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Aussie Gov't To Introduce Bill That Would Require ISP-Level Censorship
bennyboy64 writes "iTnews reports that the Australian Government has announced its intention to introduce legislation that will make ISP-level filtering mandatory for all refused classification material hosted overseas. The Government intends to amend the Broadcasting Services Act in August 2010 to enforce the filter, and expects the filter to be operational within a further twelve months. 'The report into the pilot trial of ISP-level filtering demonstrates that blocking RC-rated material can be done with 100 percent accuracy and negligible impact on internet speed' Senator Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy said." This despite, as reader Sharky2009 writes, the trial run showing that "a technically competent user could circumvent filtering technology based on ACMA’s blacklist."
Is there a way to vote this guy out of office or something?
If the lone holdout Attorney General gets his way, Australia will ignore comments from the public and continue to refuse classification to video games that have been rated mature in other regions. Does this mean Australia will start blocking Amazon, eBay, and other foreign sellers of mature-rated video games?
Maybe they'll tell us what we can watch on TV too.
I can't believe you're still swallowing this bullshit by the buckets. It's time you did something. Get those people out of parliament, elect new officials!
If he opposes the bill, the government can accuse him of hypocrisy. If he supports it, he faces rebellion in his own party.
But if it is brinkmanship, Conroy is playing with fire. There could be a very serious electoral backlash from this.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
I have to admit, this is not what I expect to see from Australians. Perhaps from Europeans who prefer their governments to make peoples' personal decisions for them, but not from Australians.
Not that we're better here in the 'states - we're sliding down some very similar slopes over here as well, maybe just a little bit behind. Maybe it's just that very few any more really care about being free peoples, and would rather have the convenience of a nanny state to protect them and make them feel safe.
I'm sorry but done with 100% accuracy? I think that is an internet filtering first. I'd love to know what filtering technology they are using because it is far better than anything I've used to date.
You used to be cool.
Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
How fucking dare anyone out there make fun of Australia after all it has been through!
Leave Australia alone! Right now! I mean it!
this is stupid, so i can make a cards game on the internet, and ignore aussia boards, and these isp are forced to block my game (maybe on sf.com?).
guys, change this aus govern NOW
-Woof woof woof!
They won't invade Australia because they already speak english and they're in the sphere of influence of the british crown.
In soviet russia the government regulates the companies.
I think people would be right to mod you down.
Firstly, Australia & America have been friends since WW2 when the shock of the british defeat by japan in the asian theatre(most importantly, the loss of singapore) lead to australia moving further from britain to america for defensive pacts, which would lead to trade, etc etc.
Secondly, that has _WHAT_ to do with internet censorship?
You must be an American. That was Austria, you fucking muppet.
Everyone (or at least, most people) here at Slashdot knows that on a network as large as the internet, no blacklist method will achieve 100% accuracy.
This, of course, means that Senator Conroy is either completely ignoring the technical results, or the technical results are being flubbed to match Senator Conroy's agenda.
Are others in your parliament actually going to vote for this bill, or is he more of a rogue senator who isn't actually supported?
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs
I would love to see this filter of his. I've never seen a filter for *anything* that could truly be said to be 100% accurate.
This is an EPIC FAIL.
Australia has led technology trends and adoption for so long, and the Government is prepared to kill it and our children's future for a single lousy vote of a Senator who has the support of exactly no one.
The Government is terribly misguided on this one. Conroy might be pushing this as a wedge policy, he might be doing it for Fielding's support, but this issue alone will lose the ALP the next election, as well as many for years to come.
All of Gen i, Y and X will remember this and vote accordingly for years to come. The ALP will be in the wilderness for many elections, and struggle to form a strong government in their own right without doing the independent / Greens coalition tango that is working soooo well for them right now.
Seriously, I could see the Greens take this to the election and coupled with effective climate change policies and no internet censoring, they could become the balance of power for years.
Conroy is Public Enemy #1. He has committed electoral suicide for himself and his Government. I really do think they have no idea exactly how unpopular this policy will be.
