Bend in the Weather

We all see it...whether we like to or not.
Those silly adult related content across many sites and things we don't want our little kiddies to see.
Content classified 'R' and voilent/cruel acts could also be put into this category.

At first impressions the current 3-month trial for mandatory Internet filters being undertaken in Tasmania appears to be a good thing.  Scratch the surface though and it's as sinister as the adult content you're attempting to stop.


Why do I say that?  Isn't protecting our children something we should do?  Most certainly!  Then just what is the problem then?

Read further of what is being proposed.  Not only are they looking at filtering the web traffic you view but also intercepting each and every Email message you send/receive.

Yup -- buried deep in the trial and not something widely published is the fact that every Email you send/recieve will be intercepted, read and potentially blocked. 
I'm not sure about you...  but whilst I don't make bombs, plan terrorist take-overs or think of mass killings.... I do enjoy my privacy.  This will certainly be taken away.

I will be sending all personal Email if it becomes effective Australia-wide via PGP.  For those that want to Email me, you'll need to have appropriate PGP software.   For Windows -- you'll find some here for free.  PGP basically encrypts your Email so it can't be read by middle-men.. such as this filter.  It can only be read by the person sending and the person receiving it.

The very liberal Anti-Terrorist laws are already inplace to tap 'communications'.  And email is one other form.   It's likely to slide under the guise of Internet filtering and backed legally by these Anti-Terrorist laws.  Sly but effective.  Our government already monitors SMS messages and telephone calls and has been wanting Email tapping for years.  It appears they well may get it. 

Many groups have spoken out about the filtering and I suspect until wider attention is brought to the issue it will go largely unnoticed.  Groups such as ALIA and EFA are commencing campaigns against it.  Individuals are also taking up the challenge. (Reference 1, Reference 2)

What's worse.. the group given the task Internet Sheriff Technology.  EFA has already reviewed their performance and it's less than flattering!

We've gotten here by the phrase: "93% of parents back tough Net porn laws" based on a Newspoll..  Notce it refers to laws not censorship! The phrase is misleading... people aren't asking for censorship but laws to procesute those that undertake it.
Unfortunately it's this same catch phrase that Tasmanian pollies and both Federal political parties have pinned to their chest.   You can bet your bottom dollar it's the same conclusion that Internet Sheriff are pushing down the state and federal goverments throat.  Interestingly enough they have forgotten about the poll that shows 92% oppose government censorship of the Internet! 

"Fewer than 8% of Australian Internet users believe there should be government censorship of the Internet.
60% think that parents alone should take responsibility.
And 30% don't think that anyone should censor the Net."

It's becoming a political question now.. with Labour pushing their policy and it appears the Liberal party are following suit..  Read on what the EFA think of Labours policy.

Let's remind our Senator Coonan of the statement she made in Dec 2004:

"The government did consider mandatory filtering some years ago and reviewed this recently... It found, on closer examination, that mandatory filtering would be highly problematic. It would have the potential to simply choke the Internet and drive up costs unacceptably for consumers and small businesses without necessarily solving the problems of offensive content.
... simple filters are easily outsmarted by merchants of offensive content and that the kind of complex technologies needed to analyse every single item being downloaded were not considered feasible in our review. The review also estimated that the cost of this sort of filtering would be $45 million a year to begin with, falling to more than $33 million a year on an ongoing basis. The biggest issue - it is not so much the money - is that such an expensive scheme would not necessarily solve the problem and small to medium ISPs would simply be driven out of business for little or no benefit. What does work is greater information and parental supervision, and those are the kind of programs that the government is promoting with the $30 million"

And that's the point.     Parents shouldn't be dumping their children down on the PC connected to the Internet unsupervised.  You wouldn't allow your child full control of your Pay-TV and then blame the operator that your child watched the Adult channel.  Why do it with the Internet?

The policy reeks of censorship and for a nation that will freely critise China for such a policy (and they have implemented the same policy -- stating the same reasons!)  Such a proposal for Australia is not new -- take a look at the timeline of such proposals.  Even the Human Rights Watch has picked up the draconian laws our governments are wanting to pass.

Interestingly enough the problem not only occurs in Australia (the blatent porn and inappropriate material).   In the US their are dedicated Christian ISPs that offer as an option block software.  It is run on the end computer ensuring the performance of the network isn't taken down by server-side processing.
Crosswayisp is one such ISP in the US.

