I figured it was time to put up a new post,
I heard today that the powers that be are looking for expressions of interest for trials of the the Great Barrier Filter. I'm a staunch opponent of this proposed measure but I'm thinking I might volunteer for the live trials. I'm considering it because I know the filter will be ineffective and have no impact on my (or anyone else's) web access. I'm thinking of boning up on screencasting and publishing video how-to's to show people how easy it is to bypass the filter AND I'll be doing it by showing content that the filter supposedly suppresses.
I'm not sure of all the details yet. Obviously I don't want to sign up to the filter while I'm house-sitting and using someone else's internet account. But I'm definitely going to look into it. Keep an eye on this space for more news about this little project.
Edited to add: Scratch all of the above. I just checked out some more info about the live trial and, at the moment, it's only open for ISP's to get involved. I'm currently having an internal debate with myself over whether it was stupid of me to think that the government would allow we, the people, to test drive something that's going to affect so many of us so much...
That is all.
I heard today that the powers that be are looking for expressions of interest for trials of the the Great Barrier Filter. I'm a staunch opponent of this proposed measure but I'm thinking I might volunteer for the live trials. I'm considering it because I know the filter will be ineffective and have no impact on my (or anyone else's) web access. I'm thinking of boning up on screencasting and publishing video how-to's to show people how easy it is to bypass the filter AND I'll be doing it by showing content that the filter supposedly suppresses.
I'm not sure of all the details yet. Obviously I don't want to sign up to the filter while I'm house-sitting and using someone else's internet account. But I'm definitely going to look into it. Keep an eye on this space for more news about this little project.
Edited to add: Scratch all of the above. I just checked out some more info about the live trial and, at the moment, it's only open for ISP's to get involved. I'm currently having an internal debate with myself over whether it was stupid of me to think that the government would allow we, the people, to test drive something that's going to affect so many of us so much...
That is all.
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And you bet, I've scored the night off work and everything. At last years Gala I had an exam the next day so I could only really make an appearance. Looking forward to this years though.
The Federal Government is continuing on their crusade to block illegal online material within Australia. Civil libertarians are concerned about the censorship aspect, while those in the online industry say it will slow things down, and in the end will prove futile.
Michael Malone, managing director of iiNet, one of Australia's largest ISPs, yesterday called Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy "the worst we've had in the past 15 years since the [online] industry has existed."
While Telstra and Optus haven't confirmed whether they'll take part in the trials which are set to begin December 24, Malone told the Sydney Morning Herald that iiNet would participate with the express purpose of showing the government "how stupid it is".
"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."
Testing has shown that currently available filters can't really distinguish effectively between illegal and legal content, and can slow down internet speeds by up to 86%. Add to that the fact that most ISPs already allow their customers the option of content filtering, and you can see why people are thinking that the $44.2 million would be better spent elsewhere.
I knew I liked working at iiNet for a reason!