Stuart Corner
Monday, 25 February 2008 05:54
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
Communications minister Stephen Conroy has used publication of the ACMA's report on internet filtering to once again talk up the government's plans to introduce ISP level filtering, but the ACMA report says little in support of the practicalities of such a scheme.
In his statement welcoming the ACMA's report
Developments in internet filtering technologies and other measures for promoting online safety , Conroy concluded by saying: "The Government is undertaking a number of activities to inform the development of an implementation framework for ISP filtering, including extensive consultation with industry and examining overseas models...These filtered services will provide protection for children from Internet websites containing harmful content."
According to Conroy, "The ACMA report notes that a number of overseas countries currently filter their content. ISPs in a number of countries, such as the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway and Finland, have successfully introduced ISP level filtering."
I could find no specific reference to filtering by ISPs in Sweden, Norway or Finland. However the ACMA report does examine in some depth BT's 'Cleanfeed' system developed and deployed initially by its own ISP and since taken up by numerous other ISPs in the UK and elsewhere.
Cleanfeed however was developed specifically to block access to child pornography using an index provided by the Internet Watch Foundation. The ACMA report notes that it has "minimal impact on network performance due to the limited size and scope of the index (not more than 1500 web sites)." And it adds that "While this system can be regarded as effective against web sites hosting child pornography it is not technically designed to filter chat traffic and content that uses non-web protocols.
