I've noticed in my research that Australia has popped up a couple of times with regards to the government attempting to censor the Internet from such nefarious places as gambling websites.
The man in charge of the ACMA (Australia Communications and Media Authority) refuses to accept any advice against his plan to try and block over 1300 sites. I don't know the political structure of Australian government, but there doesn't seem to be the checks and balances that exist here. This man, Senator Steven Conroy, began his campaign to filter the Internet under the auspices of blocking child pornography websites.
The ACMA now has a "secret blacklist" of websites it intends to block using some sort of classification code which is not fully explained in the article. Suggestions by others with cooler heads include an education program to raise awareness of Internet supervision by parents. Another individual implied that the "scheme" couldn't work due to child porn being transferred from peer-to-peer networks that are encrypted (same technology as the X-netters).
Piggy-backing on my last posting, I can't help but wonder if our government will try to do something similar after Obama appoints the Cyber Czar. First, the military is the reason for the need for more control over privacy. After a couple of years of acceptance, what will they try next? The Patriot Act and the DHS are imposing enough, now we have the Czar. The trifecta of ....what should we call it?
Link to Full Story:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30998004
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Nell,
ReplyDeleteThis is unfortunate that the government in Australia wants to censor over 1300 websites from the internet. At least there is some opposition from others there who wish to approach internet problems through an education program of parents. Let us hope that the opposition prevails.
Roger Barnes
I read your last post to understand your reference to the Cyber Czar. I hope what is happening in Australia does not occur here. You made good points about how the Cyber Czar may lead to monitoring of the internet. I think the internet is such an easy way for the government to look into the lives of Americans. So much of the information we get now comes from the internet. We as librarians try our hardest to protect patrons' confidential records of what they are checking out. We realize that authorities could easily want to invade the privacy of patrons to pursue criminal charges. With the internet, it would seem so easy for the government to pry into the lives of Americans. I really hope that is not the path we are taking.
ReplyDeleteThe Big Brother Trifecta! That is what we will call it. I am all about blacking porn but this seems like overkill. Who’s to say what gets blocked and what doesn’t? It is easy to think of these situations individually but as a society it becomes much more complicated. Luckily, presidential terms are only four years…
ReplyDeleteCan you remove a czar? And if you did would you disbar a czar? (I couldn’t help myself)
The ACMA "secret blacklist" is a scary thought. Whatever the agency deemed inappropriate could be censored, all under the guise of protecting children. Invasions of privacy and violations of intellectual freedom are a quick and slippery slope. As you noted, war and national security are frequently the first justifications, and it can rapidly slide downhill after that. I'll have to keep up with the developments in Australia, as they could become relevant here eventually. And the "Cyber Czar" is an absurdly, sadly appropriate job title for a government official who could lead the way for such offenses against intellectual freedom. Articles like this prove once more the importance of being politically active!
ReplyDeleteAgnes Fusiek