Blocking access to illegal file-share websites won’t stop illegal downloading
The Australian Federal Court ruled last week that TPG, Optus, Telstra and other internet service providers (ISPs) must take “reasonable steps” to stop customers accessing file-sharing websites The Pirate Bay, IsoHunt, TorrentHound and Torrentz. In total, Australian ISPs must block access to 61 domains registered to these four websites, or to the IP addresses specifically listed […]
Inquiry into freedom of speech really isn’t
EFA is disappointed that the Attorney-General has ignored the major threats to freedom of expression in Australia in framing the terms of reference for the parliamentary inquiry he announced today. The extremely narrow terms of reference for this inquiry mean that it is not ‘an inquiry into freedom of speech’ as the Attorney’s media release […]
Election 2016 Scorecard
Recently, we released our Election 2016 scorecard. We were really pleased to see a lot of substantive and thoughtful replies from the smaller parties. As in 2013, Pirate Party Australia and the Australian Greens have scored full marks. For the first time this year, the Science Party and the Liberal Democrats have also scored full […]
Google expands the ‘right to be forgotten’, but Australia doesn’t need it
Search engines play an indispensable role in our information age. They are how we navigate the internet. Without their assistance, most of us would be lost. When access to their functionality is limited, our substantive access to information is limited. This is exactly the point behind the so-called “right to be forgotten”. The term refers […]
EFA launches Digital Rights 2016 campaign
EFA today announces the launch of the Digital Rights 2016 campaign. This generic and non-partisan campaign is intended to raise awareness of the importance of digital rights throughout the Australian community in the lead-up to the 2016 Federal election and beyond. The primary issues that will be addressed as part of the campaign are: Privacy […]
