No opt-out web filtering

[Neoshaman]

It isn't the 'real' list, according to the Minister . However he did confirm that some of the links were common to the actual ACMA list - but would not say which ones (obviously).

On the up side, we didn't appear on there.

I think that list may actaully contain sites from both levels of filtering not just the mandatory but also the optional i think irt was hhilarious what that FOAD guy did report an antiabortion site and the government ended up blacklisting it which raises a big issue so all it takes is one ultra conservative fucking moron to makke a report and bang your sites blacklisted doesn't seem all that fair ohh and apparently wikileak is now blacklisted as it has links to the blacklisted sites cause of the list

Stay off wikileak Yeti or you'll have federal police busting down your door to take away you and your computer LOL

[Yeti101]

I think that list may actaully contain sites from both levels of filtering not just the mandatory but also the optional i think irt was hhilarious what that FOAD guy did report an antiabortion site and the government ended up blacklisting it which raises a big issue so all it takes is one ultra conservative fucking moron to makke a report and bang your sites blacklisted doesn't seem all that fair ohh and apparently wikileak is now blacklisted as it has links to the blacklisted sites cause of the list

Stay off wikileak Yeti or you'll have federal police busting down your door to take away you and your computer LOL

Yeah neo, a lot of people are saying the same thing about the list.

There are plenty of other people who have seen that list, so the Feds are going to be busy if they want to go down that path. However, I am always careful about what I browse and I think wikileaks is best viewed via their secure site (and through tor if you are really paranoid).

[Yeti101]

I don't want to cause people to bust out the tin-foil hats yet, but this article worries me a bit:

THE Government will begin trawling blog sites as part of a new media monitoring strategy, with documents singling out a website critical of Communications Minister Stephen Conroy for special mention.

http://tiny.cc/IDHhs

[MindExpansion]

jesus, this censorship is getting worse by the day isn't it.

That blacklist at the moment is mostly porno sites, BUT the day it is passed and implemented will be the day they start adding other sites to it that suit their agenda's, because then they won't fear public backlash so much.

Very very lame, and getting very frustrating, sad thing is we will all just lay down and take it,

or the majority of people certainly will.

There hasn't been much backlash about it yet really, just internet complaining.

Peace

[blog]

It isn't the 'real' list, according to the Minister .

I think that might be true. There are some obvious honeypot trap websites in that list. I'd imagine if you even looked at the frontt page you'd be dawn raided sometime in the future. I can't see why the government would ban sites that interpol/fbi/AFP are monitoring, hoping for people including Australians to view/download & be arrested.

An interesting site on that list is the Australian 'lesbian' porn site Abby Winters. If it really contained illegal content why wouldn't the Australian police act, and close down the site by arresting those that run the site. Think the content is made and operated from Victoria or NSW

Edited March 22, 2009 by blog

[MindExpansion]

There was also an australian 'swingers' site on there too.

Most of it is normal porno stuff, but most of the porn is that teen styled porn of girls dressed to look young, despite still generally obviously being over 18.

Peace

[ballzac]

most of the porn is that teen styled porn of girls dressed to look young, despite still generally obviously being over 18.

Nothing wrong with adult women in pigtails and school uniforms IMO

[poo]

Well Senator Conroy will be on Q&A this week... so get your questions posted here, or better yet, get yourself in attendance at the studio to put your point forward:

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/

[MindExpansion]

Please will one of the melbourne members go to that and pose him some questions.

PLEASE.

And thanks for the link poo.

Edited March 22, 2009 by MindExpansion

[poo]

I've posted a few questions to the site already. In case it isn't obvious, the more people who post questions to the site for the program, the more likely it is they will be a feature of the show - the whole point of the show is to put the communities' concerns to the people who need to answer them!

Please take 2 minutes to get involved - the issue is far more important that the majority of the country realise. Amongst other things, it sets precedents, and will continue to do so for years to come, not simply in relation to the internet.

Our government have already passed laws that allow police to enter and search your home without your knowledge (google it), now you're being told what information is OK to access; worse yet, you'll never know what information you can't access... because for you, it won't exist anymore.

[poo]

[ThunderIdeal]

saw this at oztrance, it's a hacked website.

i wonder how many motivated hackers live in australia.

[JDanger]

lulz @ Youtube.

Did anyone manage to catch Q&A? I missed it by miles.

[MindExpansion]

Yeh I caught the most part of it, the guy managed to cover up his shit pretty well but it was still pretty obvious that he plans to ignore the people at all costs. Most of the audience applauded at every comment made against him.

