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Australia's Vast, Scattershot Censorship Blacklist Revealed
mask.of.sanity writes "Australia's secretive Internet filter blacklist held by its communications watchdog has been leaked, revealing the government has understated the amount of banned Web pages by more than 1000.
Multiple legitimate businesses and Web sites have been banned including two bus companies, online poker sites, multiple Wikipedia entries, Google and Yahoo group pages, a dental surgery and a tour operator.
Andrew Twaits, CEO of Betfair, a billion-dollar business blocked by the blacklist, was furious the government has potentially annexed tens of millions of dollars in revenue after the Betfair.com gambling site was blacklisted.
The blacklists were reportedly leaked by a Web filter operator to wikileaks which has published the full list of banned URLs.
Outraged privacy advocates say the government has effectively lied about the amount of URLs included in the blacklists, totaling more than 2300, and the type of content which it would ban.
The leak follows a series of attacks on the watchdog in which irate users successfully lobbied for web sites to be banned, only to be threatened with an $11,000 fine for publishing the link contained in the PR response. It was also revealed the watchdog can ban Web sites at a whim, with no accountability."
Then I typed the word "Goat" - I saw the .cx variation - well, at least they're making some attempt at saving the populace from the horrors of the web.
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i took a quick look at the blacklist and found some porn sites that i didn't know about. awesome! it's like a pre-filtered list of quality porn links! they saved me a lot of surfing time!
I can only watch as my jaw is hanging limply. I can't believe that anyone who got power to do something would abuse that power. Really. Truly. They promised they wouldn't when we brought it up before. They said they were only doing it for us.
Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
The www.techworld.com.au blog link in the summary is broken. It is missing couple of "s" letters.
Here is a working link:
http://www.techworld.com.au/blog/broadbandvoice/2009/03/acmas_blacklist_a_bigots_battleground
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
god bless wikileaks.
The blacklists were reportedly leaked by a Web filter operator to wikileaks which has published the full list of banned URLs.
These numerous government blacklists have proven to be a boon to porn and gambling industries. There are Web sites that I never would have even thought to go to if it weren't for these black lists. I want to thank the government of Australia for helping to open my eyes and my mind to the vast unseen Internet.
No they haven't, they've just said there are things on the published list that are not on the official list. They don't say that there's anything in the official list that's not on the published list. I suspect it's been intentionally seeded. It's kind of typical of politicians to say things in a way that sound like they're saying something else. You'll also notice he's threatening to launch an investigation into the people who released it. If it's not the list, then what exactly are they going to investigate?
My favourite from the list: files.kavefish.com/pictures/collections/funny_cat_pictures/_index-list.html
It's just funny cat pictures and nothing suggets there's ever been anything else.
Also, the list (although a month older than one on Wikileaks) can be obtained from Integard filter software. Hex edit the integard.exe and change first occurence of "datetimepicker.js" to websites_ACMA.txt, then login to integard's webUI and request that file. Apparently there's a whitelist of files the webUI server can give to the user. I've confirmed myself that the lolcats URL is indeed in that ACMA file from the filter software...
-- Matti Nikki
I just loaded up the wikileaks page and I hope I didn't make a mistake I'm going to regret.
Some of those links at are perfectly normal, the gambling ones, the wikipedia ones, nothing unusual.
Some of those links at are icky. Things that the extreme pro-lifers like to use in their pamphlets while I'm eating lunch icky.
Some of those links are actually very nasty and abhorrent. Worse than goatse.
Don't go randomly clicking.
Don't go randomly clicking!!
[Bookmarks] -> [Bookmark This Page] -> [Done]
Australia's Secret Internet Filter: Your one-stop shopping for porn!
Never confuse movement with action. --Hemingway
And I'll say it again.
In the haste to throw out the smarmy blue blooded $50k a year private school aristocrat wannabes known as the liberals out of government, we've introduced something that's so far been *far* worse. And I say that as someone voted for them!
At least the liberals had a solid grounding in running the country and seemed to know what the hell they were doing. So far Rudd and that dimwitted treasurer Swan have been blundering about without any sort of cohesive strategy and burning through billions of dollars a day doing it.
