back to article Australian firewall wobbles under pressure from all sides

The future of the great Australian firewall is beginning to look decidedly shaky, as electoral calculations and widespread condemnation from politicians and industry alike begin to take their toll. That's the analysis from Greens communications spokesman Scott Ludlam, who believes the proposed internet filter is now on the …

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  1. JimC

    I wonder though

    If the opposition to this is like the freetard opposition to the recent bill in the UK: much noise from a few highly opiniated individuals, plus vested interests like (in this case) google, but the vast majority of he population don't give a damn.

    1. Francis Boyle Silver badge

      Give a damn?

      The British people just tossed out a government largely because of this sort of high-handed illiberal arrogance. (It obviously wasn't because of any love for the Tories.) If Kevin Rudd doesn't want to go the same way as Gordon Brown he'd be well advised to bin this nonsense immediately.

    2. Asgard
      Stop

      Knowledge is power...

      Your attempts to obsess about "freetards" is narrow mindedly totally blinding you from seeing far more important reasons to fight against the growth of a Police State. Here's three very important reasons to oppose what is happening. They are called freedom, privacy and liberty!. But very evidently you are too narrow minded to see the social dangers of any state gaining ever increasing power to control a population. Here's a hint, history shows the state always ends up abusing its ever increasing power for their own gain. For example, as they gain ever more power they always move towards e.g. more taxes here, more fines there, more punishments for opposition to their state views, and more state spying allows them to dodge any attempt to stop them increasingly making peoples lives a hell etc..

      Its interesting JimC how you use multiple derogatory put downs and remarks. e.g. “Freetard”, “much noise ”, “a few ” its clear you are trying to belittle any opponent to a growing Police State. So either you are doing this out of ignorance or you are a corporate PR troll working as part of an Astroturfing campaign i.e. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing … as some corporations do pay PR trolls to spam popular websites with their biased views.

      So JimC wake up or go back to sleep and if you are a PR troll, then go to hell, because whatever your reasons, your kind are most definitely part of the problem because for a start, your kind act like a drag factor on every attempt to speak out against the relentless control freaks who want to void so many rights that took centuries to create to prevent state interference in peoples lives. Plus in your ignorance (or contempt for society) your kind are responsible for trying to prevent society standing united against the control freaks. But then for whatever reason, that's evidently what you want. Tough luck, because the real power of the Internet is to finally help people see through your kind. Knowledge is power. :)

      1. JimC
        FAIL

        @ Asgard - pot : see kettle...

        I don't agree with you so I must be an astroturfer eh?

        1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

          @JimC

          "I don't agree with you so I must be an astroturfer eh?"

          Aren't you?

        2. Neoc

          Yup!

          In the same way that us not agreeing with you makes us "Freetards" (or Paedophiles according to current Oz Gov thinking, as "only paedophiles and terrorists would have any reasons to object").

    3. Steve Roper
      Joke

      Going by the general content of his posts, JimC is...

      ...one of the following (please tick one or more as required)

      |_| A troll

      |_| An RIAA/MPAA shill

      |_| A moralising do-gooder like PirateSlayer

      |_| PirateSlayer's bitch

      |_| PirateSlayer's sockpuppet account

  2. Paul_Murphy

    Amendments?

    >Lundy says she wants two key amendments:

    > 1. The availability of an unfiltered, open internet service to be guaranteed in law.

    > 2. Opt-in customisable filtering (ie unfiltered, RC or to personal taste) for the general population.

    That first one is not an amendment - it's removing the whole sultana d'etre of the filter.

    At least Lundy is proposing something that is likely to be possible though it can't beat the parents actually being able to parent, and when an 'awkward question' comes along from a wee nipper it will be possible for the parent to find out information themselves.

    I still think that the best solution is to have the family PC in the living room.

    ttfn

    ttfn

    1. EvilGav 1

      The problem with . . .

      . . . even this approach, is the inevitable scope creep.

      However it starts off, if you put the infrastructure in place to do a thing, it's easier to extend it than it is to get it in in the first place.