Hopefully a wake up call to him too...

Peace

[misteek]

Update please anyone? I just spent a whole hour and half reading this thread!!

[Oh 'cos?]

Yeah.. what's been happening?

I haven't heard anything about it in a while now. Hopefully they've scrapped the whole idea..

[kindness]

I'd be interested to know as well. Is anybody staying abreast of whats going on with the no opt out filtering? I probably should use those EULA things rather than just clicking okay shouldn't I! The last internet provider could have said anything, "we reserve the right to access your harddrive when you aren't looking and check if you have been accessing websites deemed to be bad for you, by us".

Far out.

I don't give a fuck about the porn side of things, I'm way into plants and what they can do for the human consciousness however, to loose the amount of information that has become available through the internet would be a step backwards for me personally - on a very basic level (and I know this has been said a million times before) how does the govo' have the power or right to tell me how to think, what I should do with my time and what I am allowed to be interested in?

I think kevin rudds cabinet should all mung some cactus juice and work out their tiny little fears.

[ThunderIdeal]

getcha encryption and ebook collection while the going is definitely still good

[Yeti101]

Update please anyone? I just spent a whole hour and half reading this thread!!

It has been quiet of late, but no, it hasn't been scrapped. A couple of places that will help you keep up to date are:

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/ and http://www.overclockers.com.au/wiki/Austra...ernet_Filtering

[JDanger]

The Federal Government has now set its sights on gamers, promising to use its internet censorship regime to block websites hosting and selling video games that are not suitable for 15 year olds.

Separately, the Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, has been nominated by the British ISP industry for its annual "internet villain" award, competing alongside the European Parliament and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Australia is the only developed country without an R18+ classification for games, meaning any titles that do not meet the MA15+ standard - such as those with excessive violence or sexual content - are simply banned from sale by the Classification Board, unless they are modified to remove the offending content.

So far, this has only applied to local bricks-and-mortar stores selling physical copies of games, but a spokesman for Senator Conroy confirmed that under the filtering plan, it will be extended to downloadable games, flash-based web games and sites which sell physical copies of games that do not meet the MA15+ standard.

This means that even Australians who are aged above 15 and want to obtain the adult-level games online will be unable to do so. . It will undoubtedly raise the ire of gamers, the average age of which is 30 in Australia, according to research commissioned by the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia.

Colin Jacobs, spokesman for the online users' lobby group Electronic Frontiers Australia, said the Government clearly went far beyond any mandate it had from the public to help parents deal with cyber-safety.

He said Australians would soon learn this the hard way when they find web pages mysteriously blocked.

"This is confirmation that the scope of the mandatory censorship scheme will keep on creeping," said Mr Jacobs.

"Far from being the ultimate weapon against child abuse, it now will officially censor content deemed too controversial for a 15-year-old. In a free country like ours, do we really need the government to step in and save us from racy web games?"

Senator Conroy's spokesman said the filter would cover "computer games such as web-based flash games and downloadable games, if a complaint is received and the content is determined by ACMA to be Refused Classification". All games that exceed MA15+ are deemed to be RC.

The filtering could also block "the importation of physical copies of computer games sold over the internet which have been classified RC", the spokesman said.

Ron Curry, chief executive of the IEAA, said the move highlighted the "unacceptable situation" of not having an R18+ classification for video games. The industry has been fighting for changes to classification laws for years.

"It's through the introduction of an R18+ classification that adults will have access to age appropriate material and parents will have the full tool kit to understand the suitability of content for their children," he said.

Mark Newton, an ISP engineer and internet filtering critic, said the move to extend the filtering to computer games would place a cloud over online-only games such as World of Warcraft and Second Life, which aren't classified in Australia due to their online nature.

He said the online distribution of such games has historically been exempt from customs controls on RC material because they have only ever covered physical articles.

"That exemption is the only reason why multi-player games with user-generated environments are possible in this country; without it, it'd only take one game user anywhere in the world to produce objectionable content in the game environment to make the Australian Government ban the game for everyone," said Newton.

Nine ISPs are trialling the web censorship plan, which will block all content that has been "refused classification" by ACMA. Results of the trials are due to be published in July.

In Britain, Senator Conroy was nominated for the annual internet villain award "for continuing to promote network-level blocking despite significant national and international opposition", George White, press officer with Britain's Internet Services Providers' Association, said.

