No Opt-out Of Filtered Internet

[Buf-Phoon]

there's a lot to be said for multi tasking

[smicky]

Guess Dags has a Dual or maybe even a Quad core in his puter!

and that's enough from me...

[Dagabond]

Stick that in your clacker Conroy..

THE Rudd Government's plans for a nationwide internet filter are in jeopardy after its top-secret blacklist of banned web pages was leaked.

The list, published on the internet, reads like a White Pages of porn and its release has provided a handy guide for young people to access the very material the Government wishes to banish from their eyes.

The secret blacklist, which was leaked to the whistle-blower website Wikileaks, is purportedly the same list the Australian Communications and Media Authority distributes to vendors of approved internet filters to ban offensive material -- such as child pornography, bestiality and violence.

ACMA and Communications Minister Stephen Conroy yesterday attempted to hose down concerns about the published blacklist, saying it was not the official list used by the communications regulator.

Of the 2395 web pages on the leaked list, approximately half relate to child porn -- one of the key targets of the federal Government's planned mandatory internet filter.

Many more web pages relate to online poker sites, YouTube links, pornography sites, Wikipedia entries and even links to a Queensland boarding kennel and a Queensland dentist.

"While Wikileaks is used to exposing secret government censorship in developing countries, we now find Australia acting like a democratic backwater," the website notes.

"History shows that secret censorship systems, whatever their original intent, are invariably corrupted into anti-democratic behaviour."

The content of the list of illegal, prohibited and potential prohibited web pages is supposed to be strictly confidential and is being used as the backbone of the Government's internet censorship plan, which is undergoing trials with a number of internet service providers.

Senator Conroy has said he plans to use parts of the ACMA blacklist to block Australian internet users from accessing pornographic and violent material. Now the secret list has been made public, it is more likely it will be used by interested parties as a pornography database of unheralded proportions.

Child protection group Child Wise said whoever published the blacklist had opened up a pandora's box of porn.

"Every 15-year-old boy in thecountry is going to be after this porn list," said Child Wise chief executive Bernadette McMenamin.

"The person who's done this should be prosecuted and jailed for effectively disseminating and promoting child pornography."

Yesterday's disclosure of the blacklist could also jeopardise efforts to block access to offensive material as the perpetrators will now know they were tagged by the secret list.

"The leak and publication of prohibited URLs is grossly irresponsible," Senator Conroy said. "It undermines efforts to improve cyber-safety and create a safe online environment for children."

ACMA and Senator Conroy attempted to cast doubt on the authenticity of the leaked list by highlighting discrepancies in the blacklist's size.

While the leaked list contains 2395 banned web pages, ACMA says its blacklist as of August last year contained 1061 links.

ACMA would not say how many of the 1061 links on its list also appeared on the leaked Wikileaks blacklist.

"I am aware of reports that a list of URLs has been placed on a website; this is not the ACMA blacklist," Senator Conroy said.

"There are some common URLs to those on the ACMA blacklist. However, ACMA advises that there are URLs on the published list that have never been the subject of a complaint or ACMA investigation, and have never been included on the ACMA blacklist."

Wikileaks said the disparity in the reported figure was likely due to the fact that the list contained several duplicates and variations of the same URL that stem from a single complaint.

ACMA is investigating the leak and is considering a range of possible actions it may take, including referral to the Australian Federal Police.

ACMA threatens fines of up to $11,000 a day for linking to sites on its secret censorship blacklist and said Australians caught distributing the list or accessing child pornography sites on the list could face criminal charges and up to 10 years in prison.

http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/...1-15306,00.html

Some of the comments are pearlers.

Let me see if I have this right 1) I link to a prohibited site. 2) Since the list is secret, I don't know it's prohibited. 3) I am fined $11,000 per day for linking to a prohibited site that I had no way of knowing was prohibited since the list is secret. 4) Since the list is still secret I have no way of verifying that the site is actually prohibited, just the say-so of ACMA and their request for $11,000 per day. Yes, this is real transparency in government, isn't it?

I'm all for the banning and censorship of child porn but they seem are taking things to a ridiculous level...

[Dillz]

Lil rud can hum on my nuts for all I care...

And Dags is a f*ckin champ, and I will not have anyone say otherwise...

Edited 20/03/09 05:39 PM by Dillz

[turbo.vixen]

wouldnt they have to check ever site to check if it has illegal content or not, god that would take forever

[azasturbo]

Any child porn links they ban will just be shut down and moved and 99% of the banned links are pretty plain jane sort of porn. Waste of time as you cant filter the net its impossible I will view whatever whenever I want

[seventytwo]

its bad enough being net censored at work, but not my home net, the best person to decide where I surf is me. The Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy can GGF.

[iTec]

yup agree with aza

what most people dont realise is that the porn industry essentialy built the internet. Every major advancement on todays internet, ie: e-commerce, video streaming and high bandwidth connections was actively developed by the industry along time before the internet became "popular"

child pornography is a global issue, I am not against tougher punishment and prosecution of offenders and increasing the relevant agencys budget, to track and prosecute any body looking for it. but I am against any sort of internet sensorship, supposedly we live in a "free country" yet we are being treated no better then china treats its plebs. What scares me more is the fact that once any sort of censorship is put in place it is easy to be abused.

and if they want to ban child porn.. they should ban myspace first

[typhoon_freak]

this is major bullsh*t

[ubute]

Wikileaks claims it now has up to date ACMA blacklists of banned websites dated 11 March and 18 March — only days old.

The site's leak yesterday of the supposed ACMA blacklist from August 2008 prompted ACMA and Senator Conroy to call it a fake. "This is not the ACMA blacklist", said Conroy. "There are some common URLs to those on the ACMA blacklist. However, ACMA advises that there are URLs on the published list that have never been the subject of a complaint or ACMA investigation, and have never been included on the ACMA blacklist."

But Wikileaks has pressed on, obtaining what it claims is an up-to-date blacklist. "Between the 11th and yesterday, [ACMA] did an enormous cleanup of the list", it said.

"Where the list previously contained over 2000 URLs, and Conroy and the ACMA claimed "See! Our 'current list' never contained that many URLs", this new list is about the size the ACMA claimed it to be.

"ACMA/Conroy in a media release stated that there were 1061 URLs for August 6, 2008. The 18 Mar 2009 list, having apparently being cleaned up, now contains 1172."

Wikileaks also reacted angrily to Conroy's suggestion that Australian Federal Police might be involved to track down the source of the leak.

"Under the Swedish Constitution's Press Freedom Act, the right of a confidential press source to anonymity is protected, and criminal penalties apply to anyone acting to breach that right.

"Should the Senator or anyone else attempt to discover our source we will refer the matter to the Constitutional Police for prosecution, and, if necessary, ask that the Senator and anyone else involved be extradited to face justice for breaching fundamental rights."

http://whirlpool.net.au/

I hope this all turns around and bites him in the bum