It seems that no matter how many FTW’s Senator Ludlam drops in his press releases, the Labor government is like a stubborn mule when it comes to filtering the Internet. Or, perhaps a more apt simile is a stubborn ass. PM Julia Gillard told an audience at the Queensland Media Club in Brisbane that implementing the filter is a “moral question”. More »
It seems likely that mandatory filtering Labor-style won’t survive as a policy no matter who gets elected, and that’s good news. But as detestable as Labor’s policy was, it could be much, much worse. Family First has an even more extreme proposal that includes making users pay directly for a compulsory filter. More »
Late this afternoon on Triple J’s Hack program, Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey announced the Coalition would act to block Labor’s mandatory internet filter if they find themselves in opposition after the election. With the Greens also taking a position against the filter, it is highly unlikely Labor will have any chance of getting the numbers they need to push their legislation through during a next term. More »
We object to the Government’s plan to censor the internet for a variety of reasons – it won’t help parents, it won’t help police, it’s secretive, it costs a lot of money. Perhaps these points are debatable, but one isn’t – experts agree, anybody who wants to will be able to get around the censorwall, easily, on day one. More »
We’ve discussed the importance of your Senate vote here on Giz as part of our Fight the Filter campaign. And with less than three weeks until the election, now’s the time to start preparing your mind for who you want to vote for. Fortunately, there’s a website to help you understand voting below the line. More »
When was the last time someone went to jail in Australia for a censorship crime? 1870? 1926? 1947?
Try… May 2010. More »
If you believe everything the Labor government says about the internet filter, it will act as a gateway to stop people accessing child pornography online. But what actually happens when somebody is caught trafficking these offensive images? Not too much, it turns out. More »
In May 2007, Turkey began censoring the internet. It started out innocent enough – according to Al Jazeera, they just wanted to block child pornography, online gambling sites, information on recreational drugs and sites which insult the country’s founding father. Today over 6000 sites have been blocked, including YouTube and parts of Google. More »
The proposed filtering technique is based on exact HTTP URLs, not IP addresses nor domain names. URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) are the full address that you might type into your web browser’s address bar. For example: http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2010/07/the-evolution-of-labor-internet-filter-policy/ More »
