Promoting And Protecting Digital Rights Since 1994
EFA is an independent non-profit association that relies on membership subscriptions and donations. If you’re concerned about digital rights in Australia, please join or donate today.
-
Submission to interceptions network security admendments
After a very short consultation period, the Attorney-General’s Department is soliciting comments on its exposure draft of ‘computer network protection’ amendments to the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (Cth). EFA’s submission addresses our key concern that the proposed legislation provides a very broad exception to the prohibition on interception of network communications for the purposes of ensuring that a network is ‘appropriately used’. This is a very broad category…
-
Update in ZGeek defamation lawsuit
The plaintiff has re-filed in the NSW Supreme Court, once again alleging damages of around $43M in lost film revenues for alleged defamatory statements made by participants on the ZGeek discussion forum. It now appears that the plaintiff has additionally filed a trade mark application over the name ZGeek and threatened the forum operators with a trade mark infringement action – despite apparently having no legal interest in the mark.…
-
ZGeek defamation lawsuit struck out
[ Edit: it appears that the Court struck out a preliminary motion to close down the site and rejected the original claim. The Plaintiffs seem to have indicated that they will re-file the claim. ] The good news is that yesterday, the Supreme Court struck out the ($42M) defamation suit against the operator of ZGeek. While we’re very thankful that this defamation action went no further, the fact that it…
-
EFA Newsletter: July 2009
Dear EFA Supporter, The outlook for online freedom in Australia continues to be less than stellar as the Rudd government’s plan for mandatory Internet censorship gains momentum, with computer games now in their sights. In the meantime, EFA received a link deletion notice – under threat of an $11,000 per day fine – for a discussion on the politically sensitive nature of blacklisted content. However, it’s not all bad news.…
-
Another defamation suit: ZGeek owner sued for alleged defamatory forum comments
The operator of the Australian discussion forum ZGeek has been named as a defendant in a defamation suit for material posted by ZGeek users to a thread about a 9/11 conspiracy theory. Another forum is apparently also named as a defendant in the claim. The plaintiffs are apparently seeking $42 Million in consequential damages, claiming that they lost a film deal as a result of criticism of the conspiracy theory…
-
Will Second Life be banned in Australia?
The recent announcement by the government that the mandatory blacklist will explicitly target computer and video games has caused much alarm in Australia. In order to clarify, we have put up a page to quickly cover the issue and which we will update as things progress: EFA: The mandatory blacklist and computer games Please feel free to spread the word. I’d like to reinforce a couple of extra points here,…
Help fight for our digital rights
What We Do
Policy
We actively monitor a number of policy areas and specific issues. The topics below provide a detailed view of EFA’s policy positions.
Copyright
Australia’s copyright laws are outdated, inflexible and not fit for the digital age. As such, EFA is a long-standing supporter of reform of Australia’s Copyright Act.
Privacy & Security
Privacy is fundamentally about consent and control over access to information, and goes hand-in-hand with security. Privacy is a human right.
Censorship
Adults should be able to make their own informed decisions about what content they create and consume.
Encryption
Access to encryption technologies is vital for individuals and groups to be able to safeguard the security and privacy of their information.
Internet Safety
Surveillance is not safety. Safety for whom, against what? This complex problem is more likely to be exacerbated, rather than solved, by measures that allow for unaccountable surveillance and the undermining of communications security.
Surveillance
EFA is committed to ensuring that Australian’s home life is not subject to arbitrary interference.