We are stepping up the campaign on mandatory internet filtering, and we are looking for some help. Please see our December newsletter for more information on how you can help.
We are also looking to hire a community and campaign manager for a minimum three month contract to help us coordinate the campaign.
Electronic Frontiers Australia today expressed its surprise and concern that
the operators of the satirical protest site StephenConroy.com.au were given
only three hours to justify their "connection to" the domain name. Under
Australian domain name regulations, it is quite common for website operators
to be required to identify their reasons for operating under an Australian
domain name, but it is unusual for operators to be offered so little time to
provide those reasons.
"While we understand some of the quite sensible reasons behind the
restrictive rules on Australian domain names, we are surprised at the level
of energy with which auDA has pursued this particular matter", said EFA
spokesperson Geordie Guy. "At a time when criticism of the Minister around
the government's proposed mandatory filtering scheme is so prolific, it's
easy for Australians to be cynical about such assertive action from the
domain authority particularly when we understand that other cases are
usually afforded much more consideration."
This incident reflects worrying concerns about the power that private domain
name regulators have to silence critical political speech without going
through legitimate legal channels. In 2006, a similar incident saw Melbourne
IT cancel the domain registration for JohnHowardMP.org created by well-known
political commentator Richard Neville, a move that was instigated on advice
from the Australian Government. Cancellation silenced a satirical website
that featured a parody speech from Mr Howard that apologised for Australia's
involvement in the most recent Iraq war.
(Originally posted at Crikey!).
The Government's nicely-timed announcement last week that they will proceed next year with their Internet censorship scheme has not only drawn widespread ire in Australia but has continued to raise eyebrows overseas. The filter has been covered around the world from the BBC to news outlets in Poland, Pakistan and even China. Unfortunately, it's not a good look - despite any nuances the policy might have, we're gaining a reputation as the Iran of the South Pacific.
This has culminated with no less an organisation than Reporters Without Borders, a global watchdog of press freedom, writing to the Prime Minister urging him to abandon the scheme. Given that one normally encounters RWB in association with jailed reporters and post-coup news blackouts this development should be alarming to anyone concerned with our image as an open democracy in the world. (more...)
EFA has received many queries from overseas in the last few days asking: What on earth is going on down there? Well, we hoped that sense would prevail; that more important policies would get in the way, or that the Minister would get seated on a plane next to somebody who actually understood how the Internet works. Instead, at a sudden press conference it was announced that Australia will next year join the ranks of countries who censor the net.
It's hard for any government to resist pursuing a policy when children are involved, or are seen to be involved. The censorship push started its life as a cyber-safety policy, where ISPs would be required to provide a filtered solution to families, but has since morphed into something at once less useful and more sinister. An announcement on Tuesday confirms it: next year, all Australian ISPs will be required to filter access to a government-supplied blacklist containing "refused classification" (RC) web content. That would include nasty stuff like child pornography, but also a broader range of content: fetishy sex, instruction in crime (such as euthanasia), any computer game not suitable for under 18s. The list will be partly generated by complaints from the public, and may include lists imported from overseas police departments.
While this is sold as a kid-friendly measure, to "improve safety of the internet for families", it's clearly nothing of the sort. A few thousand URLs hardly constitutes a national net nanny. The list would almost be laughable if only it was not mandatory and secret - unlike censorship decisions made in other media, blocked URLs will remain secret and expressly excluded from freedom of information requests. Just as worrying is the fact that once this list is in, a conga-line of special interests will be approaching the government to have their pet peeves added to the list. It's not much of a stretch to imagine AFACT (Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft) clamouring to have bittorrent trackers added, and several parliamentarians are on record calling for a ban on pro-anorexia sites and pornography in general.
It looks like the Australian blogosphere and twitterverse are in an uproar, and the media have not been very kind. What remains to be seen is how much this issue can crossover into the mainstream public consciousness. If the policy is seen as a vote-loser rather than a crowd pleaser, the Government might be a little readier to see reason.
So is Australia the new Iran? Should you encrypt your hard drive or install a VPN before visiting Australia next year? Well, it's not the law of the land yet, but unless the political winds change, Australia is set to join a club with some rather unsavoury members.
The government's announcement yesterday that it would press ahead with its mandatory ISP filtering scheme is as unsurprising as it is disappointing. Many people with concerns about the plan had hoped that the Minister would finally get some good advice, get distracted with other things, or otherwise come to his senses and take a face-saving out. Sadly for Australia that was not to be. Yesterday, the Minister released the report detailing the technical results of the trial, and at the same time announced the Government was pushing ahead with the filter, with legislation to be introduced next year. (Continue reading at ABC's Unleashed.)