"We would be delighted if Mr Conroy wishes to attend the Awards and collect the trophy should he win," Mr White said.

Senator Conroy's spokesman refused to comment on the award.

Link

[poo]

They really don't understand the fundamentals of how the internet works, or the postal system it seems.

Don't they remember being a kid being told they can't have something? It's like your magic kid energy spirals out of you and focuses your very existence on getting it... and it was never hard.

Poor silly politicians... they try...

[Foton]

* Any online content that is classified RC* or X 18+* by the Classification Board (formerly the Office of Film and Literature Classification). This includes real depictions of actual sexual activity, child pornography, depictions of bestiality, material containing excessive violence or sexual violence, detailed instruction in crime, violence or drug use, and/or material that advocates the doing of a terrorist act.

Coffee commercials to be illegal, army propaganda to? I love the metaphor above about the hands being the filter to stop the rush of information. Reminds of the episode of Penn and Teller's Bullshit where they bag the wall that was built along the Mexican border... I think at worst a similar situation exists here. A big expensive not very well built wall will be constructed.

[J Smith]

An inquest into the deaths of two graffiti vandals in a stormwater drain, has recommended police shut down a thrill seeking website which encouraged them.

Three vandals heard a massive boom like an earthquake about an hour after they entered a stormwater drain at Lurline Bay, near Maroubra, in January 2008.

Michael Mainowski, 27, said the trio were drinking alcohol and spraying graffiti when they heard the crash and the rush of approaching water.

They became terrified and disoriented by the sound, seconds later they were hit by a wall of water.

Holly Legge, 21, and Dwaine Larosa, 25, drowned in the torrent. Miraculously Mr Malinowski Bay, where he was rescued by locals on surfboards.

The inquest heard Mr Malinowsky was encouraged by a website from the so-called 'Cave Clan' - a group which dares people to explore urban underground spaces.

Coroner Hugh Dillon has recommended the police investigate the Cave Clan and shut down its website - which publicised the location of the drain and encouraged thrill seeking - saying he was concerned about the group's counter-cultural message.

Is this the way we are headed? Conform or else!!

http://livenews.com.au/news/graffiti-death...009/6/29/211431

Edited June 29, 2009 by madhouses visites

[Yeti101]

* Any online content that is classified RC* or X 18+* by the Classification Board (formerly the Office of Film and Literature Classification). This includes real depictions of actual sexual activity, child pornography, depictions of bestiality, material containing excessive violence or sexual violence, detailed instruction in crime, violence or drug use, and/or material that advocates the doing of a terrorist act.

This is one of the reasons why we need to be so careful about self-incrimination etc. Though T is right in saying (back on page 1 of this thread) that SAB may get blocked even anyway as we are possibly RC anyway or at least R18+. As I've said elsewhere/else-when (excuse my temporal anomaly), the number of sites that are caught by the above criteria would run into the hundreds of millions, so assessing and blocking them is going to be a big project, bigger than C0nroy seems to be able to grasp.

Coroner Hugh Dillon has recommended the police investigate the Cave Clan and shut down its website - which publicised the location of the drain and encouraged thrill seeking - saying he was concerned about the group's counter-cultural message.

Is this the way we are headed? Conform or else!!

Conform indeed! Technically if entering these drains etc is illegal then that's reason enough to ban the site. But to remove a site because it's "counter-cultural" is arguably suppression of political communication, but given the way that High Court has decided matters in the past, I'd say this is a pretty long bow to draw.

Keep writing letters to your MP's and Senators people!

[hutch]

I have only just caught up to this thread and I am completely horrified My father's father and his 4 brothers went off to war so we could all be free. 3 of them didn't come back. (true Story). What did they die for? To be free! So we didn't have to live under tyranny?

To arms, To arms, Oh hang on, we don't have them anymore either (except for the ones wrapped in oil covered cloth buried in the back yard but that's another story) But seriously, this can't be allowed to happen. Should I be printing pages off at a rapid rate and have them secretly buried in the same hole in the back yard.

I am outraged! I have never before felt so strong about my rights and the rights of those that my grandfather and his brothers and mate's all went to war for. Who do this government think they are? I, for one will be standing up and yelling about this from the roof tops. You should write that book Torston, but make it quick so I can stash a copy somewhere before the gestapo turn up to search my house

I will be speaking with my local member today!!!!! and boy, he better feel the same way about this as I do or it's on....

Keep up the fight, the power of the pen (or in this case the computer) is much stronger than you would ever believe.

Hutch