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Some Of Australia's Tubes Are About To Be Filtered

Posted by samzenpus on from the think-of-the-koala-children dept.

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."

4 of 339 comments (clear)

  1. OK guys here's what we'll do by SpazmodeusG · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Everytime one of our friends or relatives asks us about a problem with their internet our response shall be,

    "Oh that'd probably be the internet filter causing your drop-outs, thank Stephen Conroy"

  2. Note: Not just Australia's largest... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    But the 3 largest in Australia -- Optus and iiNet as well as Telstra are not taking part in these trials. How the hell are they going to get any accurate data if they're simply using 6 small ISPs? What next, they just flick on the switch for all ISPs and it it should work fine?

  3. Re:Just boycott the asses pleases by PenguSven · · Score: 4, Interesting

    have you seen the list of ISPs? they're all nobodies that have fuck all customers. Primus is the only "big" one, and they're fucking tiny, and I can tell you right now, they have alterior motives - the CEO tried to do a deal with the Senator who's pushing the filtering, so that Primus would supply filtering tech.

    --
    What is...?
  4. Re:Just boycott the asses pleases by twostix · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The problem we now have, and it's a hugely problematic problem, is that the government is going to use this legislation as a bargaining chip to push through it's economic stimulus plan.

    Late last year I was hoping and sitting rather comfortably in the knowledge that this would never make it through the senate.

    But now a few individual senators are holding the government over a barrel regarding the stimulus plan, the same senators that support the censorship (except the greens). So expect the government to sacrifice the internet giving them everything they want to gain support for their new financial endevours.

    The internet in Australia doesn't have a hope I'm afraid.

    I won't even mention that yet again Rudd seems to be bringing us into line with China. He really seems to have an infatuation with that country and everything they do, and I think it's got a little more to do than just being able to speak their language. It's getting to be really quite creepy.

    In other words I'm waiting for the bastard to sell us out.

    I voted for labour above the libs, something I'm somewhat regretting now (and not just for the internet censorship) I must say.