Australian Government Censor Internet
Posted December 16th, 2009 by simon
The Australian government is introducing new legislation to allow them to block specific websites from being accessed by the general public. They want to create a kind of filter which is apparently intended to protect children from harmful internet material. The Communication Minister Stephen Conroy claims the process will be transparent and the idea is to block material involving bestiality, rape, child pornography and also websites providing information on committing crimes or using illegal drugs.
Concerns over the idea include the presumption that the government will keep a secret blacklist and that legitimate websites may end up being censored. One of the major ISPs in Australia has already tested the filter and expects that the process won’t hinder download speeds although they did also point out that you can’t make the internet 100% safe. To combat claims that smaller ISPs would have to shoulder the cost the government promised help but no details were forthcoming. The filter is expected to be in place by 2011. There were attempts to activate a filter to prevent child pornography being accessed in US state Pennsylvania but the federal court overruled it because the filter also blocked some legitimate sites.
