!!IMPORTANT!! Australian Internet Censorship

Did you know the Australian Federal Government is proposing an Internet censorship scheme that goes further than any other democracy in the world?

• Wikipedia article on Censorship in Australia
• Wikipedia article on Internet censorship in Australia
• Stephen_Conroy is the ***** behind this “scheme”

I am totally, absolutely opposed to censorship of this kind. It’s obviously ridiculous to try to filter it. It will be costly, inefficient and ineffective.

It will accidentally block access to MILLIONS of legitimate web sites, and will fail to filter MILLIONS of dodgy ones. It will prevent people from doing honest research and keeping themselves informed and it doesn’t matter how well intentioned it is, it will eventually be abused and used against the people.

I’m not concerned for my own sake, I’ve got access to servers all over the world that I can use to sidestep bullshit like this – and I will run free classes teaching people exactly how to do it if this gets through – but the big problem is the masses.

All of a sudden, through no fault of their own, people are unable to get the other side of any story the government deems “sensitive”. Censorship is a slippery slope.

I know it’s supposedly being put in place to prevent things like child pornography, but as I’ve already said, where there’s a will there’s a way, offenders will always find ways around filters. All this is doing is inconveniencing the majority in a futile attempt at controlling a teeny tiny minority and there’s only one reason a government would pull a stunt like this.

I hate to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but it’s much easier to control millions of people without a clue than millions of people who know they have options.

The Internet is the ONLY place we can turn to to keep ourselves educated and informed. Internet censorship of this kind is TOTALLY unacceptable.

I wouldn’t normally be this vocal when it comes to politics, and I’m sorry to be blunt, but seriously this is f*cking absurd.

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Anyway, I have no idea how effective this kind of thing is but ESPECIALLY if you’re Australian PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go and sign the petition at GetUp.org.au

This is incedibly important, I cannot stress it enough also. Please post the bottom link to all your friends and family as well.

This move is so dumb that I don’t take it seriously. Filter the internet? LOL – All I can do is laugh – let them TRY!

stuff like this happens in Cuba and China, what the fuck is the government thinking?

Hmmm, been doing reading. For those in Australia, there is a national day of protest on 13th December. For more info go to stopthecleanfeed – I won’t be going, but am getting a bit ramped up by the reading, maybe I should go bury my head in the sand again…

Also found a cool advert based on the “priceless” ads.

We’ll be there! thanks for the link :)

interesting article in Sydney Morning Herald today
http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/web/wikipedia-added-to-child-pornography-blacklist/2008/12/08/1228584723764.html

apparently all of Britain is blocked from Wikipedia because of their kiddy porn filter hah

another update – I’m copying the important text here because there’s obnoxious pop-up ads I couldn’t figure out how to close.

Fatal flaws in website censorship plan

TRIALS of mandatory internet censorship will begin within days despite a secret high-level report to the Rudd Government that found the technology simply does not work, will significantly slow internet speeds and will block access to legitimate websites.

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But the report says the filters would slow the internet – as much as 87 per cent by some measures – be easily bypassed and would not come close to capturing all of the nasty content available online. They would also struggle to distinguish between wanted and unwanted content, leading to legitimate sites being blocked. Entire user-generated content sites, such as YouTube and Wikipedia, could be censored over a single suspect posting.

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This raises serious freedom of speech questions, such as who will be held accountable for blocked sites and whether the Government will be pressured to expand the blacklist to cover lawful content including pornography, gambling sites and euthanasia material.

The report, based on comprehensive interviews with many parties with a stake in the internet, was written by several independent technical experts including a University of Sydney associate professor, Bjorn Landfeldt. It was handed to the Government in February but has been kept secret.

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He said he believed the Government had not released his report because its conclusions were too damaging.

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The proposed censorship is more restrictive than in any liberal democracy, the online users lobby group, Electronic Frontiers Australia, says. It says the changes would put Australia on a par with oppressive regimes such as Iran and China.

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The Government is refusing to reveal details about its trials, even the names of the ISPs which have volunteered to be involved. Some will begin their six-week trials this week. All the trials will be completed by the middle of next year.

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End of article.

My ISP iiNet is participating in trials, apparently just to prove that it wont work. I’m not sure if I should be supportive of them or swap to Internode because they are even giving Rudd the time of day.

This really is utter bullshit. I’m seriously restricting my language here, there’s more than a few other choice words I’m thinking about Rudd and his… that’s not going to help, but I really can’t believe this shit.

This is an interesting an informative article:

Christian Lobby: The New Lions Of Clean Feed

Oh my gosh, this is a big one! I cant believe what is happening for yous, Im not really up with government situations but this takes the cake. I think it is disgusting and totally fd up! What on earth are they thinking of! You have ever right to be pissed off about it. I have emailed to my sister and brother-inlaw who live in Melbourne, the petition, I will let you know what their thoughts are when I hear from them. There are heaps of people that have petitioned!

I am so sorry to hear of what you guys are going through.

Great Aussie firewall claims first victim
Forum threatened with fine for link to banned site

So basically, bmindful could be black listed, and I could be fined $11,000AUD PER DAY until I ‘complied’ if we were to talk about abortion and someone posted an anti-abortion link.

I don’t disagree with abortion, but supposing you do, you should be entitled to your opinion and should be allowed to support your argument…

And then on top of this complete violation of free speech, I would get charged a huge fine.

More details here

I don’t know if I’m exempt from the fines because my SERVER is in the states, even though I’m still living in Australia, but either way it shouldn’t be an issue.

Kevin Rudd, do something about this NOW!… DON’T BE SO FUCKING SHORT SIGHTED.

Leaked Government blacklist confirms worst fears

“Nevertheless, an examination of the list by EFA has turned up a few very surprising additions. YouTube videos, a MySpace profile, online poker parlours and a site containing poison information were present, as well as many apparently harmless sites such as that of a tour operator and a satirical encyclopedia.”

CLEARLY it’s only being used to help prevent child pornography. There’s a obvious and dangerous link between potentially helpful information about poisons, satirical humor and child pornography.

I feel sick thinking about this.

Bumping this thread so everyone can see.

Also, a campaign agent called GetUp is in the process of creating a TV ad against the censorship, and they are protesting in Canberra soon.

If you can’t make it to the rally PLEASE sign their petition

Extending on the hypothetical thread on abortion. Supposing it did happen, it looks like they could actually raid my house now too

Please follow @efa_oz on twitter and visit nocleanfeed.com for updates.