The internet industry in Australia will become a hot topic to regular users, web developers and the general public when the Government announced the mandatory censorship of content through Australian ISP’s. The content filters are set to target such sites as pro anorexia sites.
Several media groups have reported Government plans to censor internet content from Australian users, despite reports it will slow down the internet by up to 70% and only works 80% of the time.
News.com.au opinion reporter Peter Black stated,
“The Government’s own testing has revealed that the technology is flawed: it blocks content that should not be blocked, it is unable to block peer-to-peer traffic that comprises of more than 60 per cent of Australia’s internet traffic and it can be easily avoided through the use of an encrypted Virtual Private Network.
Government testing has also indicated that the filter might slow internet speeds by up to 70 per cent.
It is ironic that the same Government that is committed to a National Broadband Network would also slow internet speeds by insisting on a technologically flawed model of government censorship.”
Another important point was that the availability of “Net Nanny” software. People would generally know that if they can’t install it themselves the software is still available and has been for over 20 years. Mandatory content filters just seem oppressive based on the fact that the software is widely available and the software itself does not affect the internet as a whole. As we are currently experiencing a global financial crisis, a $44m investment into a program like this at this time is short sighted. And will most likely never eventuate.
Read more on this at the following sites:
- Internet filtering scheme ‘a waste of money’
- Tech giants safeguard freedom of speech
- Australia to implement mandatory internet censorship
- Education ‘as effective as internet filtering’
And this is also what happens when Governments can control content.
