No frills ISP (Internet Service Provider) Exetel announced on the 28th of April that they would start trialling a mandatory content filtering system. Yesterday afternoon it was announced by the company that the trial was a success and that there was no impact on Internet access to non blocked sites for any Exetel user.
In what came as shock to some end users of the ISP, they decided they would temporarily filter “illegal content” for a period of 1 week as a trial to see whether ISP-level filtering was feasible.
In a forum post from a representative from the company it was warned that it would not be responsible for “moral obligations” or the “right to free-speech”.
This is not a discussion about what it right or wrong about the content filtering, the filter list, or our trial of it. You should use other forums for that – preferably those run by the government.
The company represenatative also added that those wishing to complain should write to their local MP and promise not to vote Labor at the next election.
Any opinions or comments relating to your personal views on government filtering should be directed to your local MP along with your promise that you will not vote Labor at the next election (comments unrelated to actual technical experiences will be deleted from this thread).
The company concluded with the following summary:
This is the result summary:
- 20,000 active hits against the filter list
- no false positives
- no measurable impact on any Exetel router
- no impact on Internet access to non blocked sites for any Exetel user
- there were 56 problems reported that users attributed to the filter trial, each on investigation was a ‘harbour tunnel’ effect
- three people threatened to cancel their Exetel service(s) because of the trial
We were able to determine:
- how we could implement a mandatory non user optional filter system with very little/no disruption
- how we could implement a mandatory user optional filter system with very little/no disruption
- that we could offer a ‘clean feed’ filter system now, as a user pays option (similar to the spam filter) for a price of $5 per month per user
- the cost of a mandatory, non optional filter system would be in the order of $6 per year per user
UPDATE: LISTEN TO NICK SPEAK WITH TECH WIRED AUSTRALIA
In a world where the watchers can not be watched, can good turn into evil? This is what happened last Friday to Potts Point apartment resident Nick Holmes à Court, who was threatened with arrest under the Australian Anti-Terrorism Act 2005 for videotaping Police performing a search in public.
It happened around 10:00 PM AEDST when Nick decided he would go outside his Sydney apartment for a cigarette. Whilst smoking his cigarette a group of Police officers armed with video cameras stormed past him. Nick thought that if they were filming in public, why not film them. He put his Blackberry into video mode, and started to film. As soon as a member of the New South Wales Police force saw him taking footage they stormed over, confiscated his mobile phone, and threatened him with arrest under the Australian Anti-Terrorism Act.
“They told me to move along, so I did, but I was already 100 metres away from my own apartment building, so I told them that”, Nick told Tech Wired Australia
“They also interrogated me, and told me that they would be deleting the video I had taken. They also went through all my contacts, photos and emails before returning the Blackberry to me. They even had to ask one of my business partners how to delete files on the Blackberry as they wouldn’t let me do it”
“I told the two Police women repeatedly that I did not consent to them going through my mobile. They embarrassed me, I had two of my business partners with me”
“The world we are living in is becoming too restrictive, I was just being a citizen journalist capturing video in a public place, the public need to know their rights, and so do the Police”
New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties got in contact with Nick soon after the event, and have asked him to help them out with their lobbying.
Not too long ago something similar occurred in London under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, of which UK Police allowed a camera to film them performing a search:
What do you think of Australia’s Anti-Terrorism laws?
I like to hunt for a bargain, and I know I’m definitely not alone in doing so. I am, however, not a fan of the busy, noisy, hustle and bustle of shoulder-bumping shopping centre madness. I like to check out the deals in store catalogues (a.k.a. junk mail) beforehand, just so I don’t spend the entire day roaming aimlessly around the store. Read more
MyGuestList is a new online service aimed at nightclubs, bars, restaurants and promoters to manage and promote their venues. It automates guest list management and makes it easy for venue owners and patrons to organise everything and everyone involved in an event.
There are four sections; Guestlists, Statistics, Database and Marketing, with services that include email and SMS campaigns for events, viewing, editing and printing of current and past guest lists, in-depth guest statistics, growing your database of contacts, and keeping informed about who your guests are, and how many are coming to your event. Read more
IN a media release from the Minister for Home Affairs Bob Debus announced he and NSW Minister for Fair Trading Virginia Judge would oversee the destruction of more than 230,000 pirated DVDs.
“In the past 12 months State and Federal Police have seized more than a million illegal DVDs. While many people view this as a less serious crime, police intelligence shows that criminals use movie piracy to fund a range of criminal activity like drug trafficking and money laundering.”
SINCE reporting on the proposed Australian Internet filter here and here, it has made me more aware of how we as citizens are becoming more involved in events going on, without the help of the big media giants.
Come to think of it, what happened before the media giants came along?
Read more
I had the opportunity to Interview Mark Newton, a network engineer for Internode. We talked about the Australian Government’s plan to filter the Internet.
On Friday I interviewed Tim Marshall, Senator Stephen Conroy’s media adviser, about what was in fact proposed. I been since been told that I did not “probe” him enough for information.
I stated to those of whom have asked about this, that:
“Drawing blood from a stone isn’t easy”.
Read more
YOU live in Australia and you have noticed that there seems to be so many American made Podcasts to sift through, and wish you could find a decent Australian Podcast (besides TWAU of course)?
I wanted to list some Australian Podcasts that I like to listen to and watch:
Show notes @ http://techwiredau.com/?p=196
See http://techwiredau.com/?p=103 for show notes – Topics discussed: Optus to offer iPhone before other carriers – Microsoft offers cash back search – Analysis: Should YouTube censor al-Qaida? – PIN authorisation to be available on credit and debit cards. – From 19 May 2008, calls to the emergency call service Triple Zero (000) cannot be made from mobile phones without a valid subscriber identity module (SIM).WA only – Apple iTunes targeted by phishers – Apple fails to patch serious iCal flaws – Man posts his own crimes on YouTube – Apple takes delivery of 188 mysterious ocean containers – New MP3 Revolutionizes Way You Listen to Music – Aussies lose millions to Nigerian scams – Myki delayed in $216m hit – Mobile phones used by half the world’s population – Google, Facebook in stalemate over data – How to become a fan of data back-up – Telstra’s 3D hologram party trick – Macquarie Telecom extends ADSL 2+ network to WA and QLD – eBay responds to 700+ submissions to ACCC – Dude Crashes Bike On Google Street View (PICS) – Fluffy Bunny: Queensland Uni to become research hub for e-recycling – Site of the week: Whirlpool.net.au – Recent upgrades have given the site a new lease on life
