[LINK] ACMA Report: Closed Environment Testing of ISP - Level Internet Content Filters

Michael Meloni mike at somebodythinkofthechildren.com
Fri Aug 1 15:31:39 AEST 2008


Stilgherrian wrote:
> On 01/08/2008, at 3:01 PM, Sylvano wrote:
>   
>> ACMA's report on "Closed Environment Testing of ISP - Level Internet
>> Content Filters" available at their site:
>>
>> "This report presents the findings of the closed environment testing  
>> of
>> ISP-level filters conducted in 2008."
>>
>>
>> http://www.acma.gov.au/webwr/_assets/main/lib310554/isp-level_internet_content_filtering_trial-report.pdf
>>   or
>> http://tinyurl.com/5lb5d3
>>     
>
> My analysis of what it means here:
> "Crikey: Internet filters a success, if success = failure"
> http://stilgherrian.com/politics/crikey-internet-filters-a-success-if-success-failure/
>
> Stil
>
>
>   

Here's my comment on it from yesterday's Crikey:
---
'The Tasmanian filtering trial is a failure. Why? The miracle filter 
Senator Conroy says showed less than 2% network degradation was also one 
of the least accurate at identifying adult and inappropriate websites. 
All of the filters were ineffective (on average thirteen clicks before a 
filtered user could access pornography) and there was an unacceptable 
rate of overblocking. Worse, there was no analysis of circumvention 
methods and that's crucial to understanding why filters are generally 
regarded as futile. Filtering can be bypassed in minutes by a savvy net 
user and in an hour by anyone following instructions. Take into account 
that Senator Conroy wants to block websites that are "inappropriate" for 
children and you’ve got to wonder why only 3930 URLs were tested. How 
small does Senator Conroy think the internet is? Kevin Rudd made his 
mark in history on Sorry day. Now I think Senator Conroy wants to make his.'
---

I've seen one person saying the trial is a success (well, two if you 
count Senator Conroy). My analysis and comparison between the report and 
what Conroy said at 
http://www.somebodythinkofthechildren.com/why-the-tasmanian-filtering-trial-is-a-failure/

There's also a more technical critique in the comments.


-- 
Michael Meloni
http://www.somebodythinkofthechildren.com
http://www.netalarmed.com



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