“Although not without controversy, the initial testing of the Australian government’s Internet filtering system has gone off fairly well, according to reports from some of the participating ISPs. Five of the nine ISPs testing the government’s filtering system reported few problems during testing, even though only 15 customers participated at one and a couple of customers at another were unable to access a completely legal porn site. The other four IPs have either yet to comment on the filter’s performance or have refused to talk publicly about the results.

Australia’s government first announced its intention to add a Great Barrier Reef of sorts around the nation’s virtual shores nearly two years ago, in August 2007. Initial testing began in the island state of Tasmania in February 2008, with cost estimates running as high as AUS$189 million (about US$154 million). The filters were originally intended to be on by default, with consumers able to opt out.

Much to the dismay of the program’s critics, things changed last October. As details about the country’s Cyber-Safety Plan emerged, we learned that all ‘illegal’ content would be blocked for everyone, with no possibility for individuals to opt out. The main government-supplied blacklist would be applied universally, while an “additional material” blacklist targeting age-appropriate content would be optional for users.”

source: arstechnica.com

Tags: Australia, big brother, Censorship, Internet, internet filtering, Your Rights
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