      Look at detention without charge in the UK and copyright law around the world. Both started with laudible aims, but what we now have in both cases is a behemouth that needs shot.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Joke

        Could say something about scopes and creeps

        Better not though, Ill have the thought police taking me seriously.

    2. Trollslayer
      Thumb Up

      Class!

      "sultana d'etre"

    3. Richard Milner

      Standard procedure

      That sort of amendment is standard procedure in the democratic decision making.

      If she gets it into the bill, it will be up to the other side to get it struck out.

      It's much easier to table an amendment to a bill than try and make another bill to oppose the first one.

    4. Mark 65

      Re:Amendments?

      It looks like she ought to just be recommending the use of Open DNS. A few education programs at local libraries showing how to setup and use it on a some of the most popular modems and the odd OS (XP, Win 7, OSX etc).

      1. Player_16
        Big Brother

        WHAT!!! Open DNS?!!

        Oh come on!! Not that! That's too easy! Too cheap! It's the Gov's responsibility to monitor what goes in and out of the homes of Australians; not the parents! Those foolish thoughts should NEVER be posted or made public! That's exactly WHY we need an Australian firewall to eliminate such blatant negativity!

        1. Akira Doe
          WTF?

          OpenDNS?

          The trials that the Government keep referring to as having only "1/70th of the blick of an eye" impect on speed also recommended that ISPs block access to external DNS Services to prevent circumvention of the hybrid proxy/dns filtering.

          To put it another way, OpenDNS could be blocked to all Australians as one of the filtering solutions is as easy to bypass as changing your DNS Server, which they'll prevent, from the ISP Level, you from doing so.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Firewall

    It's about time someone lit a FIRE up Conroy's arse and then built a WALL across the stupid sod's mouth.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hmmmm....

    Can anyone say nanny state?

  5. nichomach
    Thumb Up

    @AC "Firewall"

    Death by internally generated CO poisoning? Niiiiiiiiiiiiiice....

  6. s. pam Silver badge
    Thumb Down

    You're all on Bad Drugs.....avoid the Aussie Brown Acid

    THe lunac^tic is not running out of time -- many Oz papers reporting that they're not willing to piss off the voting Bogans before the election. CON(roy) is still full on to deliver this B.S., just don't wanna piss off the voters like in 2007 with Workplace Rights issue, so bending over for now.

    Check your sources guys -- this has been all over the Aussie papers the last several days.

  7. Winkypop Silver badge
    FAIL

    Oz Labor Government is on the nose

    The proposed mining tax is killing them, even if it's the right thing to do.

    They will be looking to cull unpopular policies as they head to the next general election.

    Unfortunately, the opposition are just about as bat-shit insane* as the incumbents.

    * religious.

  8. robert cooke
    FAIL

    do it after the election

    well doh. it's what they do here. I mean it's not like the oposition will be against this, just the population that knows about it. I'm pretty sure the aussie version of demcoracy is as poor as ours. i.e. the bastards do what they want after organising cushy deals for themselves, just ask mandelson.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Why reinvent the wheel?

    It is quite depressing to witness the sad state of affairs in Australia when it comes to the Internet and Politics.

    The Politicians which we have elected clearly have no clue about the Internet and don't get me started on the ratings of computers games in Australia. If they had half a clue or bothered to have real conversations with ISPs, users of the Internet etc, they would have discovered a neat service called OpenDNS which is freely available to everyone.

    The Australian Goverment could have heavily donated to the OpenDNS cause, sent information to parents about the advantages of using OpenDNS directly and potentially integrating such technology into the current Australian Internet infrastructure.

    This would have been an effective approach to blocking unwanted traffic at the users discretion on the level of block. Plus they could analyse the DNS traffic requests to effectively restrict potentially dangerous or illegal activity since DNS is the underpin of the Internet and without it the Internet would fall in great big heap.

  10. Trollslayer
    Flame

    Buddying up to China?

    It would explain a lot.

