ISPs take note: if you filter you lose customers!

By Stan Beer
Monday, 26 July 2010 15:49

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

Internet service providers who implement the Federal Government’s voluntary filter stand to lose Australian broadband customers in droves according to a new survey. In fact, according to the newly released figures, signing up to the filter could be a business shattering choice.

In a survey conducted by broadband comparison site Compare Broadband, which asked, "If your internet provider starts to filter content (blocking websites promoting illegal activities), would you move to one that doesn't?" a massive 75% of the 283 polled Australians said they would leave their current internet service provider in order to receive an unfiltered service.

These findings will come as a blow for the Government (and Broadband Minister Conroy), which has delayed implementing a mandatory internet filter in the hope that ISPs will voluntarily filter specific websites with illegal content.

That said, it is hard to believe that Australia’s biggest broadband providers will lose anywhere near the numbers the survey suggests. However, smaller ISPs may well dither when faced with saying yay or nay to the Government’s voluntary filter scheme.

Three of Australia's major ISP's, Bigpond, Optus and iPrimus, have voluntarily agreed to the government's plan to filter websites they believe customers should not access. Australia’s third largest ISP, iiNet, which is an outspoken filter critic, is a notable exception.

The internet content to be filtered by the ISPs under the voluntary scheme is child abuse or child pornography found within a Refused Classification list maintained by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.