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Australia Continues Quest To Purge Internet Of Naughty Bits
Filter tests with no standards unsurprisingly found '100% successful'

The Australian government has been sinking millions of dollars into ISP Internet filters, conducting trials with a handful of ISPs, many of whom have been very vocal in their beliefs that the filters won't technically work. Australian political leaders in favor of the filters don't seem to care -- the government admitting the ongoing trials have no quantifiable metric to determine whether the trials were a success or failure. So not surprisingly, the BBC reports how the trials found the filters to be "100% effective" and the government is moving forward:

quote:
Mr Conroy said the filters included optional extras such as a ban on gambling sites which ISPs could choose to implement in exchange for a grant. "Through a combination of additional resources for education and awareness, mandatory internet filtering of RC (refused classification)-rated content, and optional ISP-level filtering, we have a package that balances safety for families and the benefits of the digital revolution," he said.
While the BBC quotes an analyst that suggests such filters have "historically worked up to a point," the reality is that most filter systems often wind up targeting legitimate content for regular users, while those who really want to find a way around the filters are easily able to do so. Even early tests of Australia's proposed filters resulted in education sites (but not porn) getting blocked, while teenage kids were able to bypass the filters in all of half an hour.

Of course the millions the Australian government will spend on these filters could be better spent elsewhere, especially considering the filters themselves probably won't work. It seems more efficient and effective to attack crime like child porn at the source and to have parents simply pay attention to their kids. But these are all lessons some Australian lawmakers are eager to learn the hard (and expensive) way.
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maartena
Elmo
Premium Member
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA

1 edit

maartena

Premium Member

Even the Great Firewall of China can be circumvented....

Even the Chinese, or at least the more tech savvy ones, have figured out ways to pass the Great Firewall of China, with the only difference being that there you might be lifted off of your bed in the middle of the night for "reeducation" and you can't post the methods of circumvention anywhere, where in Australia that might not happen. Australia is however a FREE country, and ways to bypass the filters are posted everywhere on the net.

Talking about governments wasting money on IT related projects, this must have been the worst spending of tax dollars on an IT project I have seen in years. Globally.

Gbcue
Premium Member
join:2001-09-30
Santa Rosa, CA

1 recommendation

Gbcue

Premium Member

Re: Even the Great Firewall of China can be circumvented....

It was a "free" country...

meh37II
@verizon.net

meh37II

Anon

Yep...

I guess they want their kids to grow up to be just as ignorant as they are.

EdG
@eastlink.ca

EdG

Anon

.

Australians are as passive as the sheep they raise.

Why are they allowing this to happen?
patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

1 edit

patcat88

Member

Re: .

said by EdG :

Australians are as passive as the sheep they raise.

Why are they allowing this to happen?
Scared of their own kind. Same as Britain. In america you have a closet full of guns, elsewhere the sheep bah for protection from the Shepard.

kerriskandie
join:2001-10-09
Coram, NY

kerriskandie

Member

Re: .

Maybe now......but it used to be the Australians, and definitely the Brits, who were already in the thick of TWO World Wars long before the Americans decided to 'join in'

Murdoc49
Premium Member
join:2009-02-08
Manitowoc, WI

Murdoc49

Premium Member

Why not get rid of the internet there then...

Get rid of the internet in australia, its basically doing the same as "filtering" it. A watered down version of the internet? I will pass on that.

Metatron2008
You're it
Premium Member
join:2008-09-02
united state

Metatron2008

Premium Member

Government don't like their peons having access to real news

They would rather you listen to their advertising on the sensationalist media.
axiomatic
join:2006-08-23
Tomball, TX

axiomatic

Member

This will be...

Foiled by one pimply faced Australian boy with some free proxy software.

Bill Neilson
Premium Member
join:2009-07-08
Alexandria, VA

1 edit

Bill Neilson

Premium Member

I can't even imagine the disaster

that would be if it were ever tried here.

Can you say....lawsuits? Not that the people suing would win but any sites blocked that people felt shouldn't be, etc....

What a headache

affa
@sbcglobal.net

affa

Anon

Re: I can't even imagine the disaster

LAW suits??

This is a BIG 1st amendment case?
so even if there is a law saying you can't by pass the lock down I don't think they will be able to sent you to prison for it. You may have to do some jail time waiting for count but I don't think a jury will let it stand much the supreme court.

Bill Neilson
Premium Member
join:2009-07-08
Alexandria, VA

Bill Neilson

Premium Member

Re: I can't even imagine the disaster

I don't think any of them would win nor would any of an actual case.

But they would do their damndest to get their page off a "block" and a suit would be their best option in many peoples eyes.

nklb
Premium Member
join:2000-11-17
Ann Arbor, MI

nklb to affa

Premium Member

to affa
The first amendment deals with the length senators can stay in office. How is that in any way relevant to this?

mole2
join:2000-12-08
Longs, SC

mole2

Member

Re: I can't even imagine the disaster

said by nklb:

The first amendment deals with the length senators can stay in office. How is that in any way relevant to this?
HuH? What Bill of Rights are you reading? I think he was talking about the US Bill of Rights. I don't know of any other.

patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

patcat88 to affa

Member

to affa
said by affa :

LAW suits??

