Will soon conduct tests on system intended to have ISPs filter porn and other content deemed inappropriate for kids.
Forces around the world continue to try and get ISPs to become the gatekeepers of content. It’s been well publicized how the entertainment industry has been lobbying govts around the world with varying degrees of success to get ISPs to filter copyrighted content, but now Australia is breaking new ground with attempts to get ISPs to filter porn and “inappropriate” content as well.
The Australian govt is moving ahead with plans to have ISPs filter porn and other internet content deemed inappropriate for children despite findings that they aren’t effective and do little to fight the real threat to children – predators using social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. It’s something that even the Australian Communications and Media Authority(ACMA) admits.
“The risks to Australian youth are primarily those associated with Web 2.0 services – potential contact by sexual predators, cyber-bullying by peers and misuse of personal information,” said the ACMA.
Coupled with a dive in the use of email, it has become even more difficult to filter content.
“Filters are currently unable to sift the content of communication between users using instant messaging or chat services,” ACMA said.
The agency concluded that education was the most effective way of addressing risks associated with illegal contact online.
The new plan to institute ISP-level filtering comes after three govt-funded studies showed that ISP-level filters would be less effective and more costly than PC-level filtering. Despite the studies, ISPs were still forced to begin offering PC filtering software to subscribers. It was only after 16-year-old Tom Wood demonstrated the ease with which they could be bypassed that plans for filtering at the ISP level were called for. Thus we have plans for testing out the new system.
The filters will be automatic, sending so-called “clean feeds” to homes, but subscribers can be exempted by contacting their ISP.
[Via Australian IT ]
I've been interested in P2P since the early, high-flying days of Napster and KaZaA. I believe that analog copyright laws are ill-suited to the digital age, and that art and culture shouldn't be subject to the whims of international entertainment industry conglomerates. Twitter | Google Plus
Take the filter back to china where it belongs Kevin Rudd, Australians don't want it!
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