Australia plans tough web rules

[Kiwi]

Australia plans tough web rules
By Phil Mercer
BBC News, Sydney

Internet providers will be expected to filter all their content
Australia is planning tough new rules to protect children from online pornography and violence.

The new Labor government wants internet service providers to filter content to ensure households and schools do not receive "inappropriate" material.

Civil libertarians have condemned the plan as unnecessary, and say it will erode the freedom of the internet.

But telecommunications minister Stephen Conroy said more needed to be done to protect children.

Family-friendly

The Australian government's aim is to ensure that children only have access to family-friendly websites.

Service providers will be expected to stop the flow of pornography and other X-rated or violent content.

The government is set to compile a list of unsuitable sites, although at this stage it is unclear what will be deemed unsuitable.

Australians wanting unfettered access to the web will have to contact their supplier to opt out of the new regime.

Critics of the proposals have insisted they have no place in a liberal democracy, and have accused Canberra of being oppressive.

But Mr Conroy has been unmoved by their arguments.

The minister stressed that if people equated freedom of speech with watching child pornography then he would always disagree with them.

Concerns have also been raised that the government's filters could slow down access to the net, in a country where connection speeds are often below international standards.

[Ambiorix]

Is it possible to block pornographical websites on a computer?
yes.

On mac computers you can easily create an account for children, that allows only certain websites to navigate to.

Can't you implement this feature as software?

[Kiwi]

Yes they can filter sites, just the adults here love porn they will not give that up 

[Ambiorix]

the problem is , once you start censoring, where do you stop?

[Kiwi]

the problem is , once you start censoring, where do you stop?

Iran

[JTFFan]

the problem is , once you start censoring, where do you stop?

Iran

correct

[newman]

Web surfing in Australia is as slow as a Sunday morning bog as it is!

[Ambiorix]

Web surfing in Australia is as slow as a Sunday morning bog as it is!

how much Kb/sec?

[Kiwi]

Web surfing in Australia is as slow as a Sunday morning bog as it is!

It is getting worse Pfft to high speed. My wireless is shocking.

Its sits around 38-40 kb/sec on dail up

and around 256 kb/sec boardband.

My wireless is mean to be 560+ and its around 100 

[AussieJTFer]

Centralised censorship is bullsh*t. People can get around such centralised filtering by using proxies anyway.
Broadband in this country is shockingly expensive and damn slow, I know we have limited high-speed backbone connectivety to the rest of the world, however, for an ISP like telstra to charge not just on downloads but uploads aswell is a travesty of justice, uploads don't cost them a single cent. Bandwidth shaping is also a dirty practice, limiting a broadband connection to 28.8ks is what optus does once you go over their 12gb a month limit and it is annoying beyond belief. Broadband in Israel in comparison is far, far superior, much cheaper and faster and no bloody limits!

[AussieJTFer]

Is it possible to block pornographical websites on a computer?
yes.

On mac computers you can easily create an account for children, that allows only certain websites to navigate to.

Can't you implement this feature as software?

A couple months ago the Australian government released some internet access filtering software to be used at schools I think and perhaps other places I am not aware of. Within a couple hours after its release, a 16 year old had already cracked the software. There is always someone out there who will crack such software in no time.

[JTFFan]

Web surfing in Australia is as slow as a Sunday morning bog as it is!

It is getting worse Pfft to high speed. My wireless is shocking.

Its sits around 38-40 kb/sec on dail up

and around 256 kb/sec boardband.

My wireless is mean to be 560+ and its around 100 

that sucks

[Kiwi]

Web surfing in Australia is as slow as a Sunday morning bog as it is!

It is getting worse Pfft to high speed. My wireless is shocking.

Its sits around 38-40 kb/sec on dail up

and around 256 kb/sec boardband.

My wireless is mean to be 560+ and its around 100 

that sucks

Not far wrong mate.

[darrinh]

the problem is , once you start censoring, where do you stop?

Iran

china.

[darrinh]

There is a silver lining to this cloud.  I think the 'net has become a place for Australians ( and most people ) to vent steam about various issues.  If this avenue become blocked because of state censorship, it may well be enough to motivate people to get on the streets and stand up for their rights.  On the other hand, it could also lead to more violence as people find other ways of expressing themselves....