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Why I Liked Australia Better When Politicians Didn't Know About Technology
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The Filter Is Dead: Australian Government Dumps Controversial Filtering Project [Updated]
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Telstra Admits To Tracking Next G Customers For New Filter Product [Updated]
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New Zealand's Had An Internet Filter For 2 Years. How's It Working Out?
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How To Crush Dissent
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Keeping Kids Safe Cannot Be Outsourced
Regulars
Australia Just Told The World To Get Stuffed Over Internet Censorship
A few weeks ago you might have heard a bit of hubbub around the internet about a top-secret UN meeting to do with telecommunications. Basically, it was the International Telecommunications Union holding a top secret meeting about the future of international telco standards. The hubbub was caused because the ITU wanted these regulations to contain rules about how the internet ought to be governed in future. That’s when Australia put its foot down.
Why I Liked Australia Better When Politicians Didn’t Know About Technology
Late last week I was perusing the Coalition’s plan for child safety online. It’s a rigid document that proposes strict plans for pursuing court action against cyberbullies, and a proposal that would see age-appropriateness ratings and classifications slapped onto mobile phone products. Respectfully, I would like to label this plan as a load of tosh. I liked Australia better when our politicians didn’t care about technology. Here’s why.
Will The Interpol Filter Slow Down Your Internet Connection Speed?
One of the major concerns with the proposed mandatory internet filter from the Labor government was the implications it would have on your connection speed. Various testing showed results that connection speeds languished but Stephen Conroy defended the plan to its dying breath, saying that speeds wouldn’t be affected. Will the new Interpol filter affect your connection?
Conroy’s Filter Is Dead, But A New Evil Is Gathering Strength…
As news broke last night that the proposed mandatory internet filter was dead, in favour of the more liberty-friendly Interpol filter, I couldn’t help but think of J.R.R Tolkien’s The Two Towers. Sure, the filter has fallen from grace like Saruman from Isengard, but a new evil lurks behind the walls of Canberra’s very own Mount Doom: an all-seeing eye that wants to track your every move online. I’m talking about data retention.
The Filter Is Dead: Australian Government Dumps Controversial Filtering Project [Updated]
Almost three years ago now, Senator Stephen Conroy stepped up to the plate to deliver a bold new vision. A vision of a filtered, “safer” internet. The plan was met by hostility from internet rights activists, poiticians, internet users, internet service providers and interest groups alike. Tonight, however, the Labor government’s proposed mandatory internet filter is dead.
Aussies Love Online Anonymity: Local Tor Use On The Rise
With everything from the data retention hearings, the internet filter talk and telecommunication interception activities all going on at once, is it any wonder that more and more Australians are turning to the anonymised Tor network to do their illicit browsing? Stats from the Tor network indicate that the once steady curve of users accessing the Tor network has shot up over the last few months.
Opt-In Censorship: An Equally Dodgy Online Alternative
Communications minister Senator Stephen Conroy last week reminded us that internet filtering is still very much an item on the government’s agenda. That’s a worrying prospect, but it could be worse: the UK is contemplating a plan where access to all adult content would be ‘opt in’, with adult material blocked by internet service providers (ISPs) unless customers specifically ask for it to be switched on.
New Zealand’s Had An Internet Filter For 2 Years. How’s It Working Out?
Have we talked about internet filters before? Yes, just a little. While we’ve been kicking the issue around, we shouldn’t forget our cross-Tasman siblings in New Zealand have had their own filter running since March of 2010. As far as experiments go, Australia really couldn’t ask for a more convenient test subject.
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