Nrc.nl - Buitenland - Australië stelt omstreden internetfilter u. Rotterdam, 9 juli. Australië stelt de invoering van een omstreden verplichte internetfilter met een jaar uit. Verantwoordelijk minister Conroy (Communicatie) maakte vandaag bekend dat de regering gaat onderzoeken of de criteria op basis waarvan sites geblokkeerd moeten worden nog wel maatschappelijk gedragen worden. Volgens het plan van de regering voor een verplicht filter zouden alle Australische internetproviders sites moeten blokkeren die inhoud bevatten die is vastgelegd in een ‘zwarte lijst’ door beoordelingsorganisatie National Classification Board.
Het gaat om sites die het oordeel refused classification (RC) hebben gekregen. „Er zijn delen van de maatschappij die legitieme zorgen hebben geuit over of de categorie RC nog wel de huidige maatschappelijke standaard weergeeft over welk materiaal geblokkeerd moet worden”, aldus Conroy. Onder RC valt niet alleen kinderporno, maar ook „gedetailleerde instructies voor, of aanmoediging van misdaad, geweld of gebruik van illegale drugs”. ABC The Drum - Censorship: Labor's hidden policy. Updated Wed 21 Jul 2010, 5:40pm AEST Labor's internet filtering policy isn't being discussed in the run-up to the election but its impact on Australia is significant. Championed by Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, the $30million+ filter is being sold by Labor as an internet block for child pornography, bestiality and extreme pornography with 'wide ranging support from the Australian public' and 'only minimal opposition against'.
But after a new, lengthy investigation it transpires that virtually none of this is true. What Australia will get from this internet filter is a framework for censorship that doesn't stop "the worst of the worst" but will absolutely curtail discussion on politically incorrect topics like euthanasia, safe drug taking and graffiti while banning relatively-tame adult content. Support for the filter boils down to a handful of pro-censorship lobbyists claiming to be speaking for all Australians. All internet porn will be blocked to protect children, under UK government plan. THE UK Government is to combat the early sexualization of children by blocking internet pornography unless parents request it, it was revealed today. The move is intended to ensure that children are not exposed to sex as a routine by-product of the internet.
It follows warnings about the hidden damage being done to children by sex sites. The biggest broadband providers, including BT, Virgin Media and TalkTalk, are being called to a meeting next month by Ed Vaizey, the communications minister, and will be asked to change how pornography gets into homes. Instead of using parental controls to stop access to pornography - so-called "opting out" - the tap will be turned off at source. Adults will then have to "opt in. " The new initiative is in advance of the imminent convergence of the internet and television on one large screen in the living room.
Mr Vaizey said: "This is a very serious matter. "In the past, internet porn was regarded as a moral issue or a matter of taste. Dutch Gov't Speaks Out Against Exporting Internet Filters; Then Introduces National Internet Filter. On the same day that Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Verhagen announced efforts to prevent the export of internet filters to repressive regimes, State Secretary of Justice and Security Teeven announced the introduction of the national blacklisting of websites. The press conference expressly 'filtered out' critical Dutch civil rights organization Bits of Freedom and consumer rights organization Consumentenbond. The Minister of Economic Affairs stated Monday that companies should support internet freedom and that the danger of exporting filters to repressive regimes is that they can be used to withhold information from civilians.
A good start of the day for Dutch cyberactivists, breathing a sigh of relief to see that the government actually seems to understand what they’re talking about. However, later the very same day the State Secretary of Justice and Security announced a 'download ban' making the unauthorized downloading of copyrighted material illegal. European Court of Justice To Outlaw Internet Filtering; Esp. For Copyright Enforcement. Today, the European Court of Justice gave a preliminary opinion that will have far-reaching implications in the fight against overaggressive copyright monopoly abusers. It is not a final verdict, but the Advocate General’s position; the Court generally follows this.
The Advocate General says that no ISP can be required to filter the Internet, and particularly not to enforce the copyright monopoly. The opinion is very clear: Advocate General Cruz Villalón considers that the installation of that filtering and blocking system is a restriction on the right to respect for the privacy of communications and the right to protection of personal data, both of which are rights protected under the Charter of Fundamental Rights. By the same token, the deployment of such a system would restrict freedom of information, which is also protected by the Charter of Fundamental Rights. More bloggers: Hax. UPDATE: Ok, I had intended to follow up with a more detailed analysis tomorrow, but HI SLASHDOT!