[LINK] Fwd: [ PRIVACY Forum ] Brits' Failed Heavy Metal Censorship Attempt Disrupts Wikipedia Edits

[David Goldstein]

There is a report that shows what happens in the UK, and other countries Conroy quotes, by the NSW Parliamentary Library.

The report notes:
"As BT itself admits, the Cleanfeed system is intended to prevent users inadvertently accessing illegal material."

In its comment/conclusion, it says:
"With the limited exceptions of Germany and Italy, mandatory ISP level filtering is not a feature of any of the countries reviewed. In place, rather, are voluntary ISP filtering schemes designed to prevent accidental access to a defined list of illegal sites containing child pornography. However, in the UK the position seems to be that the internet industry is encouraged to participate in this scheme, under threat of regulatory intervention should it fail to do so. The line between mandatory and voluntary participation is not clear-cut."

As for Irene's and other comments, the systems such as being proposed, or in other countries, are not useless. Read the comment regarding BT above.

And Jan, as for the issues from my perspective, it doesn't matter. It's quite funny seeing people get worked into a lather about what they *think* are my position. To give my views might just spoil the fun.

And Danny, just because someone says something doesn't make it true. Especially a politician.

Jon, re your comment "So how do we get the government to take a deep, long breath and startdousing the moral panic instead of inflaming it?" A good question. But one I don't have a total answer for. A good start would be to develop a proposal that takes into account government concerns and details failings in their proposals. However I fear it is 5 to 10 years to late. But, never too late to start. I'm not aware this has been done in Australia.

So, it helps if people have some decent research to back up their claims. The NSW Parliamentary Library E-Brief seems quite good, and better than the huffing and puffing that goes on here as people use their prejudices as fact, or even ministerial announcements.

The E-Brief is available from http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/publications.nsf/0/7F8B9A55E2FC8932CA2575030083844A/$File/E%20Brief%20Internet%20Censorship.pdf. The IIA have also published a clarifying statement on the E-Brief which is available at http://www.iia.net.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=687&Itemid=32.

People should also be aware that the IWF has only said the Wikepedia content that started this discussion "could" be child porn.

David



----- Original Message ----
From: Danny Yee <danny at anatomy.usyd.edu.au>
To: link at mailman1.anu.edu.au
Sent: Monday, 8 December, 2008 2:38:00 PM
Subject: Re: [LINK] Fwd: [ PRIVACY Forum ] Brits' Failed Heavy Metal Censorship Attempt Disrupts Wikipedia Edits

David Goldstein wrote:
> The "system" in which the Wikipedia page in question was censored is
> not part of what Conroy is proposing.

If that's the case, why does Conroy keep mentioning the British system?

Or is it only relevant as an analogy or model when details of its
operation can be adduced as _support_ for Conroy's proposal?

Danny.

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