Internet Filtering
TELSTRA's chief operating officer Greg Winn says the federal Government's attempt to censor the internet is akin to trying to "boil the ocean". What a great statement, that sums up the ridiculous plan to try and filter the internet.
Why does the Australian government continue to fear the internet rather than embrace the technology which will continue to revolutionize the way we live. Many of us who have embraced the internet, now take email for granted, or the ability to research and order products from all corners of the globe with a click of the mouse or do research without having to go to the limited supply of books at the local library. The internet has changed how people live. Sure, there are risks but people and children should be taught to manage risks and spot potential dangers, not bury their heads in the sand and be told what is "safe" and what is not.
If the Australian government cared so much about children, they would not allow pedophiles back on the streets to live anonymously, they would spend the money and resources fighting child abuse (the figures are rising and alarming 219,384 reported cases of child abuse in Australia in 2003-2004. See also http://www.amf.org.au/downloads/ChildhoodAbusedExecutiveSummary2005.pdf.) and they would hunt down pedophiles and child pornographers, rather than waste tax payers' money on an internet filtering scheme that has been denounced by countless experts. See Internet Filtering News Articles
Internet filtering relies on a premise that the internet is static but the internet and the beauty of it, is that it constantly changing and for this reason, internet filtering is impossible. The filter could just not keep up with the dynamic nature of the internet.
The government has proposed a blacklist of 10,000 URLs. How easy is it to register a domain name and set up another website, either reusing the same code or modifying it slightly? Within an hour - a new site is set up. Does, that URL then get added to the blacklist? With every URL added to the blacklist, the internet will slow down, and it won't take very long before the blacklist is so full that the internet is unusable. Sites can be hosted on ip addresses, created on free web publishing services and social networking websites - are all these websites to be blocked too? Technology too evolves and ways to bypass filters are easily published on the internet.
Why is the Labor government is so determined to continue with the live trials of internet filtering, when so many experts have spoken out against its feasibility? Surely, it would be sensible to move on to more important matters than continue to flout their ignorance and incompetence. Or is it simply another taste of heavy handed government, where logic and common sense does not prevail. The unthinkable may yet happen, we Australians may be left with a crippled internet, just as country Victorians may be robbed of water by the North-South pipeline and Melbourne left on third world water supplies, because the $750 million white elephant pipeline - heralded as the solution to Melbourne's water woes, may simply have no water to pump to Melbourne (an admission made by Justin Madden MP himself). http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24139784-2862,00.html
Some ideas to make the internet a safer place and to use the internet to fight crime
Government websites that allows people to report
- child pornography
- child abuse / neglect
- pedophiles
- internet fraud
- SPAM
- viruses
- illegal material
- scams
Technology could also be used to publish information to help people from becoming victims, through
- central registry of pedophiles and information and stories from victims of pedophilia
- a website that makes it easier for children to report abuse and neglect
- a website that assists people from becoming victims of internet fraud, scams, how to use the internet safely and protect themselves from viruses, identity theft, etc
Technology could be used to collect information about dangerous products. Consumers could report, using an online form
- dangerous toys
- reactions to immunisation and other pharmaceutical drugs
- dangerous products
All these ideas can be implemented, staff hired and trained to manage the information collected, and the relevant law enforcement agencies empowered to tackle the real problems that exist in our society - leveraging the internet to fight crime and make the world a better place. Why not fight crime at the source, after all - child pornography, child abuse, pedophilia, fraud, etc are all CRIMES and offenders can be prosecuted, without having to destroy the internet and Australia's future prosperity. Why send the crime underground, when we have the capacity to stop crime by allowing information to flow to the right places. Law enforcement agencies around the world want the same thing - and the excuse that blocking illegal sites is the answer because they cannot prosecute outside Australia is absurd. Internet filtering has nothing to do with blocking illegal content, it's about controlling the population - in particular the online population who are better connected, smarter and more able to spot the lies and think for themselves.
Further reading
http://www.crikey.com.au/Media-Arts-and-Sports/20081030-Conroy-thoroughly-tangled-in-his-own-Rabbit-Proof-Firewall-.html . This link also includes preliminary lab tests on internet filtering
Official government blog - this blog received 1500 plus comments before it was decided that it was all too much and comments closed and not published.
http://www.dbcde.gov.au/communications_for_business/industry_development/digital_economy/future_directions_blog/topics/thanks_and_so_long?90046_result_page=2 (interestingly the link is now broken)
Whirlpool's user forum comments on official government blog http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1101817#r1