Telstra, Optus to start censoring the web next month
This is happening on a “voluntary” basis with the two biggest and a few smaller ISPs. By “voluntary” they mean that the ISPs are filtering content identified as child abuse material voluntarily, not that they are giving their customers who don’t want to look at child abuse material anyway any choice about being gifted with a false sense of cybersecurity.
System Administrators Guild of Australia board member Donna Ashelford said blocking these website addresses should not affect internet speed, but was only a “cosmetic fix” that was easily circumvented by criminals.
“The effectiveness will be trivial because you’re just blocking a single website address (and) a person can get around it by changing that address with one character,” she said.
“Child abuse material is more likely to be exchanged on peer-to-peer networks and private networks anyway and is a matter for law enforcement.”
Categories: culture wars, ethics & philosophy, technology
For those times when actually blocking someone on FB is socially awkward 
#dataretention is worthless #securitytheatre – how-to guides for Tor, VPN and https 
Gamers Against Bigotry 
Hoyden About Town 
I am wondering which two smaller ISP’s the article is referring to?
A partial filter…hmm, yeah right. That’s code for sneaking this by you in instalments so you won’t realise it until it’s too late….
Yes, we need names. And names of ISPs who are committed against censorship unless they are absolutely required to do it by law.
I believe Internode, iiNet and Vodaphone are opposed to the filter:
http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/354295/internode_voluntary_filter_an_empty_promise/
I can’t find any more recent lists.
(I am a happy Internode user)
@Aqua, thank you. I am an iiNet user, so this makes me breathe a little easier, (even though I still need to go dig and find out exactly what my ISP plans to do on this issue…)
Given that Exetel cut off those that pirate-finders accuse of piracy, I suspect it may be one of these mysterious smaller ISPs. Also, is anyone else starting to worry about what influence Telstra and Optus could have in the future, given ownership of infrastructure?
Iprimus is the other ISP
http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/375566/internet_filter_track_july_2011_conroy/
iiNet have strongly apposed the censorship.
bryan
And while we ae on the subject of “censorship”.
Apple are apparently trying to “manage” where we use our iPhones.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-levy/apples-new-iphone-censors_b_878372.html