  11. OffBeatMammal

    Australia .... home of the Criminal

    obviously they are just hurrying to return one of the places with the most potential back to a nation of criminals and conscripted workers who toil from sunup to sundown for the Government

    when we left Australia it was originally only going to be a for a few years (ironically that was a decade after I'd left England only expecting that to be for a few months) but looking back at both of those places from the outside it's saddening to see how quickly things can go wrong in a country.

    sadly with few exceptions there is a lack of good, open, honest, intelligent Governtment. Ayn Rynd must be turning in her grave at a world where only the likes of dictatorships in North Korea provide honest Government that does what it promises :(

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Good luck Ozzies

    I hope you get your country back from the bunch of feckwits currently running it into the ground.

    1. Combat Wombat
      Black Helicopters

      That would require..

      that we have non feckwits to vote for..

      The liberal party is no better than the current government in terms of religiousness and cluelessness

      They are all feckwits.

      I am actually voting for the hippies... err greens this year, because they are the only ones with some semblance of clue at the moment.

      1. Steve Roper
        Stop

        Re: That would require..

        Voting for the Greens is just as bad as voting for Labor. If the Greens don't form government (and it's most likely they won't, to be realistic) then their preferences just go to Labor. And if they DO form government, expect to be paying $2-3000 a quarter for your electric bill as the fuckers go on their tree-hugging save-the-planet crusade. I hope you don't mind cooling yourself by waving a piece of cardboard in front of your face, eating out of tins, and lighting your house with candles.

        Just vote for the Pirate Party or the Sex Party instead.

      2. Adrian Esdaile
        FAIL

        The Greens? A Clue?

        What, they found one rolled up inside a big fat doobie, did they?

        Confucius say: Party who sit on fence only ever get barbed wire stuck in bum.

        What ever happened to Keeping The Bastards Honest , eh, Ms. Stott-Despoya? ye fecking sellout, and as for YOU, Garrett you weasel-mouthed Brutus - go back to singing and dancing, oh wait, you can't do that EITHER!

        Sorry 'bout the rant, but our current crop of politicians make the UK, USA and NK's set look like distinguished statesmen.

      3. Player_16

        @ That would require..

        +1

        As I usually do.

      4. Big-nosed Pengie
        Thumb Up

        Australian Sex Party

        That's all you need to know.

  13. Adrian Esdaile
    FAIL

    Any time soon? Nah about 7 months...

    which is when we will likely be having a Federal election.

    The chilling silence from the Liberals means that they quite happily approve of Herr Conroy's Evil Plan; they are just letting the current shitstorm of protest pelt Labor. The Liberals are even further up the arse of the Right-wing Christian fucktards, so as soon as they are in power we'll see their true colours.

    It will be passed as child protection / anti paedo / anti terror laws, with no sunset clause, no privacy protection (you have nothing to hide, etc.), just like the Liberal's first attempt at this about 5 years back. Anyway remember? It was a dismal failure, complete current affairs shows trotting out the mandatory "SHOCK! Your 12-year-old can get around the filter by doing THIS!" stories.

    I can't wait to see if they'll go as far as adding a blasphemy filter a'la Stephen Baxter. Hell *BLASPHEMY WARNING* they'll probably add swear warnings like Demolition Man, for fuck's sake *SWEAR WARNING*

  14. Chris Donald
    Go

    Premature sigh of relief?

    At last some sort of common sense might be rearing it's head? I loathe the police/over controlling, protectionist, pure as fuck moralising state notions of the various nanny-crats that we've had to put up with here and what I've been seeing elsewhere.

    To see this kind of bullshit getting serious opposition and being chucked out is fantastic.

    The "freetard" nonsense is just a red herring and a pile of crap to boot. On a side note, piracy was never a genuine threat (but a great "target") the world of music/films/games. Folks doing that weren't gonna buy anyway regardless of the whining from the various copyright plonkers out there.

    I have my fingers crossed in the UK that a more logical, reasonable philosophy will prevail in our new government now that we've got the nanny-crats out for a while.

    The Ozzies nor the world ever needed such paranoid clap-trap as government firewalling and controlling of the net. Freedom is far far more important than some moralistic nonsense that says we must be curbed, controlled and protected at all costs.

    The old lines of "we must think of the children" need to be seen for what they are..an appeal to paranoia in order to excuse excessive control creep. The folks that need to think of the children are the parents that need to be real, responsible parents that do NOT require a bloody government nanny to do their job for them!

