[LINK] OzIT: 'Porn cull dropped'

Roger Clarke Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
Tue Jul 24 13:54:43 AEST 2007


[The farce continues]

Porn cull dropped
The Australian IT Section
Andrew Colley
July 24, 2007
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22122602-15306,00.html

THE results of Australia's only live commercial internet content 
filtering trial will never be known because the exercise, championed 
by the federal Government, was quietly abandoned.

The trial was expected to go ahead in Tasmania last year but the 
major internet filtering technology supplier for the project, 
Internet Sheriff, has revealed that it was abandoned because 
Australia's two largest ISPs, Telstra and Optus, refused to 
participate.

Internet Sheriff chief executive David Ramsay said the project was 
commercially risky without support from the two carriers.

"Without having them involved to supply the bandwidth at no cost it 
would have been quite expensive with no guarantee of any outcome for 
me. To go and spend upwards of $600,000, I needed some sort of idea 
what would have happened if this was successful and no one could 
really give us any assurance as to what the next steps may or may not 
have been."

The trial was expected to show if it was feasible for ISPs to take 
steps to stop pornographic and offensive internet content reaching 
their customers.

Tasmanian Liberal senator Guy Barnett, a strong champion of the 
trial, said he was disappointed it didn't go ahead.

Communications Minister Helen Coonan has, however, directed 
Australia's communications regulator, ACMA, to conduct a new 
ISP-level internet content filtering trial and report its findings to 
the Government by June next year.

ACMA last week closed its tender, seeking experts to conduct the trials.

It's not clear whether the new trial will be conducted in a live 
commercial environment. ACMA spokesman Donald Robertson said 
yesterday technicians close to the trial could not be contacted for 
comment.


-- 
Roger Clarke                  http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/
			            
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
                    Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in Info Science & Eng  Australian National University
Visiting Professor in the eCommerce Program      University of Hong Kong
Visiting Professor in the Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre      Uni of NSW



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