is offensive.
http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_122#Internet
Let them know Austalia isn't Iran or China and we are supposed to be all for freedom of speech.
Even though there would be easy ways around the filtering, it's still a bad idea to go down this path.
Soon we will be opening our internet browsers to see the message, "Thank you for paying your local ISP to provide you with the following message: 'All content that the internet provides has been deemed inappropriate by some organization and therefore has been blocked. We appreciate your business and look forward to your next monthly payment to continue to block the internet from your personal use'"