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Australia mulls mandatory ISP filtering

Liam Tung ZDNet Australia | December 15, 2009 7:04 AM PST

Summary

Mandatory ISP filtering legislation is expected to be introduced around the middle of 2010, after which there will be a one year period to implement and activate the filtering technology.
Mandatory ISP filtering legislation is expected to be introduced around the middle of 2010, after which there will be a one year period to implement and activate the filtering technology.

The Federal Government today announced it will introduce amendments to the Broadcasting Services Act, which will by 2011 require all ISPs to block refused classification-rated material hosted on overseas servers.

As part of the new legislation, the government intends to explore what additional process could be implemented around how websites are added to the government's "Refused Classification" list.

It appears though that the government has already decided how the Refused Classification list will be generated, indicating it would be compiled via "public complaints mechanism". It is not clear yet what this mechanism is. Other sources for the new RC list would include known URLs shared between international agencies.

For more, read "Mandatory ISP filter due mid-2011" from ZDNet Australia.

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Phew!
holyhandgrenade 3rd Jan 2010
For a minute there I thought we were going to have to use morse code to email!! happy
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And, just out of curiosity,
Beat a Dead Horse 15th Dec 2009
who is going to pay for that?
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The taxpayers, that's who
Skibum 15th Dec 2009
Especially the ones with the head-up-their-butt attitude that are willing to trade away freedoms in exchange for some sort of pre-sold, milksop notion that the government is protecting its citizenry. Hogwash. Let the army take care of that. The rest is just the government being too lazy or ineffective to strike strongly enforced anti-kiddie porn deals with other governments.

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin
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Governments have been drooling over the idea of controlling the information flow on the internet. Just how benign do you think this government oversight will be, eh?

Just like all the folks on 'do not fly' lists that have not done anything wrong but whose names are similar to bad guys and can't get off the damn lists, this will degenerate into a hate list. I guarantee it.

Those who are ignorant of history are doomed to relive it. - Carlos Castenada
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RE: Australia mulls mandatory ISP filtering
Evisscerator 15th Dec 2009
This Orwellian 1984ish concept should make everyone spitting and stuffing mad. Government has no business in "filtering" anyone except for its own users internally. As far as the public usage is concerned, I would not ever condone the use of filtering publically except for maybe in a public library where kids are using computers.
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More and more the Australian government is looking like a 1984 style Big Brother. Not that long ago they outlawed individual ownership of guns without their approval.
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Um, wait a minute. I thought Australia was a FREE country. Did I miss something?
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filtered information
The Management consultant 15th Dec 2009
clearly this was filtered information you read...there is no freedom under commonism!
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Free country
boomchuck1 15th Dec 2009
Sure Australia is a free country, just like the US. And the US bans or regulates a lot of stuff as well. So Australia registering guns or requiring permits isn't a breach of freedom. Remember, they don't have the same constitution that we do.
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Free Country
felicia@... 15th Dec 2009
To my knowledge, Australia does not have a constitution.
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To my knowledge...
malenkylizards@... 20th Dec 2009
Understandable! It's not very easy at all to
look it up. However, those of us with above-
average computer literacy were able to find
this for you:

http://www.aph.gov.au/SEnate/general/constituti
on/index.htm

As public television here in the states says:
"The more you know..." So for future reference,
if you want to find, say, the constitution of
australia, you can go to http://www.google.com
and, in the big white box that has a flashing
line, carefully and slowly type "constitution
of australia," or indeed, nearly anything you
want to find information about. Often, you can
click on the very top thing that shows up after
you hit enter, and you'll be provided with
exactly the information you need!

"Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day.
Teach a man to Google and he'll learn how to
fish." - Jesus Christ Our Lord & Savior
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We do have one
lehnerus2000 16th Dec 2009
Unlike the US version, ours protects the politicians from us!

lehnerus2000
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Yet another reason not to move there now happy Thanks
Aussies.
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RE: Australia mulls mandatory ISP filtering
reg.langford@... 15th Dec 2009
Our internet is already crippled by distance and
profiteering on the part of our telco's, so the
government has decided to step in and make it even
slower and less reliable. Good one, guys sad
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RE: Australia mulls mandatory ISP filtering
jrezabek@... 15th Dec 2009
When I left "Workers' Paradise" in a communist country in Europe some 40 years ago, I thought I left that system for good. How naive I was! Communism is catching up fast in Australia - "the land of free".
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Why can't it be voluntary? Schools and libraries can opt in and anyone else for that matter...just let the ones who don't want it go on without being filtered.
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Hitler and Russia?
The Management consultant Updated - 15th Dec 2009
If you repress the press you repress the people!The commonist government in the UK are filtering the net thinking they can stop the spread of bad news about human rights abuse,corruption,illegal goings on etc..Such action has pushed up prices and causes distrust of all news like china.The technices has got around it already...we can all learn from the states..we have a human right to know the good bad and ugly about are dying commonist governments!!!!! pointless!
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Sick burocrats who need sacking!
The Management consultant 15th Dec 2009
Democracy falls by the wayside if good men don't defend it!My family endured the last war for freedom not repression...and what about your family?
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Do something about it!
mario@... 15th Dec 2009
Blocking about it will do little to change things. If you are in control of the government get them so stop if you are not in control what form of government do you have. Not happy change it!
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Change it!
jrezabek@... 15th Dec 2009
That's easier said than done. Change it to what? You can vote for "approved" and preselected candidates only. If, by a miracle, there appears a really independent candidate and, by another miracle, gets in the parliament, he/she wouldn't last long there. Your freedom and power over the establishment is a pure illusion. Keep dreaming!
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Like what?
lehnerus2000 16th Dec 2009
Politicians promise anything to get elected. Once elected they are free to do whatever they want for the next 4 years.

Both sides ("Labor" & "Liberal") are as bad as each other.

lehnerus2000
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a citizen of australia is defined as a subject as the
british crown. the queen also happens to own a huge
copper mine over there too, and i believe her evil visage
is still on the money.
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ISP's haven't backed it...
holyhandgrenade 15th Dec 2009
Recent testing of filtering was met with poor participation of many ISP's, amid concerns of poor performance, based on other countries which had trialled this technology. Our broadband is already too expensive, and too slow - this will only serve to cripple the Internet in Australia.
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Don't worry...
lehnerus2000 16th Dec 2009
The Government is planning to spend $40B to upgrade our network.

This means that after the ISP filter and network upgrade, we should be back up to dial-up speed, once again.

lehnerus2000
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Phew!
holyhandgrenade 3rd Jan 2010
For a minute there I thought we were going to have to use morse code to email!! happy
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Politicians gon wild
Altotus 18th Dec 2009
Political concept of legislated stupidity what the heck the taxpayers...Pay and pay and pay
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3 easily ways to bypass it.
magallanes 21st Dec 2009
1) proxy.

or

2) rapidshare / megaupload / whatever.

or

3) private ftp.
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RE: Australia mulls mandatory ISP filtering
Piyush Sinha 22nd Dec 2009
I think that australian government is hammering its own foot , in hindi it means "Apne peraun par khud kulhari maarna".It will not only make australia "apart from whole world" but rather will close others door for australia also.

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