ITNews reports that Australia’s ever-unpopular Minister for Communications, Senator Stephen Conroy, has foreshadowed new action by the Australian Government to crack down on illegal file sharing under the guise of promoting the digital economy.
Options apparently being considered include the controversial and previously reported French three-strikes approach and an approach which sounds suspiciously like New Zealand’s even more dubious guilty upon accusation approach to filesharing. Needless to say, although the Government is consulting with ‘representatives of both copyright owners and the Internet industry in an effort to reach an industry-led consensus on an effective solution,’ arguably the most significant group — ordinary Internet users — are not being consulted.
Senator Conroy is the man behind the crusade to ‘protect’ Australians from the horrors of the Internet with a mandatory, government run blacklist, an effort which recently earned him the title of Internet Villain of the Year for 2009.
Tracy Jones-Harris Internet, computers Censorship, File Sharing, Government, P2P, Senator Conroy, Stephen Conroy
Its been an ongoing debate throughout the world lately in terms of government enforced Internet censorship. With thousands of individuals signing online petitions and writing letters has it made a difference?
It has been announced today that The New Zealand Prime Minister announced his Government will throw out the controversial Section 92A of the Copyright Amendment (New Technologies) Act and start again. The proposed law changescontained ‘guilty upon accusation, without appeal’ clauses and heavy compliance costs to ISPs and businesses. The changes were hours away from being signed but a series of online protests, a petition on Government grounds, as well as public rebuttal by a large ISP and by Google contributed to the Government changing course and respecting the wishes of the IT industry. Looks as if voices have been heard! Lets see what the new act will bring.
However in Australia we seem to be one more step forward with ISP iiNet today confirmed it’s exit from the Australian governments Internet filtering trials. iiNet had originally taken part in the plan in order to prove the filter was flawed. Citing a number of concerns, their withdrawal leaves only five Australian ISPs continuing to test the filter. Does this spell the end of Internet censorship in Australia? I think we have a way to go yet.
Tracy Jones-Harris Uncategorized Censorship, Internet Filtering, Section 92A