Slashdot Mirror
Australian Gov't Censors Censored
According to this
Wired article,
the
Australian Broadcasting Authority,
which has been working to censor its citizens
since 1995,
got its site defaced by a cracker on Friday. The site was taken down for half a day for repairs. Among the messages left: "People only now can get connectivity the USA has enjoyed for years. And now one of the greatest resources we have for free speech and free learning will be stifled by a vocal minority with no understanding of the underlying technology." For info on the situation, visit
Electronic Frontiers Australia.
If a cracker, who admitted also being a heavy drug user, is portrayed as the type of person that does not want censorship, I believe that it can only hurt the case of the others that are opposed to censorship.
I wonder how this censorship thing will turn out ? I believe that they have a similar system in Singapore. Does anybody know how well it works down there ?
As has been said multiple times, it is impossible to censor the internet and block someone who knows what he's doing. I'd expect the ISPs to comply, but anybody with basic technical expertise would probably get an offshore shell account and run a proxy there. It might actually be an incentive for the young to learn about tunneling technologies that would allow them to bypass censorship. What do you think ? Will people even bother to learn, or will we see Australian-Censorship-Bypass-HOWTO along with a full range of new software to help in the process ?
However, if means to bypass censorship became too widespread, the governement could take action by limiting access to the ressources using to bypass censorship. Imagine if they placed Australia behind a filtering proxy that only let HTTP connections through, and required a permit to open any other port ?
But most likely the governement will just realise that censorship is not enforceable, and either just let the law in place, without a major effect (anyone who wants access to censored things will get access, one way or another) or they will simply notice that and repell the law..
It will be interesting to see how it turns out.
Attrition mirror of the site.
Also, an article on this incident from Australia ZDNet.
witold.org
The Australian government has announced the composition of the board of NetAlert, a "community advisory" body responsible for researching filtering tools and educating parents about Internet access.
Ironically, this is (IMO) just what's needed. Imagine a world where informed parents used filtering software that they controlled. The EFA call this "another example of the paternalism exhibited by the current government", but if implemented correctly -- with the emphasis on education -- then this could very well be a Good Thing.
. . .It's amazing how little hackers have to say after working so hard to say it.
You have to wonder if the only reason the Australian Broadcasting Authority is trying to promote censorship is just to stay around and "be usefull" All goverment organizations need to have a reason to be around, even if the reason is flimsy. Maybe censorship will be the "next big thing" for the ABA.
This is kind of like how businesses look for new markets to expand into don't you think?
YOU CANT FUCKING CENSOR ME... if a message wants to get out..it will..leave it up to the au gov to make sure we stay in te dark ages... people only now can get connectivity USA has enjoyed for years ...and now one of te greatest resources we gave for free speech and afree learning will be stifled by a vocal minority with no understanding of the underlying technology stand up now..and fight for your rights..if you want to be able to decide for YOURSELF what you can and cant read... i say once again.. ...LOUD and clear.. the internet is NOT a babysitter.. wou wouldnt let them roam the streets... dont let them roam the world... dont let your bad parenting spoil it for others... go buy a fucking clue.. ------ greetz and respect to the usuals.kat.etc.analognet. and barry heh... and a big FUCK YOU CNUTSUCKING SMEGWHORES to au gov.. clueless fucks... i digress.. adios... Ned R ----- p.s. admin.. dont bother.. you wont trace me... and im not coming back here.. my point is made.. if i get time one day ill secure it for you...luv and kisses.. Ned R ---pp.s My spelling sucked real bad cos i was high on methyldioxymethamphetamines and crack...
I saw this yesterday, and the first thing I thought was "How in the hell did he manage to spell methyldioxymethamphetamines while on them?"
-- Who is the bigger fool? The fool or the fool who follows him? --
As has been said multiple times, it is impossible to censor the internet and block someone who knows what
he's doing. I'd expect the ISPs to comply, but anybody with basic technical expertise would probably get an
offshore shell account and run a proxy there. It might actually be an incentive for the young to learn about
tunneling technologies that would allow them to bypass censorship. What do you think ? Will people even
bother to learn, or will we see Australian-Censorship-Bypass-HOWTO along with a full range of new
software to help in the process ?
Censorship bypassing information is available at 2600 Australia
On the other hand, REGARDLESS of whether the Australian Government has any right to do this (rights are culturally-based and what may be a truism in the US may be a pathetic joke elsewhere), I'm not sure I'd trust a censor to be competent if they can't even manage a website.
In fact, it sounds like they farmed out most of the work. A bit like the British Government, with Group 4. That turned into a bit of a fiasco, too. If you can't do the work, you shouldn't be taking it on.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
"You can't [Censored] censor me" the cracker wrote
It seems to me that every time I see a cracker take down a webpage and put up in its place a political statement of his/her own, it's littered with swearing, and poor grammar. More likely than not, an attack like this isn't going to affect anyone. People straddling the fence on this issue before will take one look at the website and say "This kind of thing should be censored!" -- which is exactly what we don't want.
What's the point in cracking something if you're going to do more harm than good?
-Denor
The internet is about exchanging infromation and ideas.
The problem is that for too many people, this is not what the internet is about at all.
I once posted a ZDNN Talkback that said:
"Screw e-commerce. Let the moneygrubbers build their OWN e-commerce network. The Internet is an information resource and a "low barrier to entry" publishing medium that almost anybody can make use of. Let them turn something else into a vast wasteland of advertising and product hawking like television has become."
I received a half dozen emails calling me a communist.
The masses of braindead consumerbots in this country (USA) perceive everything in terms of its potential to be commercialized. The vision of shared human knowledge available to all via the internet is steadily being strangled by another vision: of hype and unlimited marketing opportunity.
Want to see the future of internet? Turn on your television.
'Scuse me, I have to puke now...
======
"Rex unto my cleeb, and thou shalt have everlasting blort." - Zorp 3:16
Sacred cows make the best burgers.
I am glad to see the hack (though he could have used a spell checker). I doubt it will make a dent in the clueless moralists who want to rule the hearts and minds of Australia though.
Control freaks are everywhere. Right now, they are just looking for an excuse. In Australia, the excuse in porn. Now how they figure that pictures of nekid people having sex is "harmful" is beyond me. Maybe if you believe that it will cause you to burn in Hell from the threats of an Angry God. (Personaly I believe that that God is more of an overactive imagination and neurotic pychosis than any actual being.) But those who confuse their religion with reality will take it at face value and go along with it, no matter how absurd the rule set.
What it comes down to it that the "problem" of porn gives them an excuse to control the views of others. Directly by requiring preapproval of what they can and cannot say, or indirectly by hiding other viewpoints from them. (Note that this excuse could be "bomb making materials", "drug information", or "crush videos". It does not matter. It just has to be a threat that people react emotionally to. (Because when emotion is involved, people stop thinking rationally.))
It is too bad that the average person in Australia does not see through this smoke screen. Just goes to show how passive people have become.
"Trademarks are the heraldry of the new feudalism."
Well, no, but I have an argument for him.
1) He did not kill the main page entirely, just appended his message. No business lost, no *REAL* damages. Like protestsers in front of a store. They'll distract you, slow you down, maybe stop you, but they haven't physically damaged anything. And they can't be sued for *damages* from lost sales.
2) It isn't tresspassing because it's THEIR fault he got in. Their site was insecure, and he found a way in. Like having a fence, but having a HUGE hole in it, and trying to sue for tresspass after finding someone inside. They really have no case. Now if said fence was solid, and had concertina wire on top, that's another story.
He's not a problem, 'cept for the fact he admitted he was high as hell while doing it...