Hacktivists Force Pause in Australian Net Censorship

[Andy Chalk]

Hacktivists Force Pause in Australian Net Censorship

At least one Australian ISP is wavering on plans to begin blocking illegal websites next month because of fear of reprisals from "internet vigilantes."

It came to light yesterday [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/111255-Australias-Internet-Filter-Switches-On-In-July] that despite a climbdown by the Australian government, four of the country's internet providers, including the two largest, were planning to launch a voluntary "internet filtering" scheme in July. The plan has been criticized as lacking transparency, accountability and any sort of visible appeals process, but never mind all that, it's full steam ahead!

Or not. Telstra, one of the two big players involved, is apparently having second thoughts about the whole thing. A rep said last night that while the company remains committed to working with the government to cut access to child pornography, it hasn't actually made a decision to fire up the filter.

"One option being considered is the blocking of a list of illegal child sexual abuse sites identified as being the worst globally by international policing body Interpol," she said.

What's the hangup? Word on the street is that Telstra is worried about putting itself in the crosshairs of Anonymous and other "internet vigilantes." The past few months have seen a wave of attacks carried out against corporate, government and even law enforcement sites, and Anonymous has gone after the Australian federal government in the past because of its efforts to censor the internet.

But Telstra would be the target this time around because the proposed censorship plan is entirely voluntary; the Australian government dropped funding [http://www.zdnet.com.au/budget-2011-isp-filter-grants-chopped-339314760.htm] for the planned internet filter in May. Patrick Gray of the Risky Business security podcast said Telstra was right to be worried. "If they think there's a laugh in something and it ties in with their politics, they might have a go, sure," he said.

Source: The Australian [http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/hackers-put-telstra-in-filter-bind/story-e6frgakx-1226081618113]


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[DEAD34345]

Wow, if this is true then that means that Anonymous has actually achieved it's goals, at least slightly. I agree with most of the ideals Anonymous stands for, but I really doubted that they could have any positive effect through their methods. Apparently I was wrong, which is definitely a good thing.

It's also pretty worrying though... what if groups with more questionable ideals start doing the same thing?

 

[Valkatron]

I hate Telstra and what they are doing/have done/will do to our internet. It took the government $11.8 billion for them to agree to swap from copper to fibre optics due to contract cancellation fees. I really wish the government would allow another company in NSW to own the lines instead of keeping them with Telstra and having everyone else rent the lines from them.

 

[Zhukov]

Wow. Just... wow.

If that's true, and that's one very big "if", then, yeah... wow.

I've always been quick to dismiss Anonymous as irrelevant. They DDOS a site every now and again, maybe grab some e-mails, post some embarrassing pictures. Big deal.

But if they are actually being sited as a cause to delay this censorship bullshit, then my hat is off.

On the other hand, if the filter does get rolled out, I hope those responsible get hacked to hell and back.

 

[Azex]

if they censor the net in anyway itll be like the tower of babel all over again...

We need freedom and freedom of comunication to build a sky tower/heaven peircing drill...goddammit politics i HATE...

 

[DEAD34345]

So wait....Stopping people from looking up child porn is bad? Now i may not be a genius but last i checked child porn is a horrible thing and if that is what they are blocking i am all for it.

It's not bad because they're blocking child porn, it's bad because they are blocking anything. I'm a strong believer in internet freedoms, so I'm against internet censorship regardless of what it is that's being censored.

 

[Keava]

So wait....Stopping people from looking up child porn is bad? Now i may not be a genius but last i checked child porn is a horrible thing and if that is what they are blocking i am all for it.

In itself no. But it's a form of censorship forced onto you by a company/government, and is not only limited to child pornography. As time progresses they might put filters on other stuff as well and you, as end user, will have no say in that. It never should be in ISPs or governmetns power to filter what you can and cannot access through internet.

 

[Hal10k]

I saw Anonymous' reaction coming from a mile away. It's surprising that Telstra did too.

 

[jakko12345]

Isn't this whole business to stop child porn sites? If so, what the flying fuck are people complaining about?

 

[The Red Spy]

This will be a glorious feather in Anon's cap, and good on them. Whilst I agree with censoring child pornography, sites encourage terrorism and other sites that could encourage criminal activity, this is method is surely not going to win you much support. Why not commit to assisting Interpol on adding sites to the list?

I'll look out for Anon's & Lulzsec's damage reports and mediafire downloads if any of the ISP's do go ahead with it. Should be a good laugh seeing them demolish their infrastructure and finding whatever skeletons their employee's have hidden away.

 

[Zhukov]

So wait....Stopping people from looking up child porn is bad? Now i may not be a genius but last i checked child porn is a horrible thing and if that is what they are blocking i am all for it.

That's not all they're blocking. That's just the one thing they point to in order to justify the whole deal.

(If that was the only thing, then yeah, I wouldn't give a damn. Not that it matters, child porn is illegal (duh) and thus is usually pedalled around on forums and peer-to-peer networks.)

Half the problem is that they won't tell us exactly what sites and subject matter is being blacklisted.

When the Australian government was about to try it, Wikileaks got a list of to-be-banned websites. Most of them were perfectly legit adult porn sites. More worryingly, some of them addressed controversial subject matter such as abortion and euthanasia. And, somewhat notoriously, one of them was the website of a Queensland dentist.

So yeah, child porn is not the issue here.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

So wait....Stopping people from looking up child porn is bad? Now i may not be a genius but last i checked child porn is a horrible thing and if that is what they are blocking i am all for it.

What they're doing is stupidly ineffective. They'll block site names, nothing more. All the site needs to do is change one letter in the name and it's back up.

You've been on the internet, you know that any attempt at censorship will result in more than a few upset people. It's a slippery slope argument, but if the point is never made eventually your censorship ends up on the level of China.

 

[foolish snails]

Goooood. I by no means support child porn, but the Australian government has a history of censorship which I find disturbing. Even though they apparently have good intentions, I do not believe they should be allowed to go through with this. Its definitely a step in the direction of easier government censorship and who knows what could follow it.

 

[FalloutJack]

So wait....Stopping people from looking up child porn is bad? Now i may not be a genius but last i checked child porn is a horrible thing and if that is what they are blocking i am all for it.

Now now, old son, there's no need to get all irritated at the hacktivists here. I personally already said nothing causes more cursing and swearing than censoreship, so this wouldn't even help the issue.

 

[DEAD34345]

-snip-

It's not bad because they're blocking child porn, it's bad because they are blocking anything. I'm a strong believer in internet freedoms, so I'm against internet censorship regardless of what it is that's being censored.

So you have no problem with child porn roaming free? In my head that painted a silly image. But read my above post you'll see what i mean.

I have a massive problem with child porn roaming free. I think the people who made the site are disgusting, and should be arrested.
I also have a problem with internet censorship, and think it is completely wrong.

The two views are not mutually exclusive, in fact it's very similar to the whole free speech argument. "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,".

I disapprove of child-porn websites, but I'll still defend them against censorship.