  15. Rex Alfie Lee
    Joke

    Sucked in Conroy...

    What's the difference between Conroy & a lobster?

    One is a scum-sucking bottom-dweller & the other is a crustacean.

    Even your own party think this is ridiculous Conroy. Drop it before we drop you.

  16. Akira Doe
    Megaphone

    Too much secrecy and misinformation from the Government

    There is just too much secrecy, lies and deceit from the Government over this policy. It started out as an election promise to protect children online, requiring ISPs to offer clean feeds to those who wanted them.

    Then it morphed into a mandatory blocking of material deemed "inappropriate" or "unwanted" by ACMA (a Government Department) which would include material online that was more then legal to view and own, and even broadcast on TV (material sometimes as low as M15+). There would be a second list of blockable material that you could opt-out of which was aimed more at protecting children, but again, it would be on or blocked by default and you'd have to contact your ISP and say you want access to material that as an adult you have the (implied...) right to access.

    Luckily for us Aussies they dropped that idea and moved to only propose to block Refused Classification material, and claimed that was their plan from the beginning (lie). The problem with this is, only a small portion of RC material is actually illegal, most of it is legal to own and view, just not sell and broadcast in Australia. RC doesn't include most Pornography (unless there is even mild spanking, candle wax, peeing, foot worship... things that happen in the bedrooms of Australian adults, which is legal, although I think there is still a law that forbids sodomy in Queensland, I'll have to check up on that...).

    RC also doesn't include other material that is not suitable for children, so increasingly the filter is being aimed more at what adults do online, and not about protecting children since they can still access material that may not be age appropriate for them. Add that to the scrapping of NetAlert, the previous Governments free PC Based filter program, and all we've seen from Senator Conroy and the ALP is the Internet getting less safe for children and "Working Families(TM)" if you believe their rhetoric on how dangerous the Internet is.

    So to my point, seeing Senator Kate Lundy's blog post "to better achieve the policy goals of protecting children through empowering and educating parents", whether deliberate or not is misleading because by design (unless by design the filtering policy is meant to be a failure) it's goals are not even about protecting children. It’s clear that they want to dictate what adults can and can’t do online, even if the filters can be bypassed in less than a minute, but that’s another story.

    If the Government could prove that filtering did work and not with the current trials and reports that would get a student failed if they submit them in an assignment, but real testing, and they limited the blockable material to only material that is illegal in this country (like child porn) and not the include the massive scope of material that is LEGAL that RC currently contains. In this situation it would be harder to argue against, but it would still remain secret and only require a small, quiet legislative change to give the Government greater controls on what is blocked and what isn't so I don't know if I'd even be able to support that.

    Especially given how the Minister in charge, Senator Conroy is saying "trust us, we're the Government" while at the same time not release full reports on the trials, lying about the policy and accusing those against the policy of misinforming the public or to the extreme being sympathetic to child pornographers and paedophiles... He, nor any Government can be trusted with that power.

    And now the Government are throwing round the idea of logging everything every Australian does online… Please…

    If they were serious about protecting children online there would be better education programs, no bullshit red alarm button and at worst a subsidy for parents to purchase their own protection software should they wish to (they’ll never reinstate the free filters since it was the Oppositions policy, and truth be told an expensive failure since the uptake of the filters was miserably low)

    Basically, education so parents who didn't grow up online know the true dangers online, not just the sensationalised and inflated claims by the Government, give them the choice to use the tools that can help in the home environment and offer support for those that sadly did not have the adequate protection or education due to the foolish path this Government has taken on ISP filtering under the guise of child protection.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    The net is the collective consciousness!!

    The net is the collective consciousness of the world. We must insure it remains uncensored so that all information is allowed to flow through it unhindered. - MyWriteUp.com

    It worries me when Conroy says the net is nothing special.

    If Lundy can bring this to fruition it would be WIN for all Australians!

    Lundy says she wants two key amendments:... See More

    1. The availability of an unfiltered, open internet service to be guaranteed in law.

    2. Opt-in customisable filtering (ie unfiltered, RC or to personal taste) for the general population

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