INTERNET CENSORSHIP!

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INTERNET CENSORSHIP!

• DANGER!!!

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• Compulsory ISP-level content search-term
  filtering

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• Driven by the religious right
• Ostensibly to block child pornography and
• Prohibited Content
• BUT!
• What is Prohibited Content?

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• Obviously
• Child pornography
• Terrorism
• What else?
• Inappropriate and Unwanted material

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• But what is this material???
• Anorexia sites?
• Euthanasia sites?
• What else???
• Gambling? (Senator Xenophon)
• Pornography? (Senator Fielding)
• The Blacklist could become decidedly grey!

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Whats next???

• Politically sensitive material?
• YouTube blocked due to user content?

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• Even more dangerous
• The ACMAs secret list of prohibited material is
  not subject to oversight, appeal or review!!!

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• AND!!!
• Most child pornography and terrorism information
  is disseminated either by peer-to-peer (P2P) or
  virtual private networks (VPN).
• These protocols avoid all known forms of content
  filtering!

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• Senator Conroys stock reply to anyone objecting
  to his scheme is to accuse them of paedophilia!
• Good one Steve - very productive.

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• Conroy claimed that a number of other western
  democracies have similar schemes.
• He later admitted that none has introduced
  mandatory server-level filtering.
• Saudi Arabia, China, Iran have it but its not
  effective.
• No country in the world goes as far as
  dynamically analysing web traffic in real time,
  as Australia is proposing.

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• Content restrictions aside, will it work?
• NO!!!

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• Some consequences

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• Will slow access by up to 86 (CONSERVATIVELY!)
• Will block
• Best case - one-in-50
• Worst case - one-in-12
• good sites
• AND
• Still let through over 10 of bad stuff

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• Increased congestion.
• Increased rate of false positives.
• Experts conclude this scheme will be technically
  unfeasible.
• Evidence from Saudi Arabia
• Central filtering system currently blocks a list
  of more than 12 million addresses
• Slows access by as much as half
• Up to 10 per cent of prohibited sites still get
  through.

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• Will the internet become more expensive?
• Cost around 45 million in the first year, and
  33 million every year after that.
• Costs will likely be passed on to consumers.
• Larger ISPs may be able to absorb some, but
  smaller ISPs (who exert competitive pressure on
  prices) are at serious risk of going under.

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Alternatives?
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• Previous Government spent 84.8m on free PC-based
  filtering scheme
• Far superior to ISP-based filtering
• Allows parents to track and monitor childs
  access to the internet
• Wont slow down the internet or interfere with
  online commerce
• Will cost less to run

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• Opposition Greens are against ISP-level
  filtering
• GetUp has got onto it
• Internet industry is (obviously) against it

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Now What?

• Imagine this -
• Medical researcher looking up breast cancer
• Cant get any material!
• Research student or academic doing a piece on
  paedophilia or jihad
• ASIO comes around at 300 in the morning kicks
  down the neighbours door!
• (Obviously theyll get it wrong, but it is the
  idea that counts)

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What can we do?

• Ring/write/e-mail local member/Minister
• Contact the media
• Alert every student or academic you know
• Join GetUp
• Some links
• http//www.nocleanfeed.com/action.html
• http//www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/10/2414
  895.htm
• www.getup.org