It would seem that like any 'revolution', when the dust settles usually the country ends up worse off when the populist leader takes power.
Even my father, a dyed in the wool blue collar labour man has started questioning whether Rudd's more interested in selling us out to China, financially AND ideologically than the he is in the national good. What sort of politician pushes something like this onto his own free country?
Who is Rudd really? (Seriously I'm genuinely interested).
Conroy is going to be on the ABC's QandA next Thursday evening at 9.30pm.
That should be good viewing :)
.
It should be noted that this isn't actually the ACMA blacklist. It's actually a list derived from the ACMA blacklist as stated on the wikileaks article in the summary.
Not a hoax. I've confirmed it myself by ripping websites_ACMA.txt out of Integard filtering software. Even if it's not identical to ACMA's own list, it damn well is identical to Integard's version of ACMA's list.
The list is real.
-- Matti Nikki
That's just obvious attempt at spin/cover-up. Some simple (as these things go) binary reverse engineering of the "Intergard" content filter already showed a similar (though not-identical, earlier) [snapshot of the] list - after all, it's a dynamic blacklist.
http://techwiredau.com/2009/03/was-an-acma-blacklist-leaked/
So, yeah, of course it's the real list, as at mid-2008. The current ACMA list is probably even bigger and more abuse-of-power filled.
Look, nobody not mentally ill likes true child porn. But consider keeping something valuable - do you demand everyone chop off their hands so they don't steal your gold? Or do YOU put it somewhere safe, with CCTV surveillance? So it is with children -
they don't have adult legal rights, being children. So monitor _children_, perhaps even encrypted feeds over the internet (and monitor who's watching the feeds, mind - unless they're parents or peers they're almost certainly sickos). When children turn 18, they get full adult legal rights, including right to privacy, and the camera monitoring is disengaged.
i.e. if you want to keep children safe, restrict and monitor them, not everyone else, just like keeping anything else precious safe.
When someone says "think of the children" about installing internet censorship, their goal is internet censorship, not keeping children safe!
When Bush took over America and went down many, many bad roads, the world took us to task. For cause. It wasn't news to us, and admittedly many of those taking us to task lived in even more corrupt places, but this is America. We don't do 'wrong', and that shit was clearly wrong, and it should never have happened.
We're supposed to be the good guys, dammit. Well, now the money's on the table, the vote came, the vote was made, we exorcised our demon and repairs are being made at record pace. We are the good guys, that never changed, and we're cleaning the tarnish that those brought to our shine. It's never perfect, nothing is, but we're at least going to try.
Well here in America, last we knew, Australia was a land of good guys too. Inviduality. Freedom. The good fight. SO WHAT THE FUCK'S GOING ON DOWN THERE?!? How the hell is this going on WITHOUT a 9/11?
It's time for the citizens of that fair nation to show us what they got. Time to whip out the vote and make things perfectly clear. Write a letter. Make a sign. Anything. I don't doubt that Australia has it in them, but if you're waiting for the right time, it looks like it's passed!
In the US there is a lot of overlap between the Christian extremists and the Libertarians. The few christian extremists we have in Australia don't subscribe to libertarian views.
Another factor here is the role of minor parties in the upper house of parliament. The Christian senator pushing the filters got in with less than 1000 primary votes. Most likely he got a lot of preferences because of the number of worse sounding groups on the senate ballot paper.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
You'll also notice he's threatening to launch an investigation into the people who released it. If it's not the list, then what exactly are they going to investigate?
Who embarrassed them.
Kinda like when it was discovered the CIA was running secret prisons around the globe.
Government didn't want to investigate "what are they doing at these prisons" it was "who leaked their existence."
Shameful really, no matter which government or political party is doing it.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
Conroy and ISPs implementing the blacklist confirm that this is a fake:
:-(
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/19/2520929.htm
I read about this earlier today; news media really have to check WikiLeaks out carefully before reporting it.
I think the black-list is absurd, it's baffling that we can actually have censorship here in Australia, and my reps know how I feel at least. But I don't think stunts like this help
// MD_Update(&m,buf,j);
Senator Stephen Conroy would like to recall the message: "ACMA Blacklist - see attachment".
