Australian government to censor the Internet by 2011

[Matthew DeCarlo]

ZDNet Australia reports that the federal government has announced plans to amend the Broadcasting Services Act, which will require all ISPs to block unapproved content on overseas servers. The legislation will be introduced around mid-2010 and the filtering technology will roll out over a one-year period thereafter.

Stephen Conroy, Minister for Communications, today released a new discussion paper requesting stakeholder feedback on how the "Refused Classification" (RC) list should be overseen, and by which agency. The government has already determined how it will compile the RC list, though, mentioning a "public complaints mechanism", but has not elaborated.

ZDNet notes that the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is a likely candidate for overseeing the new RC list, as it already manages a list of locally hosted illegal content. Appointed or not, Conroy reportedly said the agency would receive additional funds to boost the security of the RC content list.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/37345-australian-government-to-censor-the-internet-by-2011.html

 

[EXCellR8]

That country is just too sensitive to whatever they consider inappropriate. Seriously, I've read up on some stuff that's already banned and censored and some of it is just downright laughable. I feel bad for gamers that live there too... as they cut out all of the good stuff. They might as well just have L4D with zombies that explode sunshine and puppy kisses. I would just import everything from the US if I lived there.

 

[TomSEA]

WOW....that is unreal in a democratic country. And of course they kicked up a huge fuss by banning L4D2 unless they edited out the blood, body parts and killings. You'd think we were reading about Iran.

If I were living in Australia I I'd be checking out my options to move to another country. What's next? They going to park themselves in front of your bedroom door to make sure you're having sex "the way they think you should?"

 

[BlindObject]

Proxies will suddenly become common.

 

[compdata]

There is certainly room for this to be abused. However i am probably in the minority here that thinks this might be a good idea. In fact I would be glad to see a way to get illegal sites and scam sites blocked instantaneously. Maybe i have just had to save too many relatives from too many scam sites that should have been shut down long ago, and seen first hand the devastating effects of pornography/gambling in friends lives and marriages and am just hoping that this helps cut down any of those even slightly.

I guess the devil will be in the details but at least face the facts though that most of your internet activity is already monitored and recorded by Google who also doesn't care about your privacy. I guess because they aren't the government and so far haven't been restricting access to things that they aren't as bad though.

 

[BMfan]

Thank GOD i wasn't born is that country.

 

[treeski]

It would be interesting to see a poll or survey done of the Australian populace to see if that's what they really want.

 

[Guest]

No one wanted this apart from the religious fringe and those stupid enougth to believe the goivernment spin. Conroy and his government is going down on this one.

 

[red1776]

They might as well just have L4D with zombies that explode sunshine and puppy kisses.

:haha:

and seen first hand the devastating effects of pornography/gambling in friends lives and marriages and am just hoping that this helps cut down any of those even slightly.

without a doubt comp, however you cant be free when the government is spending its time and enacting laws to save you from yourself. this is the slippery slope, where do you stop? and whats next? will you have to show your cholesterol card to be able to get an order of fries? if you think that way out there, Google New York and the UK on trans fat.

 

[Guest]

Don't we criticize China for the same thing. I live in Australia and think we are going back to the dark ages with governments deciding what I see and think. Dumb idea

 

[Guest]

whats the difference between australia and china now? why dont they just ban facebook as well?

 

[Guest]

Proxy's and $5.00 per month Lynnodes will become common place and younger net users will discover old school IRC software, Porting 80 via a SSH tunnel, the list goes on and on. The communist Australian Labor party is yet again wasting millions of another flawed idea nobody wants. All to help Mr Rudd realize his dream and get a position on the UN council? Power hungry twit. It makes me embarrassed to say I'm Australia.


Brett

 

[Guest]

Im an I.T tech in Sydney

i cant wait for the Government to do this, as i might make some good money

i can see my next advertisement,

Cant download your music or movies?
Cant get online for Mulitplayer?
Ring Rob For a Fast Proxie Setup !

I cant wait

 

[Fragrant Coit]

This is hugely unpopular and I really can't see it coming to fruition.

