Austrailian Gov Filter Net Filters

[Barman58]

Austrailian Gov Net Filters

Hi All,

Just came across this article and thought I would share, whilst some censorship is needed perhaps on the net not sure if this is the thin end of the wedge

Aussie govt: Don't criticize our (terrible) 'Net filters

 

[z3r010]

Come on Nigel where is the article

 

[Barman58]

OMG your quick john

Missed it off and edited as soon as i'd posted

tis there now :D

 

[echrada]

There is nothing worse than Big Brother and his Big Sister. Can people not be trusted to do their own screening? Surely the majority of net users are not abusing the net to the extent that we have to be treated like children in a sweet shop?

 

[z3r010]

Hmmm it maybe time to start setting up an Aussie proxy service

I'm all for filtering some of the net as the majority of non tech users haven't got a clue what they are doing and could do with a little protection, but there should be an opt out for the 2% that know what they are doing.

I wish the UK isp's would block all p2p ports by default and save me 100's of hours work a year cleaning up friends computers.

 

[echrada]

You are of course quite right, but without people downloading weird and wonderful things, my income would shrink.

So even though it is frustrating at times, money makes the world go round.

 

[z3r010]

You are of course quite right, but without people downloading weird and wonderful things, my income would shrink.

It cant be that much as there is only 4 people and 3000 sheep within 50 miles of your house

 

[echrada]

You will be amazed at what the sheep get up to

But on a different tack.....

Microsoft patents web moderator robots - Times Online

Microsoft patents web moderator robots
E-mail from America
Mark Harris in Seattle


The problem with the internet, as we all know, is that it gives free rein to loonies. Once upon a time, green inkers would rant away on writing paper, seal their 30-page global conspiracy theory into a recycled envelope and post it to a newspaper, which would drop it harmlessly into a wastepaper basket. Now they infiltrate chat rooms, scrawl anonymous abuse in web discussions and even have their own video blogs.

Sometimes this is entertaining; sometimes it can be offensive. So Microsoft has just been awarded a patent for technology designed to automatically detect and remove “undesired words or phrases” from all manner of digital communications, ranging from YouTube broadcasts to internet chat and songs.

The patent describes a system that listens out for phonemes (word fragments) likely to be part of a swearword. If it thinks it hears a forbidden phrase, the software either fades out the offending syllables or simply replaces the rude word with a similar-sounding but clean alternative lifted from earlier speech without a second’s delay.

With Microsoft’s software put in place by parents, children could listen to the most explicit rap music and hear nothing stronger than “gosh darn mother flippers”. Theoretically, the software could monitor thousands of digital TV broadcasts, radio stations and web chats simultaneously.

That’s all to the good, as long as the targets are “trolls” (internet slang for people whose aim is to disrupt the web community). There’s a danger, though, that it could go too far. Who’s to say that an overzealous Microsoft employee might not accidentally on purpose blacklist the names of rivals such as Apple and Linux?

Worse, there are governments around the world that would probably go further still, suppressing dissent not with guns and clubs but by preventing people from even discussing concepts such as “protest” or “freedom”. And that, I’m sure you’ll agree, is a freaking scary idea.

 

[dmex]

There is nothing worse than Big Brother and his Big Sister. Can people not be trusted to do their own screening? Surely the majority of net users are not abusing the net to the extent that we have to be treated like children in a sweet shop?

Their waiting on ISP tests before rolling out the blanket filter...There will be two, one for filtering banned illegal content (non-removable) and the other for "not suitable for kids" websites (removable)

ISPs here already filter RPC, NetBIOS and smtp ports, having a national filter means the Government can track users who attempt to access these sites and also allow 100% internet monitoring reports for 'selected' users...The government also tried to get a ISP Representative fired this week for speaking out how bad filtering at the ISP level is

They have been trying to get a national filter inservice for the last 5 years or so but the bandwidth slowdown, high potential to block legitimate websites causing financial loss for the operator and ISP costs to be passed to consumers was was seriously too high

Theres better solutions with the current monitoring systems for business, parents and education than implementing a legislation based, goverment controlled netnanny for adults It can also be curcumvented easily by VPNs, Tor Network and proxys rendering the system useless...