madison

Aussie adult site fears end of Net porn

Liam Tung ZDNet.com.au | December 16, 2009 7:34 AM PST

Summary

Australian Sex Party complains that proposed legislation in Australia would require ISPs to block "refused classification" Web sites - including more than 4 million adult Web sites.
The Australian Sex Party (ASP) claims popular sites Penthouse.com, Hustler.com and Redtube.com will be blocked under a mandatory ISP filtering scheme thanks to Australia's x-rated rules.

Fiona Patten, spokesperson for ASP, which is aiming for a spot in the Senate, told ZDNet.com.au today that Minister for Communications Stephen Conroy had backtracked on promises he had made to the party while in opposition.

However, Patten said that around 4 million adult websites from around the globe, including those that most people would consider "mainstream", would be blocked by the filters due to Australia's classification system for x-rated content.

"When we say refused classification, we're talking sexually abusive language, any form of fetish... It's not illegal material, it's just something that John Howard in his wisdom cut out of x-rated classification," said Patten.

"It will block what most people would consider mainstream sites such as Penthouse.com," said Patten. "We will try to bring 4 million Australians who access these websites on a regular basis into action."

For more, read "Sex Party fears end of net porn" on ZDNet Australia.

Talkback Most Recent of 16 Talkback(s)

  • Good riddance, I say
    That stuff usually leads to net STDs for your computer anyway.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Cylon Centurion
    16th Dec 2009
  • which is unfortunate.
    It sucks that the criminal element has to use the porn sites for spyware/viruses etc. Porn is a need. Unless you are one of the few lucky ones who have a wife/girlfriend/friend with benefits that is into the same things as you. I for one am not that lucky so porn is my outlet to get off to what i like double pen and anal are my top two..
    ZDNet Gravatar
    MLHACK
    16th Dec 2009
  • Thats why they do it though.
    You could just move to bristol and go to clubs like oceana or syndicate.
    You would find less need for porn.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    jdbukis@...
    16th Dec 2009
  • Yea i can see me telling my wife..
    That i am going to the titty bar which is what i assume these are. Umm yea i will have papers filed on me by Monday. So the online way is my only option Thank GOD for the internet
    ZDNet Gravatar
    MLHACK
    16th Dec 2009
  • lol
    didn't know you were married and no there not titty bars just full of drunk women
    who are generally loose.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    jdbukis@...
    17th Dec 2009
  • BIG BROTHER or RELIGION
    so Australia isnt a free country anymore eh, they will be placed in the corner with Iran, China etc etc etc....

    Congrats on allowing an elite few control the population, aka communism.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    domma
    16th Dec 2009
  • it's religion
    First of all, it if far from guaranteed that this will become law.

    Secondly there is no communists in Australia (all parties in the parliament are right of centre (yes, even the Labor Party, check wikipedia), except for the Greens Party, which strongly oppose the plan).

    Thirdly the only lobby groups supporting this are right wing Christian groups (see link: http://www.itnews.com.au/News/162962,christian-lobby-wants-filter-net-cast-wider.aspx )

    Besides, what is it with blaming everything on Communism?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    kevintxu
    16th Dec 2009
  • Yeah...
    Besides, what is it with blaming everything on Communism?

    I would think all us nerds would be rooting for Communism. It works for
    Star Trek!
    ZDNet Gravatar
    WarhavenSC
    16th Dec 2009
  • For a country...
    of felons they're pretty weak.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    TylerM89
    16th Dec 2009
  • RE: Aussie adult site fears end of Net porn
    I haven't seen the site, but I have a problem with Pornotube,Youporn,etc..being too easy for minors to lie about their age & see ******** porn. It should be the way I used to see porn on the web-credit card & expiration date.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    step69
    16th Dec 2009
  • I had not idea that australia was more conservative than the US
    thats kinda shocking.

    After watching crockadile dundee.. i thought all assuies were down for anything.

    oh well.. guess i will just need to bring my pron with me when i go.... if i ever go.

    Come to austrailia... no porn but plenty of naked aboriginies.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Been_Done_Before
    16th Dec 2009
  • We aren't
    No, Australians are for the most part more liberal than Americans, less paranoid of government (socialism is not the dirty word it is in the US) and a lot more laid back - hell we can even laugh at ourselves and irony is an everyday occurrence.

    This particular initiative is essentially political and of the "We must keep our kids safe!!!" variety so that both political parties can indulge in some chest thumping. The filtering method is highly impractical and if they were stupid enough to take it past the testing stage, it should suffer universal rejection. It should also be easy to get around. They've already demonstrated a number of problems such as slow downs and putting the wrong websites on the banned list. I don't expect it to get out of the testing stage.

    Someone said if they did manage to ban porn from the Net, there would only be one website left - protesting the disappearance of porn wink
    ZDNet Gravatar
    tonymcs@...
    16th Dec 2009
  • Great sense of humor!
    Your reply is VERY well written. LOL!
    ZDNet Gravatar
    cjrhoades_6@...
    16th Dec 2009
  • Where there is a will, there is a way...
    I suspect the filtering will fail as most will quickly learn ways around it... I just don't see them analyzing packets... Black listing sites isn't going to work when you can simply redirect them through mirror sites, anonymizer sites, etc.

    It's a complete waste of time and resources.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    i8thecat
    16th Dec 2009
  • Hello Mr. Aussie ISP
    Please put my internet in a plain brown bag so the government will not see what I'm loking at.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    doodlius
    16th Dec 2009

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