In short - how to fight this thing:
* Ring your politicians tomorrow. All of them. Make the phones run hot.
* Write them letters.
* Ask to see them. Talk to them about this issue, and only this issue.
* Write letters to the news sites
* Blog and Twitter and Facebook away.
* Attend rallies. Publish photos and write ups about same.
* Join the EFA.
* Sign up to Get Up if you feel inclined
* Use #nocleanfeed religiously.
* Do not do work for Conroy's department. Resign or transfer if you work there.
* Support ISPs that are against this idea. Leave ISPs that support it or who have no position.
If it becomes law, mass civil disobedience is required. I will be blogging about how to get around the filtering.
Andrew van der Stock
This will work till the next pedo scandal. Then the average citizens will ask themselves where the hell their taxes are going.
"Why did the Government cease providing free PC filters when ISP filtering will not be available until 2011?
The PC filter program experienced low take-up and very low ongoing use. It was therefore closed to new users six months earlier than originally planned.
Only around 12.5 per cent of the approximately two million households with dependent children and an internet connection are estimated to have tried one of these filters, and less than one per cent of these households continue to use their filters."
1% of the population still uses this filtering ... ... ...
12% has tried it out
this means:
88 % of all people didn't even want to try it out,
out of the remaining 12%, 90% of those who've tried it out dumped it afterwards
conclusion: 99% of your population do not want filtering, the other 1% can still filter their own PC by installing the software on their own PC.
They won't invade Australia because they already speak english and they're in the sphere of influence of the british crown.
Invade? Did somebody say oil??
they are one and the same
the opinion of one asshole senator is not the majority voice of the australian people. so the problem will work itself out eventually
in nondemocracies, such a retarded filtering policy could be established by fiat, in spite of what the people really want. and so in nondemocracies, the government and the people really aren't the same
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Apparently the GP wasn't emo enough for Runaway1956 to get the joke.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
The EU decided to censor things on the internet. I was concerned, but didn't speak up because I wasn't from Europe The Britons decided to censor things on the internet. I was worried, but didn't speak up because I wasn't from Briton. The Australians decided to do it too. I was scared, but I didn't speak up because I wasn't Australian. When they did it here, there was nobody left to stand alongside me
There'll be some whining among fringe groups such as us here on /. But we'll do nothing more than that. We'll go back to wanting those very same censoring governments to "protect" us similarly (job security, health care, global warming, etc.). We give the Devil his power - and we're surprised when he uses it against us.
I generalize of course. But the pattern is clear and repeating. Sadly.
about something the australian government is doing wrong can be spun into an attack on the american government
why do you have such a giant hard on for the usa?
do any governments besides washington dc actually do anything wrong in the world worthy of your condemnation?
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Are there any existing groups dedicated to opposing this ?
I'd like to do something constructive to help make sure this sort of BS doesn't end up as national policy.
Conroy, if nothing else, is persistent, so the problem isn't going to go away after 1-2 rounds of failure.
and i always liked "the sound of music"
maybe the usa can loan arnold schwarzenegger back to the country of his birth, to clean things up in australia, terminator style?
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
That is all.
Apparently to me, the implication is that a "good Catholic" should support censorship because it leads to a more "moral" society.
Harmless?
To the haters: You can't win. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine
The report into the pilot trial of ISP-level filtering demonstrates that blocking RC-rated material can be done with 100 percent accuracy and negligible impact on internet speed
Riiight...
Protip: Darknet, tunneling proxy, EPIC FAIL. ^^
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
Send a clear message in next Aussie elections... Pirate Party Australia.
You do know why Aussies call each other "Mates" don't you?
It's short for inmates.
I needs me some Galloping Gourmet dishes cooked with lots of clarified butter.
I grew up knowing of Australia as this country that is about the same size as America - with a very free and independent spirit.
Then, in the mid 90s they come down with drastic firearms legislation, and now all we hear about is how obsessed with censorship many in the government there are - censoring film, games, etc to that point that some games aren't available or have to be changed, and they are trying again and again depite heavy Aussie and worldwide opposition to censoring the entire internet.
