[Communications Minister] Conroy coy on filtered web content - National Mass Media

[Communications Minister] Conroy coy on filtered web content
by Fran Foo via Kismo - Tthe Australian Wednesday, Nov 12 2008, 7:39am
national / mass media / other press

During question time yesterday, Senator Conroy was unclear on the exact type of content that would be blocked during the trials.

"The pilot will test filtering specifically against the ACMA blacklist of internet prohibited content, which is mostly child pornography, as well as filtering of other unwanted content," he said in response to a question by Greens Senator Scott Ludlum.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has 1300 illegal web pages on its blacklist.

There were 1000 pages on the ACMA blacklist at the beginning of the year and has since increased by 300 URLs. The list is compiled based on complaints from the public (see image).

Senator Ludlum urged Senator Conroy to specify what he meant by "unwanted content".

"Will the minister provide a definition of unwanted content and where we might find a definition of unwanted?" he asked.

"Will the minister acknowledge the legitimate concerns that have been raised by commentators and members of the public that such a system will degrade internet performance, prove costly and inefficient and do very little to achieve the Government's policy objectives?

"Furthermore, the Government's proposal for dynamic filtering is equivalent to the Post Office being required to open every single piece of mail."

Senator Conroy said he couldn't answer all the questions in under a minute. "I will happily get you some further information on that very long list of questions," he told Senator Ludlum, who is the Greens Communications spokesperson.

Senator Conroy's lack of clarity during question time adds more confusion to the discussion -- as ACMA blacklist's comprises illegal websites containing child pornography, X-rated and violent material, among others, it is unclear if he was referring to these sites specifically.

The Government plans to have two streams of filtered content -- the mandatory portion will comply with ACMA's blacklist , while an optional clean feed of URLs would automatically censor content, mostly adult material.

While the ACMA blacklist contains around 1300 URLs, the pilot will test filtering for a range of URLs up to around 10,000, Senator Conroy said. "This is so that the impact on network performance of a larger blacklist can be examined.”

The live pilot would provide valuable real-world evidence of the potential impact on internet speeds and cost to industry, he said.

"It will help ensure we implement a filtering solution that is efficient, effective and easy for Australian families to use."

Senator Conroy acknowledged expert technical advice that such a filter was not feasible, and would slow down internet access speeds, but said that was the reason for conducting a pilot.

"We are seeking to test the (technical) claims, and they are many and varied - that is why we are conducting a live trial."

The pilot was intended to take a flexible approach and cover a range of different ISPs and types of connections.

"The technical testing framework indicates a range of speeds will be tested based on what most households can currently access ... this range is not a hard and fast limit," he said.

"Some people do currently have connections above 12 meg and the framework notes that consideration will also be given to testing performances above 12 meg. Should an ISP wish to extend the pilot beyond 12 meg, they are invited to put this forward in their expression of interest."

Senator Conroy described the pilot as an opportunity for industry to come forward and engage directly with the Australian Government in the development of ISP filtering.

"I'd like to emphasise the fact that we have taken a consultative approach with industry, we've invited them to participate in the trial and we have asked for the industry to work with government," he said.

© 2008 News Limited

The Australian technology industry is starting to fight back against the government plan to force all ISPs to filter everyone's internet access.

Michael Malone, boss of iiNet, an Australian ISP with 700,000 customers, said his firm would take part in the trial, but only in order to show the government how stupid it was. Malone described communications minister Stephen Conroy as the worst minister in the internet's 15-year history.

The scheme would force ISPs to offer two types of internet access - one filtered for children and one filtered for adult Australians.

Conroy did not help his cause with a muddled performance in the Australian Senate. Conroy said the pilot would filter a blacklist from the Australian Communications and Media Authority as well as "other unwanted content". ACMA's blacklist includes 1,300 web addresses and another 10,000 would be added to this list. But he failed to answer Senator Scott Ludlam's question as to what "unwanted" meant.

The trial will test the impact on internet speeds as well as costs for providers.

Conroy said the government was aware of technical concerns and happy to have an open debate. He urged the industry to step forward and engage with government.

For his part Malone said he would join the "ridiculous" trial only in order to show the government that the filter would be simple to bypass, would not check peer-to-peer traffic and would slow network speeds.

Malone told the Sydney Morning Herald: "They're not listening to the experts, they're not listening to the industry, they're not listening to consumers, so perhaps some hard numbers will actually help.

"Every time a kid manages to get through this filter, we'll be publicising it and every time it blocks legitimate content, we'll be publicising it."

The trial is due to start on Christmas Eve.

© 2008 The Register

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