AusCelebs Forums

View active topics It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 1:40 am



Reply to topic 
 [ 8 posts ] 
 Conroy backs down on net filters 
Message Author

Postby HumphreyBBear » Fri Jul 09, 2010 4:00 pm


Quote:
The Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, has capitulated to widespread concerns over his internet censorship policy and delayed any mandatory filters until at least next year.

Academics, ISP experts, political opponents, the US government and a broad cross-section of community groups have long argued that the plan to block a secret blacklist of "refused classification" web pages for all Australians was fraught with issues, such as that blocked RC content could include a range of innocuous material.

Having consistently ignored these concerns, Senator Conroy today announced that implementation of his policy would be delayed until a review of RC classification guidelines can be conducted by state and territory censorship ministers.

This is not expected to begin until at least the middle of next year.

"Some sections of the community have expressed concern about whether the range of material included in the RC category ... correctly reflects current community standards," Senator Conroy said.

"As the Government's mandatory ISP filtering policy is underpinned by the strength of our classification system, the legal obligation to commence mandatory ISP filtering will not be imposed until the review is completed."

In the meantime, major ISPs including Optus, Telstra and iPrimus have pledged to voluntarily block child abuse websites. This narrower, voluntary approach has long been advocated by internet experts and brings Australia into line with other countries such as Britain.

But the Government does not seem to be backing out of the deeply unpopular mandatory filtering policy altogether, as it has today announced a suite of transparency and accountability measures to address concerns about the scheme.

These include:

- an annual review of content on the blacklist by an "independent expert".

- clear avenues of appeal for people whose sites are blocked.

- content will be added to the blacklist by the Classification Board, instead of the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

- affected parties will have the ability to have decisions reviewed by the Classification Review Board.

- people will know when they surf to a blocked page as a notification will appear.

"The public needs to have confidence that the URLs on the list, and the process by which they get there, is independent, rigorous, free from interference or influence and enables content and site owners access to appropriate review mechanisms,” Senator Conroy said.

One of Senator Conroy's strongest political critics, Greens communications spokesman Scott Ludlam, took the move by the government as a sign the critics were winning their battle to have the policy modified.

"A review of the RC is helping, that's a good idea. I think the fact that ISPs are putting their own initiatives forward voluntarily is also helpful," Senator Ludlam said.

"[But] if we're still pursuing mandatory ISP-level filtering then obviously we're not there yet. All we've got today is a useful acknowledgment of some of the flaws in the system and i'm hoping that they take this period to reflect on the overall objectives of the scheme."

He said even if the policy was narrowed to encompass just child abuse material, major issues remained such as that the filters are easy to bypass and will not block even a fraction of the nasty material available on the web. There was nothing stopping future governments from expanding the blacklist to cover other types of content.

"I don't interpret [the move] as killing it but I do interpret it as trying to neutralise the issue in the short term as far as the election is concerned," said Colin Jacobs, spokesman for the online users' lobby group Electronic Frontiers Australia.

"They're tinkering around the edges with the classification scheme without having a rethink around how do you apply a system that was designed for books and movies to the internet?"

The Safer Internet Group, which includes state schools, libraries, Google, iiNet, Inspire Foundation, Internet Industry Association, Yahoo and the System Administrators Guild of Australia today welcomed the new approach the government was taking on cyber safety.


Source: The Age

Well, it would be more accurate to say it is postponed... until after the election.
But I think Conroy will have another go at it, after the election. :roll:


Otto Man
User avatar

Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2005 7:45 pm
Posts: 758
Karma: 80.34 (609 thanks)
Fri Jul 09, 2010 4:00 pm
Profile

Postby SKaVeN » Fri Jul 09, 2010 5:18 pm


HumphreyBBear wrote:
Well, it would be more accurate to say it is postponed... until after the election.
But I think Conroy will have another go at it, after the election. :roll:


Wouldn't it be nice if the people stopped expecting the government to be their parents & took a bit of responsibility for themselves for a change?


Ned Flanders
User avatar

Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2005 12:51 am
Posts: 2065
Karma: 3.10 (64 thanks)

Location: Adelaide
Fri Jul 09, 2010 5:18 pm
Profile

Postby HumphreyBBear » Fri Jul 09, 2010 5:59 pm


SKaVeN wrote:
Wouldn't it be nice if the people stopped expecting the government to be their parents & took a bit of responsibility for themselves for a change?