Is it just the same shift to authoritarianism that has occurred in almost all western countries? Is there enough outcry and clout among the public to put a stop to this stuff?
This is what governments do when they're allowed to regulate internet traffic. This is exactly what I was arguing can happen in discussions on "net neutrality." You don't want this kind of government control over your public medium.
That Aussies will be able to sue their ISPs for spam?
If they are taking control of the content being sent over their networks I think it's only fair.
Hurray Australia!
I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
http://dribibu.xs4all.nl/dilbert19960123.html
Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
I've seen a documentary about an Australian called Michael Dundee. He went to New York and just couldn't live in a civilized world.
Basically the whole island is full of bad genes from all the old British criminals. Give them a bit of freedom and they live like animals.
They have beer cans and knives much larger than any normal human would need. You just can't trust people like that.
This is not much of a surprise. Australia has more speed and stoplight cameras than anywhere else but England. You are not trusted. Why should we trust you with the series of tubes known as the intarwebs ?
I have written a satirical letter to the Aussie senator in question, and have now posted it on my blog. Feel free to take a look: www.jamesdeagle.blogspot.com
ooosh
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Direct action of millions of customers canceling internet service would quickly force the ISPs to push legislators in the right direction. I suggest you organize the boycott before you cancel, however.
Bye Australia! I apparently have this long to leave the country and find somewhere else to live
Conroy is taking public submissions on his planned censorship here: http://www.dbcde.gov.au/all_funding_programs_and_support/cybersafety_plan/transparency_measures
Write and tell him what you think!
Also, sign this petition: http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/SaveTheNet/442
And twitter your support with @nocleanfeed and #nocleanfeed
They won't invade Australia because they already speak english and they're in the sphere of influence of the british crown.
Please, the crown is more of a figure head then anything. The crown's representatives don't exercise there power much either.
The state of the nation here is that they can't get opposition support for an ETS but they will have no trouble getting this one though. Basically they want to discourage fucking so they can implement further immigration policies that attracts millionaires for overseas. ;) The opposition don't believe in fucking either unless it is fucking the environment which is OK because after all we only contribute to 2+% of world GHG. The fact that we are THE highest polluters on the planet per head of population is conveniently ignored. What is most rank about this is it's a no choice filter based on a list that is secret with disclosure a jail-able offence. It will lead to one outcome, proxy servers that are driven by porn kings and a huge increase in spam and virus threats.
The great thing about all of this religious or "culty" guff, is that all the sheeple groveling in their steeple, they all have "opinions" about what their deity is "saying" and righteously so, but the deity in the last few thousands of years of "omnipotence", has never once put in a personal appearance. You know like if "JC and the Space Cadets" were a rock band - the clueless would have caught on that while the promoters claim that they play in gigs all over the land, but they have never turned up; while the clueless and stupid keep rocking up and buying the tickets. Losers. So the same overlording us with more holier than thou drivel, is projected into the area of computer games and internet sites. Again while people get slaughtered for fun and profit in the movies and the real world, playing computer games doing the same stuff is just not on? Why? Am I surprised that the people thrusting their liturgical loins at the censors office for "standards and decency" are not trying to put the shackles on those who choose to have their own autonomous opinions, by declaring them to workers of the devil, sorcery and witches - starting with the jabbings for the devils mark. Am I even further surprised that this is now extending into the Great Australian Firewall. Perhaps those who cry loudest are those who look forlornly upon the promises of the bible, such as Ezekiel 23: 21 "whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose emission was like that of stallions." I mean who wouldn't want that or to be getting that? I mean thank god Conroy is standing up for real Christian family values. Jesus said in Revelation 2:22-23 "And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works." So Jesus wants to kill our kids - that's cool cause it is Jesus. Timbo says I Timothy 2:11-14 "Let the women learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." So all the women ought to keep their traps shut. I mean it's in the bible - so it must be true right. And God digs killing pregnant chicks by knifing them and smashing their kids brains out on the ground; so the christians have got this family values stuff down pat: Hosea 13:16 "Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up." So Conroy and his catholic buddies have got this right - we have to be protected against them out there on the internet and subjugate ourselves to the righteous christians showing us how their god loves us and how we ought to be kissing his ass, on the basis of their say so. Oh did I mention that the old testament is a scammed copy of the Code of Hammurubi? The King of Babylons state laws - and the first 6 books of the bible are bare faced rip offs of this, just rebranded to a diety instead of the king? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Hammurabi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_code_of_Hammurabi.pdf Yep gotta remember them good old christian family values, the true word of god is the bible... except that getting nailed for copyright and plagarisim wasn't invented then.
