Australian mandatory web filter to go ahead?!?

On may 22nd large intenet providers will be rolling out a testing phase of the nation wide internet censorship program:

full article here: www.realufos.net...

This is scary!! what if australians (like myself) can't access sites like ats??? I'm really worried, and i don't see why they should be able to do this. yes i understand getting rid of sites that promote anorexia and child porn, but I don't think they will stop there...

Will this start a new age of pirate interneting, like pirate radio where we have to get a ship across international waters just to use the internet... UN SUPERVISED?

Cherry

Also: Here is a website where you can lodge a complaint against this:

No Clean Feed

Also here is a more creditable source with the complete article:

www.smh.com.au...

Snippet from article:

OPTUS customers in Sydney and Newcastle will be asked to take part in the Federal Government's controversial test of internet filters. In a boost for the Government, the nation's second-largest internet service provider said yesterday it would take part in a six-week trial. The Government made an election promise to offer households a family-friendly clean internet service but has struggled to deliver the pledge in the face of severe criticism from some sectors of the internet industry that it was censorship that would block legitimate sites and dramatically slow internet download speeds. The Broadband and Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, said Optus's decision to participate would ensure the Government received "robust results" to inform the development of the filtering policy. He said the Government was testing the feasibility of a filter to block material that had been "refused classification" such as images of child sexual abuse, bestiality, sexual violence and material that advocates committing a terrorist act.

Also some vids:

It won't get through, I can guarantee it.

Why?

Because the vast majority that are against it have new ammunition.

Rudd just announced he is going to build this world record broadband network and speed the internet up by this huge margin.

It is proven that this proposed filter will slow all internet down by between 30 and 80%. How in the world is going to be able to sell the filter now when it would be canceling out the new broadband network?

The billions of dollars spent on this speedy new program would simply be wasted because it would slow to a crawl under the filtering system.

As many groups have suggested, there is a simple, far cheaper alternative Rudd could and should undertake.

1) Send out a free internet security kit to every family with children in the country, including stuff like Net Nanny and content filters. That solves one problem.

2) Create a new branch of the Federal Police tasked solely with the spread of internet child pornography and cyber terrorism. Second problem solved.

No need for any undemocratic filters and removal of rights.

I'm sure the public pressure will mount to the point that he drops the whole idea anyway.

He has opponents like Get Up already, Australia's largest free speech and protest website. They have partnered with so many civil rights groups and now have over 99,000 signatures on their petition.

Testing has already begun on systems that will slow our internet by up to 87%, make it more expensive, miss the vast majority of inappropriate content and accidentally block up to 1 in 12 legitimate sites. Our children deserve better protection - and that won't be achieved by wasting millions on this deeply flawed system.

# Amnesty International Australia
# Australian Lawyers Alliance
# Australian Network for Art and Technology
# Civil Liberties Australia
# Human Rights Coalition
# Human Rights Council of Australia
# Human Rights Law Resource Centre
# Libertus.net
# National Arts and Cultural Alliance
# Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance
# Public Interest Law Clearing House
# Somebody Think of the Children

GetUp!

[edit on 23-4-2009 by fooffstarr]

Hah, if we ever get ANY decent broadband let alone the "world record" broadband network, I will be surprised.

Rudd has close ties to China, why is it no surprise that he is trying to push forward for the same internet censorship as they?

I can see his popularity taking a HUGE tumble once this gets up and running and people realise (when it's too late) how it is going to impact on their net experience.

Rudd is taking his popularity in the polls for granted and has such a bloated ego that he thinks he can do anything and the bleaters will accept it.

The next election can't come around soon enough.
If the Opposition promise to dismantle the filter, they'd would win the next election by a landslide, if its introduced.