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It was divulged today that...
How can the U.S. keep losing out in the world-wide race to censor smut via anonymous and secret lists of naughty sites?
"...all Australian ISPs will be required to filter access to a government-supplied blacklist containing "refused classification" (RC) web content. That would include nasty stuff like child pornography, but also a broader range of content: fetishy sex, instruction in crime (such as euthanasia), any computer game not suitable for under 18s. The list will be partly generated by complaints from the public, and may include lists imported from overseas police departments.
While this is sold as a kid-friendly measure, to "improve safety of the internet for families", it's clearly nothing of the sort. A few thousand URLs hardly constitutes a national net nanny. The list would almost be laughable if it was not only mandatory but secret - unlike censorship decisions made in other media, blocked URLs will remain secret and expressly excluded from freedom of information requests."
While this is sold as a kid-friendly measure, to "improve safety of the internet for families", it's clearly nothing of the sort. A few thousand URLs hardly constitutes a national net nanny. The list would almost be laughable if it was not only mandatory but secret - unlike censorship decisions made in other media, blocked URLs will remain secret and expressly excluded from freedom of information requests."
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