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Voting up, Voting down - If I really gave a fuck about your approval or not, I'd come and ask you.
The great thing about all of this religious or "culty" guff, is that all the sheeple groveling in their steeple, they all have "opinions" about what their deity is "saying" and righteously so, but the deity in the last few thousands of years of "omnipotence", has never once put in a personal appearance. You know like if "JC and the Space Cadets" were a rock band - the clueless would have caught on that while the promoters claim that they play in gigs all over the land, but they have never turned up; while the clueless and stupid keep rocking up and buying the tickets. Losers. So the same overlording us with more holier than thou drivel, is projected into the area of computer games and internet sites. Again while people get slaughtered for fun and profit in the movies and the real world, playing computer games doing the same stuff is just not on? Why? Am I surprised that the people thrusting their liturgical loins at the censors office for "standards and decency" are not trying to put the shackles on those who choose to have their own autonomous opinions, by declaring them to workers of the devil, sorcery and witches - starting with the jabbings for the devils mark. Am I even further surprised that this is now extending into the Great Australian Firewall. Perhaps those who cry loudest are those who look forlornly upon the promises of the bible, such as Ezekiel 23: 21 "whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose emission was like that of stallions." I mean who wouldn't want that or to be getting that? I mean thank god Conroy is standing up for real Christian family values. Jesus said in Revelation 2:22-23 "And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works." So Jesus wants to kill our kids - that's cool cause it is Jesus. Timbo says I Timothy 2:11-14 "Let the women learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." So all the women ought to keep their traps shut. I mean it's in the bible - so it must be true right. And God digs killing pregnant chicks by knifing them and smashing their kids brains out on the ground; so the christians have got this family values stuff down pat: Hosea 13:16 "Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up." So Conroy and his catholic buddies have got this right - we have to be protected against them out there on the internet and subjugate ourselves to the righteous christians showing us how their god loves us and how we ought to be kissing his ass, on the basis of their say so. Oh did I mention that the old testament is a scammed copy of the Code of Hammurubi? The King of Babylons state laws - and the first 6 books of the bible are bare faced rip offs of this, just rebranded to a diety instead of the king? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Hammurabi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_code_of_Hammurabi.pdf Yep gotta remember them good old christian family values, the true word of god is the bible... except that getting nailed for copyright and plagarisim wasn't invented then.
.
Voting up, Voting down - If I really gave a fuck about your approval or not, I'd come and ask you.
sign the petition against it:
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/SaveTheNet&id=892
AND
let mr conroy know what we think:
Parliament Contact: Phone: (02) 6277 7480 Fax: (02) 6273 4154
Email: senator.conroy@aph.gov.au
Electorate Office: Suite 1B, 494 High Street Epping Vic 3076
PO Box 1067 Epping MDC Vic 3076
Phone: (03) 9408 0190 Fax: (03) 9408 0194 Toll Free: 1300 131 546 Toll free number is only available in Victoria
Secondary Office: Level 4, 4 Treasury Place Melbourne Vic 3002
Phone: 03 9650 1188 Fax: 03 9650 3251
Crikey has a reasonably accurate guide on how to avoid receiving a standard response that doesn't address your concerns:
http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/12/16/dont-waste-your-time-waste-theirs-a-guide-to-writing-to-ministers/
I'd add that it doesn't hurt to CC the PM's office because they keep correspondence statistics tracking controversial issues too.