Steve {Western Australia}

 

[Guest]

Wherever they burn books they will also, in the end, burn human beings. ~Heinrich Hein

 

[Guest]

To limit the press is to insult a nation; to prohibit reading of certain books is to declare the inhabitants to be either fools or slaves. ~Claude-Adrien Helvétius

 

[Guest]

If it was easy to move to another country the only ones left here would be the government.
They may as well call us a concentration camp Republic of Australia. Where we have no rights or freedom of choice.
Where you are told how to think, live, work and play, soon they will replace our brains and all be robots
The government is doing a questionaire on R+18 ratings for games which closes in February 2010.
Maybe they should do one for censoring the internet and see what the Australia People want.

 

[Wendig0]

I'm not really surprised by this. Pissed off on behalf of Aussie citizens, but not surprised. They elected a socialist president, just as Americans did, and now they're finding out why they shouldn't have.

 

[Guest]

LINK:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6818010/Australia-plans-Chinese-style-internet-filtering.html


Barack Obama criticises censorship in meeting with Chinese students
Barack Obama, the US president, has strongly criticised censorship in his first public appearance in China, veering directly into one of the most sensitive areas of Communist party policy.
Mr Obama told an audience of 400 Chinese students that freedom of "expression, and worship, of access to information and political participation" were "universal rights".

He said: "They should be available to all people, including ethnic and religious minorities, whether they are in the United States, China or any nation".

 

[BrownPaper]

Actually the Australian president is a social conservative. Australia is a very religious and socially conservative country. It is funny how you compare him to Obama, considering a lot of Obama's economic policies has helped out capitalistic big businesses such as the banks and financial sector.

 

[Guest]

I am perplexed how these policies suddenly appear but am not surprised that they do. Without open debate or discussion it appears a real case of dictatorial government control; the comparisons to media restriction in communist china are a degree from what is happening here.

The processes involved with deciding what gets put on a list needs to be stringently considered without compromising the freedoms of individuals. If I want to have a wank to some debauched porn, then be it... as long as its not illegal content ie kiddy porn.

I see this working in two ways. (1) we look at an amalgum of available and allowable content worldwide and utilise that as a norm. content that is freely available and accepted, AND has considerable traffic in other countries, should be a good starting point for allowable content, and (2) we as individuals need to shape our future. there are enough people who have a driving passion for these topics to enter into employable positions that can enact change. become a lawyer, become a policy advisor, become a polititian, and steer our country in the direction WE want. this is what other factions have done for years... there's nothing stopping us, but our will.

 

[Relic]

Wendig0 said:
I'm not really surprised by this. Pissed off on behalf of Aussie citizens, but not surprised. They elected a socialist president, just as Americans did, and now they're finding out why they shouldn't have.

Apples and oranges dude...socialism has nothing to do with conservative religious believes. Way to throw a jab at Obama though. *rollseyes*

Anyway, if the Chinese can break through there "firewall" and get out to the open internet I don't see how Australia is gonna have it working 100%. This is just gonna be a huge waste of money that could be used elsewhere.

 

[Guest]

Porn to the internet is like air to a living, reproducing creatures.

Filtering porn on the internet will be harder than filtering air. Porn will find a way though, and don't be surprised that the very people this legislation is purporting to protect will be the first and most motivated to find those ways.

It's the other things like;
- political stuff they don't want us to read,
- drugs, hazardous material,
- and don't be surprised if even copyrighted material through p2p is also put on that list eventually,

that the gubmint will be filtering that we won't know about which will be what hurts our freedom the most. By cloaking our access to stuff we wont even know that's on the list, we will be ignorant, asleep on the topics, and a pliable population.

 

[Guest]

As an Australian Tax payer I feel ripped off and sickened to see our taxes funding this unnecessary trial.
If Conroy is afraid of our children having access to violence and pornography (just to name a couple), why is it up to the government to seek ways of preventing it from happening?

Perhaps the money used for this unnecessary trial be best spent to teach parents of this country on how to be responsible parents. If you don't have time to spend quality time with your kids then don't have them!

Can anyone tell me what other democratic country has done what Conroy wants to do?

Doesn't Conroy have anything better to do?

 

[Guest]

Only problem is that the government might seethrough to block Proxys' and/or SSH patching. Most Schools in Australia already have the ISP filtering making it hard for students to research topics with a graphic nature such as animal crualty. The ISP filtering that Australian schools have also blocks Proxys' and SSH patching. There scheme is wrong. They announce that anyone person can make a complaint and the ACMA will block it until a full review has been made. They need to think about what they are doing and pull there heads out of Mr krudds backside.