Creative Commons Aotearoa New Zealand discussion

[Mark Harris <anarchist AT tracs.co.nz>]

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