[LINK] Conroy pushes net censorship in Washington

[Kim Holburn]

http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/australia-pushes-net-censorship-in-washington-20100423-tgkh.html

> Australia pushes net censorship in Washington

> Australian government reps have recently met US officials in  
> Washington to discuss concerns over the forthcoming internet  
> censorship regime raised by the US ambassador to Australia and the  
> US State Department.
>
> Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has come under increasing  
> pressure to reveal the content of discussions with US officials  
> after the US State Department said it had "raised concerns" with  
> Australia and the US ambassador said net censorship was not necessary.
>
> On ABC's Q&A program earlier this month, US ambassador Jeffrey  
> Bleich said the same goals set out by the government on cyber-safety  
> could be achieved without censorship. Bleich said the US was willing  
> to "share our efforts" with Australia.
>
> He said: "The internet needs to be free. It needs to be free the way  
> we have said the skies have to be free, outer space has to be free,  
> the polar caps have to be free, the oceans have to be free. They're  
> shared resources of all the people of the world."
>
> In a letter to the Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith, Queensland  
> Liberal Senator Sue Boyce pressured the government to release more  
> details of its discussions with the US.
>
> Senator Conroy had said that the US State Department asked for  
> "background information only" on the filtering policy.
>
> "I find it difficult to reconcile a statement that the US Government  
> had 'raised concerns' with Minister Conroy's assertion that the US  
> government had only asked for 'background information'," Boyce wrote.
>
> "It is a deplorable situation when Australians have to rely upon the  
> frankness of a foreign diplomat to provide information  about  
> bilateral discussions on a very important matter because relevant  
> Australian Ministers either dissemble or just refuse to say anything."
>
> A spokeswoman for Smith directed all requests for comment to Senator  
> Conroy's office. Senator Conroy's spokeswoman confirmed that  
> Australian and US officials "have met in Washington to discuss the  
> issue recently".
>
> The spokeswoman would not reveal further details of the discussions  
> but questioned Bleich's comments that Australia's goal was to  
> capture and prosecute child pornographers.
>
> "The government has never claimed ISP filtering is about catching  
> pedophiles, it is about blocking inadvertent access to abhorrent  
> content which includes child sexual abuse content," Senator Conroy's  
> spokeswoman said.
>
> "Australia is not alone in its approach and we applaud the European  
> Commission that announced just last week that it would  require  
> members states to ensure that websites containing child pornography  
> are blocked."
>
> The government plans to introduce legislation to enable the internet  
> filtering policy in the second half of the year. It will require  
> ISPs to block a blacklist of banned "refused classification" (RC)  
> websites for all Australians.
>
> Unlike the system in some other countries, which is typically  
> limited to child porn, it is feared the Australian model to block RC  
> content is much broader and will cover innocuous material such as  
> euthanasia and abortion sites or graffiti videos on YouTube.
>
> Senator Conroy believes he is simply applying offline classification  
> rules to the online world, saying you can't access RC material on  
> DVD, in libraries, at the cinema, on television or at newsagents.
>
> But unlike in those mediums, the internet blacklist will not give  
> citizens the chance to find out what is censored and why.
>
> Critics of the government's policy, including Lake Macquarie  
> councilor Anthony Birt, who has written to Liberal MPs imploring  
> them to oppose the legislation, say the filter will not address the  
> major cyber safety concerns of parents.
>
> Colin Jacobs, chair of the online users' lobby group Electronic  
> Frontiers Australia, said he was mystified as to why trying  to  
> regulate the global internet like an Australian newsagent was a  
> priority for the government.
>
> "As the dialog with the US indicates, trying to do so is doomed to  
> fail and completely ignores the enormous benefits we reap from  
> keeping the internet open," said Jacobs.
>
> "They are now defending the policy on the basis that it will stop  
> people 'accidentally' stumbling across abhorrent material. That's an  
> astoundingly weak justification for more censorship, and the filter  
> won't even be able to accomplish that."
>
> Birt questioned whether children were, as Senator Conroy claims,  
> stumbling across child pornography and noted that the filters would  
> do nothing to stop the distribution of child porn over other means  
> such as email, chat programs, BitTorrent and peer-to-peer networks.
>
> He said parents who were concerned about content their children were  
> viewing online could already install software filters and website  
> blockers on their computers.
>
> "So we have a proposal that will do nothing to prevent the real  
> problem of child pornography, which exists outside the scope of this  
> filter, and nothing to prevent children from real cyber safety  
> concerns," Birt wrote.
>
> "And while not achieving its major objective, this system will  
> simultaneously restrict free speech and access to legal content and  
> controversial material on the internet, in a secret way behind  
> closed doors with no accountability."
>


-- 
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
T: +61 2 61402408  M: +61 404072753
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