[LINK] Net censorship to cost users

[Bernard Robertson-Dunn]

Net censorship to cost users
Fran Foo
August 05, 2008
Australian IT
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24128728-15306,00.html

INTERNET users could be forced to subsidise the federal Government's 
quest to censor the internet, with early estimates indicating the scheme 
could cost $60 million a year.

In the federal budget the Rudd Government said internet service 
providers would receive only a one-off subsidy towards the cost of 
installing the filters.

"This funding will largely occur in 2009-10, with funding in following 
years only for new providers," the budget papers say.

The Government has earmarked $125.8 million for a range of internet 
security initiatives, including the filtering program, over four years.

About $49 million of the allocation has been slated for online law 
enforcement, but it remains unclear how much has been set aside solely 
for web filtering, as the budget includes research, international 
collaboration and education programs.

The true cost of the filtering program is expected to be revealed after 
live trials are held later in the year.

In a recently concluded government trial in Hobart, several filtering 
products were tested in a closed, laboratory environment. Testing 
perimeters were set by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy's 
predecessor, Helen Coonan, but the current Government had to abide by 
them. Compared with previous tests, the results were hailed a success by 
Senator Conroy, but he said it was too soon to tell who would end up 
footing the bill.

The merits of blocking illegal websites, especially child pornography, 
are well canvassed, but the scheme's business case has flown under the 
radar - mainly because none exists. Instead, the Government is seeking 
leadership from service providers. "The pilot will enable the Government 
to collect evidence on the effectiveness of filtering systems in a 
real-world environment, and on the potential impacts on network 
performance and the costs to industry," a spokesperson for Senator 
Conroy said.

Web filtering vendors have welcomed the results of the Hobart test, but 
are concerned commercial realities will rear their heads later. Eric 
Krieger, whose company Secure Computing Australia sells security and web 
filtering products to ASX100 companies and most government agencies, 
said the main question for parents would be whether they would have to 
pay for it.

Software filters to shield families and their children from net nasties 
were provided by the Howard government at no charge, but uptake was 
abysmal. The $85 million National Filter Scheme had 110,000 downloads 
for the free filters and 27,000 CD orders, according to published figures.

Mr Krieger said the Government was politically motivated to make 
mandatory web filtering work. "My cynicism stems from political 
necessity," he said. For a small service provider with 5000 users, the 
fit-out for web filters would cost about $10 a user annually. The price 
would be massively reduced for service providers with a larger base.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there were 6.14 
million household internet subscribers at December 31, 2007. At a rate 
of $10 per user per year, the cost would be about $61.4 million.

At the top end, a service provider such as Telstra BigPond has more than 
2.8 million retail broadband customers. Small service providers have 
users in the hundreds or low thousands.

Australia has more than 400 service providers and Mr Krieger fears small 
outfits will be left in the lurch when mandatory filtering kicks in. 
Other security vendors have also expressed similar concerns as they face 
a shrinking base, but one small service provider is unperturbed. South 
Australia's Webshield says the first thing the Government must do is 
clearly articulate what it wants to achieve with mandatory filtering.

"Generally, things are headed in the right direction with this program 
but a number of questions remain unanswered," Webshield managing 
director Anthony Pillion said.

If each service provider had to individually purchase web filtering 
software, costs would be higher, Mr Pillion said. However, if the 
Government bulk-purchased, costs would be lower.

Webshield already offers its 5000-plus internet users content filtering, 
but other service providers would have to invest in the platforms to 
offer the service.

"Customers already pay us to filter the web for them," he said. "If 
larger service providers don't offer customised service or adopt a 
set-and-forget approach, we'd have a fair amount of business. If BigPond 
offers exactly what I can, my business will be in trouble. In business 
there's always a threat but I'm not concerned at this point in time. I'm 
looking at how to position my business."

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Regards
brd

Bernard Robertson-Dunn
Canberra Australia
brd at iimetro.com.au