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  • From: Mark Harris <anarchist AT tracs.co.nz>
  • To: Creative Commons Aotearoa New Zealand discussion <cc-nz AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Cc-nz] Oz government plan to censor all internet communication
  • Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:53:06 +1300

strypes wrote:

If you thought the implications of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade
Agreement were bad (and they are), I was just sent a link to a
Computerworld article that says the Ozzie government is planning to
"filter" (ie censor) all internet traffic to prevent people downloading
anything "illegal".
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php?id=1399635276&eid=-255

What next? Are they going to start bugging everyone's phone and opening
everyone's mail, to make sure they're not sharing illegal information
through those? First they came for the "pirates", but I was not a
pirate, so I did nothing...

Yes, it's a pretty pitiful attempt. I've been watching this for a while. As many commentators in Aus are saying, it's designed to get votes rather than protect anyone. However, I'd recommend that anyone criticizing this action be cautious in the tone used and be prepared to be vilified by the people pushing this.

The main drivers are a) to protect the children and b) to, as Strypey says, block illegal content. Incredibly paternalistic but, in MSM shallow soundbite style, laudable amongst those who don't think too deeply. But anyone criticizing this measure runs the risk of being labeled a "child pornographer" so be moderate and fact-based in your approach. Don't go hyperbolic on their arses, and don't talk generically about freedoms. Look at the risk of false positives and the poor results of the trial in Tasmania.

There will be two "blacklists" of sites - one aimed at blocking stuff unsuitable for children, which you can opt out of to receive adult material, and one which you can't opt out of which will block stuff illegal under Australian law. As far as I am aware, it's based on the UK Cleanfeed system, which is a report-and-block approach, meaning someone has to see the offending stuff, file a report, the site is investigated and the URL is added to a growing list that is disseminated hourly to ISPs to add to their filtering process. I believe it will be happening at the ISP level, as I don't think even the Australian government is dumb enough to try to block all incoming connections, a la the Great Firewall of China. But you never know - if it's brown, drink it; if it moves, regulate it.

The obvious issue is that it will be used to block stuff that is legal but that somebody thinks should be illegal, and also to block information regarding activities that are illegal in Aus but still the subject of legitimate debate, such as euthanasia.

A good site keeping an eye on this is www.somebodythinkofthechildren.com and 2 post especially:
http://www.somebodythinkofthechildren.com/no-opt-out-from-isp-filtering-two-black-lists-and-you-can-only-opt-out-from-one/
http://www.somebodythinkofthechildren.com/filters-mandatory-for-all-australians-dbcde/

There's also a bunch of good links in Delicious http://delicious.com/search?context=all&p=cleanfeed&lc=1

It's not going to work. I wrote a report for InternetNZ in 2005 after testing Cleanfeed with DIA and, while it does what it says it does (i.e. block illegal images of child abuse), it doesn't block everything and the potential for abuse is huge. The report was on the InternetNZ website but appears to have been removed. You can still find it in Google at http://tr.im/cleanfeed

My attention has also been drawn to the provisions in the NZ
government's new Copyright Act, which oblige ISPs to police their customers:
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/netw/7319ABDCED2EA62ACC2574C8007E278C

Yup. Colin Jackson (it.gen.nz) and I (tracs.co.nz/gripping-hand/) are watching this very closely, as well as the ongoing ACTA negotiations. Not so much about censorship but still with issues of natural justice.

There's also a Facebook group, if you're a Facebooker, at http://tr.im/facebooks92a

Could this be creating the basis for the same sort of government
censorship of the internet here? Are we on the verge of a balkanization/
colonization of the free internet?

It's already happening. DIA are currently trialling another blocking system (http://www.stuff.co.nz/4269675a28.html) which I don't believe will work either, but I'm looking forward to their report.

Please raise the issue of freedom of information with elections
candidates, and flood politicians and policy-makers with arguments for
it. They have a huge power to undo the many good things that the open
internet has achieved, and could still achieve, all for the benefit of a
handful of transnational corporate shareholders who prefer enforcement
to innovation to maintain their profits in a disintegrating global economy.

Yes, all these things should be election issues, but please make them fact-based rather than passionate pleas from the heart. You'll only get marginalized as "fringe elements" otherwise.

I will be assembling resources on these issues, and attempting to
co-ordinate educational campaigns under an organizing umbrella called
Disintermedia. Please feel free to get involved and contribute:
http://www.openplans.org/projects/disintermedia/summary

Good to know, I'll add it to my blogroll.

Cheers

Mark Harris




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