Mandatory Content Filtering in Australia

David Heath
Friday, 24 October 2008 09:54

Business IT - Networking

Like it or not, Australia’s Nanny-government is about to filter your Internet connection.  I suggest you get angry, in fact I suggest you get VERY ANGRY.

In a desperate attempt to appease an independent in parliament (and gain their support for specific legislation), the previous Federal Government announced a scheme to filter the Internet for illegal or inappropriate content.  This filtering would be mandatory for all ISPs and therefore for all users.

It seems the current Government needs to appease the same independent as the plan is still going ahead at full speed.

Senator Conroy, the Communications Minister has announced a two-layered filtering approach.  The first (and completely mandatory) layer will block ALL illegal content.

The second layer will be an optional, tunable filter for various levels of inappropriate content – nudity, drug use etc.

I have a single but complex question for Senator Conroy: who decides what “illegal content” is?  It seems that the Government is deciding for us; without recourse to the courts or any other testable, recognised authority.  What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty?

A recent report from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) described a program of testing six content-filtering solutions for suitability in an ISP’s data centre.  Although generally reasonable, some imposed a performance hit of up to 86% - looks like ISPs choosing that solution will need some impressive upgrades in the near future!

…and I know who will be paying for the privilege!

Further to this point, the ACMA specifically identifies that it was not requested to assess the costs to the ISPs of implementing these filters.

I have a simple message to Senator Conroy.  Stop bullying opponents of the scheme and take time to listen to those affected by this hideous plan.

And to my readers – write to Senator Conroy c/- his electoral office: Suite 1B, 494 High Street, Epping Vic 3076; alternately, email him: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

If you do write, I rather suggest you not include words that might cause a website to be added to the banned list.  Oh, what the heck – go for it!  Tell him how you really feel.