The future of internet censorship
You probably know that internet censorship is a hot topic. It’s on the rise around the world and has been a big issue here in Australia, where a new push for censorship remains government policy. The internet is such a great enabler of free speech. Why do governments want to censor it? Some of the […]
Senator Quixote deserves to be told off
The Labor government’s plan to censor the Australian internet has entered the realm of farce. Despite scraping back into government by the barest of possible margins, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has returned without delay to trumpeting his doomed scheme to anybody that will listen. As we have said (for years, now) the filter will not […]
AFP pushing for invasive data retention
ZDNet are reporting today that the Australian Federal Police are pushing the government to pursue aggressive mandatory data retention policies, forcing ISPs to collect information about your internet use and preserve it in case you are one day suspected of wrongdoing. The article quotes AFP assistant commissioner Neil Gaughan as saying that they are pushing […]
A rising tide lifts all criminals
The Australian reported today on alarm by Federal police at the opportunities the NBN will provide to cyber-crooks. “The inherent risk of the NBN is that it could facilitate the continual growth and sophistication of online criminal syndicates’ ability to commit cyber offences against online systems due to the attractiveness of the increased speed,” they […]
Independent's Day and the Censorwall
Only a few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post, “Is the filter really dead?” Since that post was written in what now seems a simpler and gentler bygone political age, an update may be in order. As of today, the ALP and the Coalition are neck-and-neck in numbers, and who forms the next Government […]