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Some Of Australia's Tubes Are About To Be Filtered

Slatterz writes "The first phase of Australia's controversial Internet filters were put in place today, with the Australian government announcing that six ISPs will take part in a six-week pilot. The plan reportedly includes a filter blocking a list of Government-blacklisted sites, and an optional adult content filter, and the government has said it hasn't ruled out the possibility of filtering BitTorrent traffic. The filters have been widely criticized by privacy groups and Internet users, and people have previously even taken to the streets to protest. While Christian groups support the plan, others say filters could slow down Internet speeds, that they don't work, and that the plan amounts to censorship of the Internet. At this stage the filters are only a pilot, and Australia's largest ISP, Telstra, is not taking part. But if the $125.8 million being spent by the Australian Government on cyber-safety is any indication, it's a sign of things to come."

7 of 339 comments (clear)

  1. Great hospitality by samuraiz · · Score: 5, Funny

    I know a lot of Chinese nationals have been immigrating to your shores lately, Australia, but this is the wrong way to make them feel at home.

  2. Re:I don't understand by QuantumG · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wow, you're right! Shit, how did they miss this! And this is just a new phenomenon too!

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
  3. Apologies to Banjo Paterson by mudshark · · Score: 5, Funny

    Once a jolly swagman plugged into the internets,
    Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
    And he sang as he watched and waited as he torrented
    "Don't go deploying your filters on me".

    "Deploying your filters, deploying your filters
    Don't go deploying your filters on me"
    And he sang as he watched and waited as he torrented,
    "Don't go deploying your filters on me".

    Down came the content speeding through the internets,
    Up jumped the swagman and viewed it with glee,
    And he sang as he shoved that content on his backup disk,
    "You'll be a-wasting your filters on me".

    "Wasting your filters, wasting your filters
    Don't go a-wasting your filters on me"
    And he sang as he shoved that content on his backup disk,
    "Don't go a-wasting your filters on me".

    Up rode the Conroy, mounted on his ISP,
    Down came the troopers, one, two, three,
    "Where's that jolly content you downloaded so illicitly?
    You've been evading the filters from me."

    "Evading the filters, evading the filters
    You've been evading the filters from me."
    "Where's that jolly content you downloaded so illicitly?
    You've been evading the filters from me."

    Up jumped the swagman and handed them his backup disk,
    "You'll never crack my encryption", said he,
    And his packets are tunneled and proxied through the internets,
    "You'll never get your bloody filters on me".

    "Your bloody filters, your bloody filters
    You'll never get your bloody filters on me".
    And his packets are tunneled and proxied through the internets,
    "You'll never get your bloody filters on me".

    --
    In other news, astrophysicists have announced that they now know what all that dark matter is: it's stupidity.
  4. Re:I don't understand by Korbeau · · Score: 2, Funny

    You're very right sir. We very much prefer nice comfy chairs.

  5. Re:Just boycott the asses pleases by brinkster · · Score: 2, Funny

    Triple J's Hack had a good comment on this today. "I have more friends on Facebook than some of these ISPs".

  6. Re:Just boycott the asses pleases by seanadams.com · · Score: 3, Funny

    it's a hugely problematic problem

    As problems tend to be...

  7. Re:Just boycott the asses pleases by elrous0 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yeah, and I'm fucking your wife just to demonstrate that adultery is wrong.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.