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Technical Specs Released For Aussie Net Filtering
smallkathryn writes "Technical specifications have just been released for the Australian net filtering trial. The trial, which aims to prove that ISP-level filtering is a viable way to stop 'unwanted content' from reaching users, will go live on 24 December. The trial will involve ISPs choosing a commercially available hardware filter from an internet content filter (ICF) vendor, adding it to their networks, then loading the blacklist of unwanted sites. Still no indication of how peer-to-peer information will be addressed."
Putting aside the question of whether filtering is desirable in the first place ("think of the children!"), or issues regarding the potential for future abuse (e.g., censorship of unpopular speech, and who determines what needs to be filtered in the first place) at the technical level any halfway-reliable filtering technology that peeks into the transport layer is going to add a huge amount of overhead that will increase costs and degrade performance. Good for the equipment companies, but bad for everyone who would prefer their Internet connection as dumb and fast as possible.
OTOH, OpenDNS provides a free, opt-in filtering service available to anyone who wants it. It's very easy to deploy, why not just use that?
TurnKey Linux: if it can be easy, it should be easy
They're already adding otherwise legal sites to the blacklist. From the second link:
One of the more recent concerns over the blacklist is its extension from 1,300 sites to 11,300 sites containing "objectionable material", the content of which has not been made clear. The only details that have been divulged about them is that pro-euthanasia and pro-anorexia sites will be included on the blacklist.
Only the *testing* is voluntary.
When (if, hopefully) the real thing goes live, "Filtering will be mandatory in all homes and schools across the country".
See: http://nocleanfeed.com
Except even the people who ask us to please think of the children don't want this one!
You can use 4.2.2.1 through 4.2.2.5
If I recall correctly, they're provided by various tier-1 carriers and telecoms (Level 3, Verizon, etc.).
Australia already has that law. Free NetNanny for everyone that wants a "clean" connection.
Now ask me how many people have taken up this offer...
3laws: No freebies, no backsies, GTFO.
That won't work on the vast majority of sites out there which either use name-based virtual hosting or complicated load balancers, both of which depend on the correct hostname being in the URL.
In the old days, a common trick to get around URL filters was to put a '.' at the end of the TLD as in:
http://www.example.com./
The '.' is the root of the DNS hierarchy. It's optional when specifying an Internet hostname but all software which handles domain names is required to handle it properly. Programmers of early web filters didn't know this so if they put the following URL into their block list:
http://www.example.com/*
Adding the dot meant the URL wouldn't match the entry in the blocklist. All the vendors patched this pretty quickly though and then the next workaround discovered was encoding the domain name as its hex equivalent. Took longer for the vendors to patch that, but they finally did. Most of the web filters out there have had plenty of time to come up to speed on all the workarounds by this point, though.
iiNet have said that NOBODY has EVER downloaded the free filtering software from their website.
Unfortunately that couldn't be further from the truth.
First of all, the filter's scope is definitely beyond illegal material. See here for a legal explanation of the terms - most RC and prohibited content is actually perfectly legal to possess.
Secondly, the minister has actually confirmed that sites such as pro-euthanasia websites will be banned. Drug use is also enough to get material put on the list. We're consistently told that the worst material on the list is child pornography, but that's beside the point - we need to know what the least harmful material on the blacklist is to make an informed decision. But we won't - the list is a government secret, and you will be jailed for revealing it.
And these "lobby groups" trying to add whatever the fuck they want to the filter? They hold the balance of power in the senate... in fact it seems that a major motivation behind the Government's plan is to buy their votes. Those lobby groups want all pornography banned outright, others want gambling websites blocked. The filter will in no way stop at "illegal" material.
Now, ISPs are usually international companies, few are still single country.
I don't know how it works in the US (or wherever you live) but the 2 of the top 3 ISPs in Australia (Telstra and iiNet) only serve within Australia, AFAIK. There headquarters are here too, meaning it would be difficult to move, especially since they own so much of the local infrastructure.
The reason for this is likely that Australia is geographically isolated from other countries, being a continent in its own right.
Most ISPs are either also in telco or cable TV, so let's shut down the ISP biz and concentrate on the rest.
Telstra is a telco, but iiNet is only an ISP. There's actually talk of them providing IPTV next year, but that would be over the internet.
Besides, at least one company will remain, and feel free to charge whatever they want (probably Telstra, due to their government given monopoly on the infrastructure). Isn't that the situation in the US - few people can choose an ISP other than Comcast?
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