This month, the Australian government is rolling out firewalls to filter child-unfriendly sites.
Australia’s Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy,(ABCDE?) Steven Conroy has a four year plan to spend $126m AUS to spearhead the “cyber-safety” initiative. The plan has already come under sharp opposition by groups including Simon Morton, Radio New Zealand’s Technology Commentator.
“This would see the government establishing a blacklist of websites it deems harmful and ISPs providing a clean feed of the internet,” he said.
Unsurprisingly, there are some that feel it doesn’t hit hard enough. Whilst Britain and Canada have similar systems, none are Government mandated; and we all know how the Australian government feels about 18+ games.
The filter is also likely to put a drain on ISP speed. Similar studies have shown a drop of up to 86% in connectivity.
Senator Conroy already has 1,300 sites that he wants blacklisted (that few?), but 10,000 more are apparently on the “to do” list.
Source : BBC via Silent D.
