Filtering the Internet

Paul Greenfield
CSIRO/MIS, Advanced Distributed Software Architectures and Technologies

Tuesday 6 June at 11am

Abstract

The Federal Government has been interested in protecting the innocent and vulnerable from the excesses of the Internet since 1998. Legislation was passed in 1999 to ban or restrict access to certain types of material, such as pornography, bomb making instructions and racism. The original legislation proposed to issue ‘take down’ orders for such material if it was hosted on an Australian site, and to force ISPs to block access if it was hosted overseas. This legislation was amended in the Senate to greatly reduce its impact on ISPs and the Internet in general. CSIRO has been providing technical advice on the issue since the middle of 1998, initially on the general question of blocking and later on implementation questions. Our advice has always been considered but not always followed.

This seminar looks at the questions and issues surrounding Internet content blocking. What the initial legislation proposed, how it was changed and what was finally implemented. How can blocking and filtering be done and where? What are the impacts on users, industry and the Internet community. Has the Internet really been censored? Has the legislation succeeded in making the Internet a ‘safer place’? What comes after blocking pornography?

To top

last updated December 01, 2003 10:37 AM
Sandrine.Balbo@cmis.csiro.au