I first heard about this on HN (I live in Melbourne). My girlfriend hasn't heard of this (I asked) & I haven't had any conversations about this with anyone. Strange. When earlier this year there was a nude child photography (non pornographic) scandal, the Prime Minister made multiple statements as did senior police & it was on the news for over a week. Anything child porn related tends to get coverage here.
I'm not convinced that it's not a coincidence, but it seems like this is being done on the sneaky. I'm not happy.
Sydney here. I feel the exact same way. The first I heard of this was on reddit. I'm thinking of building a website dedicated to making this issue heard. I have a fairly influential scope that could generate TV/print media regarding the issue, what do you guys think?
This whole thing is hugely sneaky. Clearly the proposed plan was initiated as an opt-out, however after heads began nodding it was changed to mandatory. And now the thing doesn't even bloody work, while fucking up the internet.
On top of all this, I don't think this Conroy chap actually understands the internet. He doesn't understand the scope, the open nature, and how it constantly changes in a way that is impossible to regulate. Hell, Google is only what it is because it was the first company that was able to create any sense of order out of the internet.
Most illegal stuff is transferred via bittorrent. This will do nothing.
The worst child pornography abusers will find their fix elsewhere, to the extent of creating new and secret websites to share their shit. Does he honestly think putting in this kind of regime will make these guys step back from their computers and say, "Well, fuck it, I guess I can't look at a 6-year-old flat chest anymore. Time to move on!" All this bloody thing will do is create more clandestine measures of subverting authorities.
This whole thing is like the war in Iraq, and why the US has failed. There is no enemy. There is no "Terrorist Central" that they can nuke, wash their hands of and say, "Well, that was a jolly good shot! They are all gone, problem solved". When one insurgent falls, more stand up to take their place. And in the meantime, thousands of innocents are adversely affected by the whole shit storm created by the situation. This is like DRM. It does nothing to stem the problem, and it fucks shit up for everyone.
The only people who stand to gain anything from this, assuming the media believes the babble and society is not informed of the ineffectiveness of this plan, is Conroy.
Please try to keep the technical arguments against seperate from the fundamental.
The open nature of the internet, the cost of infringing on free speech, the dangers of putting in place mechanisms of censorship (to me this is no. 1) etc. are unrelated to the technical issues:
Bittorent will still be available, there will be false positives, this will affect download speeds, etc.
Both are valid forms of criticism. But keep the seperate.
> I'm not convinced that it's not a coincidence, but it seems like this is being done on the sneaky. I'm not happy.
Ironically, the government trying to censor someone speaking out against this (the Internode employee on Whirlpool) has got more news that the mass censorship in the first place...
To be fair, I think he never really had any idea what the exhibition was like till he took a position. I believe it was purely a political position. The only people defending the photographer were a bunch of hippies & the girl in the photos & her parents.
The internet is perfect for big-brother surveillance. It's inevitable; but let's delay it while we can.
Grassroots awareness is probably the best beginning - just let people know about it.
Anyone know of any official releases about it? I've read a few stories about it, but not seen links to official confirmation. There must be Acts passed in parliament or something. I'm sure it would require new laws.
Strange, all news stories seem to be from outside Australia... that reminds me of some other countries, where they need to listen to the BBC to find out what is happening at home... Not a good sign...!
The stockmarket crash is a convenient cover for pushing ahead unpopular schemes...
They've been trying to censor the Internet in Australia for years (primarily the previous government, but the current govt seems to be carrying it forward) - to date every effort has either been ignored, badly implemented, reversed, revised or in some other way failed...
It wouldn't surprise me if they pressed on to save face, and then quietly shelved the idea in the background.
"... As a Australian, how can I protest this? ..."
I'm not really the protesting type but pointing out in writing why the technical details will fail is one. A mate of mine did this as a senate submission for the last round of digital copyright laws. Even with a PhD in a related field I don't think the powers that be took any notice. But that shouldn't deter you. Pestering your local member might be one option.
I'm of the opinion that this is an "idealogical war" and all arguments are going to be ignored. The argument(s) against the "Clean feed" are framed in such a way that you may appear to support the very "Internet nasties" this ideology is attempting to eradicate. So be forewarned. I'm interested in 2 things:
- what Australians are not required to be filtered? Surely some Gov. departments and citizens are going to get raw feeds. Who watches them?
- if you opt of the clean feed are you being put on a "watch list"? A new form of unacknowledged surveillance.
There is a sinister outcome in that new legislation will be drafted
There doesn't seem to be any reports on mainstream television at all about this AFAIK