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12.18.09 Australia To Mandate an ISP Filter in 2011  By John VinsonIf you have any knowledge of Australia, you'd know they take censorship and classification ratings very seriously. There are many times when something is released in America, and Australia will deny it classification resulting in it being kept out of the country down under. They're looking to expand upon this idea with mandatory ISP filtering for overseas content. The Australian government made the announcement that amendments to the Broadcasting Services Act would put the ISP filtering into activation sometime in 2011. The new legislation will provide the government the power necessary to better add websites to the 'Refused Classification' list. Which is better known to some media companies as the 'black list'. There are few details at this point as to how the filtering list will be controlled. There's also the problem of deciding who will actually oversee the RC list. Minister for Communications Stephen Conroy has released a consultation paper, highlighting important aspects of this new measure. According to the paper, the ISP filtering list will be maintained by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), however this isn't set in stone. In his paper, Conroy informs readers of two ways the RC content list will be compiled: -- overseas-hosted content that is the subject of a complaint from the public made to the ACMA and --incorporation of international lists of overseas-hosted child sexual abuse material from highly reputable overseas agencies following a detailed assessment of the processes used by those agencies to compile their lists.
Conroy has also announced that along with the ISP filtering, the public will have a say in how certain options for transparency and accountability will be addressed. These options range from the AMCA handling all of the user complaints, to having the AMCA simply inform ISP's of content that must be blocked. You can imagine that those who are producing the content which will be put on the RC list are quite unhappy with this news. To help combat conflict, the site owners will be made aware of the content that required the site to be blocked at the ISP level. This would allow for them to edit their site, and re-apply for classification in the future. There have of course been a wide array of reactions to this news. The most extreme responses ranging from some kind of intervention being needed, to those showing frustration believing their government has imposed on their rights. The amendments won't be completely decided upon until 2010, so ISPs can at least rest until then. About the Author: John is a staff writer for WebProNews. |
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