Australian government to introduce Internet filter

[The Northerner]

Source: Associated Press

SYDNEY — Australia plans to introduce an Internet filtering system to block obscene and crime-linked Web sites despite concerns it will curtail freedoms and won't completely work.

Adopting a mandatory screening system would make Australia one of the strictest Internet regulators among the world's democracies. Authoritarian regimes commonly impose controls. China drew international criticism earlier this year with plans to install filtering software on all PCs sold in the country.

The government said on Tuesday it will introduce legislation next year for the filter system to help protect Australians, especially children, from harmful material on the Internet. Critics say it will not prevent determined users from sharing such content, and could lead to unwarranted censorship by overzealous officials.

Communication Minister Stephen Conroy said the government would be transparent in compiling its blacklist of Web sites, but did not give details.

Conroy said the Australian filter was among a number of new measures aimed at strengthening online protection for families. It aims to block material such as child pornography, bestiality, rape and other sexual violence, along with detailed instructions about committing crimes or using illicit drugs.


Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ibxVSu1tEp5K-rd29EHncvz6OggAD9CJMI2G0

[derby378]

1. Hey, why not? The Australian government outlawed semi-automatics because of ONE GUY

My wife has been to Sydney, Manly, and part of the Blue Mountains. She loved it. I'd love to visit someday. There's a lot to love about Australia. But sometimes, their government doesn't make a damn bit of sense.

[depakid]

10. And no mass shootings since

And btw, it wasn't one guy- Aussies had simply had enough of the carnage, and dealt with the problem. Something Americans are unable to manage even with the most pressing of problems.

[WriteDown]

12. Apparently, Aussies have had enough of the free internet too....nt

[depakid]

13. Read my post below- not going to happen

Though I'm sure the cowardly, gun obsessed Texans will want to crow about it all the same.

[WriteDown]

14. Let me know when Australia(a continent) has an openly gay

mayor running a large city. Not a native Texan, but the unwarranted degradation is laughable.

[gemini_liberal]

19. Openly gay cabinet minister (Penny Wong - Climate Change)

Openly gay Justice of the High Court (Michael Kirby)

My state even had a gay Premier back in the 70s (While not official, everybody in SA knew Don Dunstan was gay, or bisexual)

So take the tokenism somewhere else. Texas' record is hardly progressive...

[WriteDown]

21. Once again...

A continent as opposed to a state. You're charges of tokenism are hilarious.

[gemini_liberal]

22. A state with a higher population than said continent

But you missed the point of my post. It wasn't to parade around Australia's gay rights record (which still heavily lags) but more to fight your assertion that Texas (where sodomy was illegal until only this decade) is some sort of liberal utopia compared to Australia because one of its cities elected a gay woman as mayor.

BTW, this is not meant to diminish the milestone that was achieved in Houston. My sincerest congratulations to the people of Houston for leading the way and breaking this barrier!

[ixion]

2. A sad day for liberty in Australia

:(

[AlphaCentauri]

3. Bad news for the Porn industry and Nazi militias n/t

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. You presume the filter will be at some level successful.

The geeks here know better

[Blue_Tires]

4. From the Telegraph:

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

[Andronex]

5. I like government to decide for me...

what information I can have access to, because I know they would never abuse that power and use it for political purposes, let not question our leaders or their agendas, I feel safer now.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. Look, over there, it's Emmanuel Goldstein!

[zonkers]

16. Yeah. me too.

[CatholicEdHead]

8. Bad idea, there are always ways around this

[depakid]

9. Not going to happen

The chances of Conroy's deal getting though the Senate is nil- and will still be nil after the next election, since the Greens hold and will continue to hold the balance of power.

[Jkid]

11. From what I heard, everyone in Australia is opposed to this proposal.

But they still shoving it down their throats.

[divineorder]

15. I think they will rue the day they do this

Right now, how many Australians know about file sharing or other means of circumventing controls? Probably very few-but authorities like this won't leave well enough alone. First censor stuff that's pretty distasteful to most, then when people criticize that, censor the critics. Of course, censors are usually thin-skinned, so anything that mocks them gets banned too. At that point, everyone becomes very politically aware of what free speech is and isn't.

It's always to protect the children-but it really isn't the children at all. Some of the subjects censors ban or would ban if they could aren't even things that children would be interested in or understand or be able to participate in. And a lot of children are exposed to terrible things in real life, where the best thing you could do is take them out of those situations, not quibble about websites. The children who encounter such evils on the web are the fortunate ones who have caring parents who can be trusted to supervise their exposure.But the censors know they would get nowhere by saying that there are some things even adults shouldn't be trusted to decide to look at or not. So they say "it's for the children" instead of "you damned sinner, we want to make sure we keep your mind pure of such nasty thoughts by using the law, because we know that you will stop doing that nasty stuff if we don't allow you to read about it!

[sofa king]

17. Here's a term for you Aussies: "Proxy Site Viewer"

I'm pretty sure your government hasn't heard of such a thing yet.



Edit: But don't go downloading anything unless you're sure the site is safe!

[cowcommander]

18. First, they took away the violent videogames. Then they took away the internet...

[gemini_liberal]

20. Sad thing is this will probably pass

Stephen Conroy - a Catholic "way too conservative, even for Labor" fundamentalist has been aching for a way to use his Ministry to make people suffer. He is an A-grade asshole. Even members of his own faction hate his guts!

If this plan gets approved by the Labor caucus, it most certainly will pass. While the Greens will oppose it, the ultra-conservative coalition, led by future Papal candidate, Tony Abbott will support it without a doubt.

If it does fail to pass, rest assured the media will do its bit to represent the views of the fundamentalists and bitter 102 year olds and make it look like everyone is using the internet to pray on children and only censorship will save the little ones!

This isn't surprising at all, as Australia has a long history of censoring or banning anything at the drop of a hat. Rights in this country are often viewed as nothing more than technicalities that trouble makers cling to...

[depakid]

23. Might pay to read the posts

The Greens hold the balance of power in the Senate (i.e. legislation requires the Greens approval)- and indications are that they'll hold the balance of power by an equal or greater margin after the next elections. To pass this- the Greens will have to be persuaded.

[gemini_liberal]

24. provided the opposition oppose it

If Tony Abbott's Liberals and the National Party vote for it, it will pass, regardless of how the Greens vote.

[depakid]

25. They've already made political hay out of the censorship angle on 7:30 and Nightline

Gotta say, as someone who was born and raised in America- I found that impressive.

My bet is that with Abbott running the show- they'll continue on in that vein.