"It's kind of typical of politicians to say things in a way that sound like they're saying something else. You'll also notice he's threatening to launch an investigation into the people who released it. If it's not the list, then what exactly are they going to investigate?"
I agree, speaking of "saying things" I still haven't heard Conroy say he is in favor of a blacklist...here let me clean up then cut&paste my theory from the last story...
Labor is playing the same game with Fielding as Howard did when he "wanted" to implement mandatory filters (that his party are now blocking in opposition). There were similar circumstances for Howard at the time (ie: a censorship nut holding a deciding vote on more important legislation). Here let me spell it out.
Labour have a full majority in the house that the Lib's can't block, (that's what makes them the government of the day). However they need the support of the all the Green's and the two independents (ie a coalition) to pass legislation through the senate that the Lib's cannot block. The Lib's also need a coalition to sucessfully block but only have to find one senator to join their coalition if they want to block the legislation.
Xenophon[sic] and Fielding (the two independents) both wanted a mandatory filter, (Xenophon has an anti-gambling platform). Labor set up a "trial" to keep them onside for as long as possible. Xenophon to his credit has seen the glaring human rights error in his plan to ban offshore gambling sites, Fielding has nowhere to go because he is now in the position of voting for a blacklist that bans his supporters (anti-abortionists), an independent's vote is no longer of much value since the major reform is out of the way ready for the next election, the Lib's, Labor and Greens are happy because they have collectively screwed "Mr 2%" for winning on their preference fuckery, Rudd is happy because Conroy is showing loyalty instead of challenging him in the back rooms like Costello did with Howard,....get my theory.....it's a YES MINISTER episode if ever I saw one.
Oh and check out the nude pictures of Hanson, unfortunately it's only funny because it's happening to someone I don't like.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
When children turn 18, they get full adult legal rights, including right to privacy, and the camera monitoring is disengaged.
By then it's too late. You've already conditioned them to accept the fact that Authority can and should monitor them for their own good. They're already used to the idea, so the next thing you know they'll think it is normal to pee in a bottle for a Manager so that employers will know what drugs they've taken, or they may think it's normal for companies or governments to monitor what you email to people. Nope, if you treat children like shit then they will grow up to be assholes. Garbage in garbage out.
It's fascinating to see what occurs behind the kangaroo curtain.
When the hell did they become Soviet Australia?
I agree with NevarMore. Anti-abortion sites can have some stomach-turning pics. But that's not the real problem. The real reason why that one was blacklisted is pre-term porn. Yep, it's a growing evil. All those nekkid pictures of poor defenceless foetuses: Pre-term porn, a social disaster just waiting to happen. http://vmlojwclog.blogspot.com/2009/03/official-concern.html
Australian's, Start Mirroring that list!
I just putted it up on my website, hosted here in Adelaide: http://www.diskiller.net/ I guess the AFP will be paying me a visit? lulz.
You can tell how powerful someone is by the magnitude of the crime they can commit and be able to get away with.
It's a secret list. You can't know what sites are on it, but you can't link to sites on the list.
It's like your girlfriend who doesn't want you to say certain things, but won't tell you what they are.
Only a government weasel could come up with such an idea. It's clear he doesn't know how the Internet works.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Um, we're a democratic republic, somewhat similar to your own country. We have no way of forcibly blocking legislation like this until the next election, excepting widespread civil disobedience or an outright coup.
They need to weight individual MPs votes by their local approval rating. That would give us a direct way to affect proceedings. As it is, the whole system's a farce. At least with a king, if he gets bad enough you can shoot him and install another one without having to wait until next election.
Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
It is nice to know that you do not have to represent a government to engage in "spycraft".
It is also nice to know that the People have moles in governments and in corporations. Kudos, to whoever you are.
Sad state of affairs that it is required, though.
But apparently, you didn't click the link. You should have. Apart from being funny, it's also a perfect example of the nonsense of these lists. Here it is: http://www.goat.cx (and no, it's not exactly why you think it is)
... I didn't get one valid link out of about five or six I clicked.
The links work, it's just that they've been Slashdoted.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?