Read their comments on why they don't use server-side filtering:

"We are often asked: why don't you provide server side filtering, I thought that is what Christian ISP services do? The short answer is that we believe in individual responsibility. For to long parents have allowed the television to be their surrogate parent, trusting those who promised to be responsible and police themselves. We know what the result of that has been. As a result, our Christian ISP promotes individual responsibility and parental control by providing PC-side filtering. We do not believe Christians should abandon their responsibility to monitor themselves or their children when using the Internet. No filtering system, either client side or PC side, is 100 percent effective. This lures parents who depend on server side filtering into a false sense of security and endangers children as a result."

Client side filtering (running it on your own computer) is much more affective and gives control back to the parent.  If allows you to bypass it when needed.

Most of these software products use keywords to block content.  It breaks down when:

• Looking up medical phrases or medical research that refers to parts of the body.
• You need to visit Sussex Inletin in NSW, MiddleSex University, etc.
  
• Security research into terrorism, voilence  and  other 'blocked content' such as domestic voilence.
• Try to read many family and health related sites -- including government sites are often blocked.  This includes Mens and Womens Health sites.
  
• Study of items like Anthrax, Plague and other bio-hazards.
• Study of computer security research into viruses, worms and trojans.
  

Sure -- these are all potential items you don't want your children reading... but using a client side filter will allow you to control what can and can't be viewed and when.  Placing the control of these aspects into the hands of a government agency or a commercial entity serves to censor your online experience and the information available to you.

I suggest you all read up on the topic and become involved....as the loss of civil liberties may become a way of life.


For those of you looking at protecting your children... look at installing an  internet filter.  You may also purchase Internet filter software if you like.  A review of such software is here. If you wish to hear from parent using software.... take a read of product reviews here. I would recommend looking at something like NOAMI or WE-Blocker if you want a free product.  The beauty of these software products is they run at your end putting you in control.

The Australian Federal Government wants to snoop on their citizens.

According to recent reports, it appears the government wants to be able to undertake line-taps, read Email and SMS messages of innocent people.

Should you be worried?   Very much!

These laws are passing today - and are unlikely to raise a whimper.  It will be interesting to see how much mainstream coverage it will generate.

The Greens and Democrats will oppose the bill, however nothing has been heard on the Labour front.

So what exactly does the bill provide both the AFP and ASIO?

• Ability to read SMS messages
• Ability to place a tap on a telephone line
• Ability to read Email messages
• AFP can 'monitor' for up to 45 days.
• ASIO can 'monitor' for up to 3 months
  

So this you would imagine would be for organised crime or hardened criminals under a close watch?     Not at all....  basically any innocent person who might lead them to a suspect.

Notice the word 'might'?   I might win the lottery, I might be the next prime minister.  
All AFP and ASIO officers need to do is 'judge shop' until they get one judge that is soft on ordering such warrents and they are home.

Australia already has the highest rate of line-taps in the world.  We even spy on our citizens much more than the US (who are always under constant attack for such breach of civil liberties).  The figure is staggering....  as we spy on our citizens upto 26 times more than the US!

I'm sick of everything falling under the 'terrorist' label to allow such agencies the free reign the so greedily want.   What's worse is our pollies fall for it hook, line and sinker.

I don't like the idea of terrorists any more than the next bloke, though I do believe that a person is innocent until proven guilty.    The threat from terrorists has always been here -- it's no less or greater since 9/11 -- no matter what the US and Australian governments beat their chest about.

These groups also work in code and hidden messages...   so such laws don't provide any asistance anyway.
Whilst you can do little about line taps, and SMS reading (unless you use take on your own coded message format! )  you can actually do something about your Email being read.

PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) encrypts Email you send, allowing it only to be read by the intended person.  You can download free PGP programs that automate the process and can encrypt your Email from within Outlook at other similar Email clients.

I recommend you all look seriously at using such tools.

Well it's the 2^nd time now that Bali has been bombed.

3 bombs were detonated. Two were at outdoor seafood eateries on Jimbaran Beach and one at a steak bar at Kuta Beach.

So far the rate is 25 killed. So far 15 have been identified comprising 12 Indonesians, including one six-year-old boy, two Australians (one a 16 y.o. boy) and a Japanese national.

The wounded included 17 Australians, three seriously, six South Koreans, three Americans, three Japanese and one Briton.

It appears this is the work of Jemaah Islamiah, who have ties to Al Qaeda.

No-one deserve to die due to such a cowardly act. I hope those responsable are quickly found and brought to justice.

The sooner such groups like Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiah are infiltrated, exposed and disbanded the better for all.