This is a BIG 1st amendment case?
so even if there is a law saying you can't by pass the lock down I don't think they will be able to sent you to prison for it. You may have to do some jail time waiting for count but I don't think a jury will let it stand much the supreme court.
silly rabbit, Australia doesnt have a first amendment or bill of rights

nklb
Premium Member
join:2000-11-17
Ann Arbor, MI

nklb

Premium Member

Re: I can't even imagine the disaster

said by patcat88:

silly rabbit, Australia doesnt have a first amendment or bill of rights
While I don't know about the bill of rights, I do know that australia DOES have a first amendment.

It deals with the term length of senators.

NormanS
I gave her time to steal my mind away
MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
TP-Link TD-8616
Asus RT-AC66U B1
Netgear FR114P

NormanS

MVM

Re: I can't even imagine the disaster

said by nklb:

While I don't know about the bill of rights, I do know that australia DOES have a first amendment.

It deals with the term length of senators.
Although I am not from Missouri, and only spent a couple of days there in 1972 en route from Ft. Myer, Virginia, to San José, California, I will ask anyway: "Show me!"

Bill Neilson
Premium Member
join:2009-07-08
Alexandria, VA

Bill Neilson

Premium Member

Re: I can't even imagine the disaster

Right to freedom of religion – Section 116 creates a limited right to freedom of religion, by prohibiting the Commonwealth (but not the states) from "making any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion."

This section is based on the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, but is weaker in operation. As the states retain all powers they had as colonies before federation, except for those explicitly given to the Commonwealth, this section does not affect the states' powers to legislate on religion, and, in accordance with High Court interpretations, no Federal legislation on religion, short of establishing an official religion of Australia, would be limited by it either.

»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co ··· ustralia

NormanS
I gave her time to steal my mind away
MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA

NormanS

MVM

Re: I can't even imagine the disaster

Granted, a foreign law may be based on some U.S. law; but it isn't U.S. law.

In any case, First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has what-all to do with the terms served by Senators? I was asking the guy who posted the claim, not you.

Gbcue
Premium Member
join:2001-09-30
Santa Rosa, CA

Gbcue

Premium Member

They should spend their money elsewhere...

like free healthcare for all Australian citizens!

Wait...

ztmike
Mark for moderation
Premium Member
join:2001-08-02
La Porte, IN

1 edit

ztmike

Premium Member

Australia=Uncontrolling parents

Australia is on a roll lately..they banned Left 4 Dead and Valve changed/removed some stuff in the game so it could be sold in the country..

NOW Australia is banning the upcoming game "Alien VS Predator" »www.news.com.au/technolo ··· 07850199

And the game developer was quoted as saying it will not "sanitise" the game so Australia's lawmakers would be happy. And quoted
quote:
"We will not be releasing a sanitised or cut down version for territories where adults are not considered by their governments to be able to make their own entertainment choices,"
the game's maker, Rebellion Developments said.

And I 100% agree with that saying, if parents can't control what their own kids do then they don't even deserve it themselves. If I was a citizen of Australia I would be writing to my lawmakers or boycotting or doing something.

Like the saying goes..You let them walk over you once..and they'll keep doing it.

They don't pull that shit here in the U.S because they know it wouldn't hold up.

C0deZer0
Oc'D To Rhythm And Police
Premium Member
join:2001-10-03
Tempe, AZ

C0deZer0

Premium Member

Re: Australia=Uncontrolling parents

As Yahtzee said in his review of the (sanitized) L4D2, it's because all the old wrinkly senators think everyone under 30 will just turn into a serial felon/rapist or something, so they go bonkers with these retardo regulations on things they don't have the first quip of understanding about.

Hpower
join:2000-06-08
Canyon Country, CA

1 edit

Hpower

Member

Australia = on crack

They are definitely on something. That part about alien vs. prediator made me LOL. That is just so stupid. It is up to the parent to decide what game their children can play and what "entertainment" they have access to. Not the government.

They seriously have nothing better to do than spend $ on filters for ISP's? Wow....um how about spending it on education? Healthcare? Roads? So many things the government can spend money on.
GlobeSA
join:2008-04-05

GlobeSA

Member

Bye bye free speech

I think it's unbelievable that the Australians even allowed this to happen. The government maintaining a blacklist of websites and therefore deciding what Australians are allowed to read. Hello socialism!

The fact that someone can bypass the internet filter doesn't change the fact that a first world country has now decided to marginalise its own population. Zero freedom of speech.

TomS_
Git-r-done
MVM
join:2002-07-19
London, UK

TomS_

MVM

Re: Bye bye free speech

There never was any free speech anyway, so we lost nothing.

EGeezer
Premium Member
join:2002-08-04
Midwest

1 edit

EGeezer

Premium Member

An old solution, effective for a current problem

I just don't understand why they don't simply implement RFC3514 compliant infrastructure!
ShadezeRO
join:2006-04-24
Fort Lauderdale, FL

ShadezeRO

Member

Australia... lol

Enjoy