Let's see how they react when Conroy takes away their porn. :lol:

What worries me is that one day THIS site could end up on Conroy's "blacklist". That would upset me greatly. :mad:


Otto Man
User avatar

Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2005 7:45 pm
Posts: 758
Karma: 80.34 (609 thanks)
Fri Jul 09, 2010 5:59 pm
Profile

Postby SKaVeN » Fri Jul 09, 2010 7:56 pm


HumphreyBBear wrote:
SKaVeN wrote:
Wouldn't it be nice if the people stopped expecting the government to be their parents & took a bit of responsibility for themselves for a change?


Let's see how they react when Conroy takes away their porn. :lol:

What worries me is that one day THIS site could end up on Conroy's "blacklist". That would upset me greatly. :mad:

Humpy, you know, it's like I've already said a few timers before...

When I was a kid there was no such thing as the Internet but there were still things & places around the home we knew were out of bounds. My siblings & I understood boundaries & the consequences of crossing those boundaries.

One of the biggest temptations for kids (probably even more than Internet porn) is booze. My dad always had a booze cabinet which he never had to put a lock on & we never went near. Mind you, if we had, I'm pretty damn sure my parents wouldn't say it was the liquor companies fault & expect someone from the government to come over & put a lock on for them.

I think the people who'd support a government initiative like this are the same people who, when an evening moofy comes on the tellybox which is preceded by a nudity & sex scenes warning & a recommendation for mature audiences, let their kids watch the whole film. Then spend the next morning on the train whinging to the person next to them how inappropriate it was for that film to be on & talk about every single scene, from start to finish, that their kids should not have seen...


Ned Flanders
User avatar

Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2005 12:51 am
Posts: 2065
Karma: 3.10 (64 thanks)

Location: Adelaide
Fri Jul 09, 2010 7:56 pm
Profile

Postby Macc » Fri Jul 09, 2010 8:16 pm


He hasn't backed down at all. He's just trying to stop it being an election issue. EFA and Get-Up are not popping corks just yet.


Milhouse Van Houten
User avatar

Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2004 5:28 pm
Posts: 1626
Karma: 43.23 (703 thanks)

Location: A small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse
Fri Jul 09, 2010 8:16 pm
Profile

Postby modecko » Sat Jul 10, 2010 7:28 am


Macc wrote:
He hasn't backed down at all. He's just trying to stop it being an election issue. EFA and Get-Up are not popping corks just yet.

I read it was because of quite serious technical issues with the filter. I'll see if I can chase up the link later.

I also believe that two ISPs, Telstra and Optus, will continue to voluntarily carry out Conroy's filtering.

What irks me about this is that in this one policy the opposition won't block when they have no problems being obstructionist in every other case. It was originally based on a Howard policy he took to the election, which Rudd took up in a me toosim and Conroy took even further in government. Abbott owes a lot of his current support to the hard religious right and often meets with Pell, so Abbott will probably not only take this up but expand it and has made some background noises about blocking other forms of porn.

Our only hope of getting this stopped is if it turns out to be technically infeasible or there is such a groundswell of public opposition that it doesn't get up. On current polling it is more than likely the Greens will have the balance of power in the next Senate and they will block this filter.


Judge Roy Snyder
User avatar

Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2002 8:42 pm
Posts: 910
Karma: 99.45 (905 thanks)

Location: South Coast NSW
Sat Jul 10, 2010 7:28 am
Profile

Postby shaggydude » Mon Jul 12, 2010 1:36 am


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY9g1Xv1H7Y


Rod Flanders

Joined: Mon Jun 22, 2009 10:08 pm
Posts: 158
Karma: 114.56 (181 thanks)
Mon Jul 12, 2010 1:36 am
Profile

Postby Macc » Mon Jul 12, 2010 8:27 pm


Within the last hour or so the major media outlets have started on a cross-media poll to gauge whether it is an election issue.

http://poll.fm/225bb

The poll is supported by News Corp, Fairfax, ABC and several smaller Australian tech news outlets.

I would encourage everybody to vote in this poll.


Milhouse Van Houten
User avatar

Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2004 5:28 pm
Posts: 1626
Karma: 43.23 (703 thanks)

Location: A small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse
Mon Jul 12, 2010 8:27 pm
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Reply to topic 
 [ 8 posts ] 

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 12 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
Designed by ST Software for PTF.