Conroy touts safer net as critics continue to lambast net filtering

Stan Beer
Tuesday, 10 February 2009 11:14

IT Industry - Market

Each time Australia's Minister for Broadband and Communications, Senator Stephen Conroy, continues to push his agenda for a safer Internet, his message gets muffled against a growing chorus of opponents of his proposed net filtering scheme. This time it happens to be Safer Internet Day 2009.

Although the Safer Internet Day 2009 event itself is not a target for most Australians, the unfortunate repercussions of Senator Conroy's involvement are that the issue becomes entwined with the Minister's intensely unpopular and massively expensive net filtering program.

Everyone from grass roots net users to net freedom watchdogs such as Electronic Frontiers Australia to the outspoken bosses of large ISPs such as iiNet's Michael Malone have decried what they see as a brutish attempt by Senator Conroy to push through an unworkable technology.

The problem, according to opposing ISPs and their supporters within the Internet industry, is that their studies show that imposing mandatory filters at the ISP level will place an unacceptable overhead on the flow of traffic, causing the net to slow down. Australia's competitiveness in cyberspace is already hampered by a relatively sluggish broadband infrastructure they argue.

Aside from the technical issues, Senator Conroy is also facing a growing chorus of criticism about the $44 million price tag for the net filtering project, a cost that is only likely to get harder to justify as economic hard times close in.

Meanwhile, Senator Conroy slavishly pushes forward with his populist crusade to clean up the net.

"The themes for Safer Internet Day 2009—safe social networking and the prevention of cyber-bullying—are particularly relevant given the popularity of services such as Facebook, MySpace, Habbo Hotel and Bebo among young people," the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy said in his latest release.

"Young people are highly engaged with the online world and it is important that they have the knowledge and experience needed to be responsible cyber-citizens."

Australia is one of more than 50 countries expected to recognise Safer Internet Day today, Tuesday 10 February, 2009.

Activities organised by the Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) include:

    * social networking and consumer safety forums for secondary school students
    * launch of new cyber-bullying initiatives for primary school children on the SuperClubsPLUS Australia website, and
    * launch of Cybersmart Detectives Game in schools in New South Wales.

"Statistics show that young people spend as much as 65 per cent of their online time engaged in social networking and other related communication activities," Senator Conroy said.

"While most online experiences for young people are positive, they are never risk-free, so it is important that we raise awareness of safer online behaviours."

The mandatory net filtering program is part of the $125.8 million the Rudd Government is investing in a cyber-safety plan to help create a safer online environment.

Measures include the law enforcement, education, content filtering, research and international cooperation. The Government is also creating a Youth Advisory Group to help guide effective responses to online safety risks.