Australia moves forward with ISP porn filter
ISP based porn filters will deliver porn free internet to Australian internet subscribers. Testing will begin soon in a closed environment in Tasmania.
The filters will be operated by the service provider, and will be enabled by default. Users can opt out by contacting their ISP and having them remove the filter. ISP based filters became more appealing to the government after PC based filters were proven ineffective.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has contracted Melbourne based Enex TestLab to oversee the testing of several different ISP based solutions. The closed trial should be over by July, and be followed by field trials.
In an ACMA report to Australian Senator Conroy, it conceded that porn was not as big of a threat as Web2.0 sites (such as Myspace and Facebook). It also read that “In the case of personal computers the cost of upgrading processing power may be modest (although significant in terms of household income). However, for ISPs the cost of upgrading or augmenting the expensive hardware that they typically deploy may be substantial, particularly for small providers.”
Internet privacy advocates argue that ISP based filtering is extreme and that subscribers should be able to make a choice. Seeing as how subscribers can opt out, I don’t feel like thefreedom of choice has been taken. However, I do think that rather than opting out, users should be able to opt in. This would make non filtered internet the default.
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