sw’as

Andrew Bartlett posts today at Crikey on the political prospects of The Greens as a third party in our ‘two party’ system. In his (always insightful) analysis he makes mention of the inevitable internal tensions about direction within the Greens over whether their effort to grow the party’s support base should focus on trying to consolidate “the more doctrinaire left wing vote” or “broaden their appeal to capture some of the ’small l’ liberal^[1] vote that the Democrats^[2] used to get.”

The Australian Democrats are in a hard place right now, but I for one, hope we haven’t seen the last of them. For me the Democrats have represented (and still do represent) a level of rationality in policy formation that we simply don’t see from the big parties. I also feel they’ve fought hard over many years to improve democracy in Australia, especially in regards to the under-representation many sections in Australian society^[3] experience.

But getting back on topic, Mike over at STOTC has been hard at work trawling through Hansard looking for any evicence that someone, anyone, in the halls of power might be paying attention to Labor’s diabolical plans to censor the internet - hopefully with a view to stopping them. It turns out Greens senator Scott Ludlam is paying attention and he’s even asking most of the right questions^[4]. Mike has picked out the juicy parts (as in, the really, really, horrifyingly bad parts) of what Senator Conroy had to say in reply. My favourite^[5] part is when Senator Conroy assumes:

I am sure I have unfortunately probably seen a wider range of commentary than you have, Senator Ludlam.

It’s possible, sure, but does that mean you automatically know better, Senator? It was disappointing to see the reports confirmed as fact that under their plans it will not be possible to completely opt out of a filtered internet.

As I said, we are in the early stages. But we are looking at two tiers-mandatory of illegal material and an option for families to get a clean feed service if they wish.

The standard line seemed to be “as I said, we are at the early stages.” I wouldn’t exactly call a live trial ‘early stages’; especially when the trials are likely to cost in the order of millions of dollars. I wonder who the unlucky customers will be.

1. That’s me. [↩]
2. That’s also me. [↩]
3. Reading recently about the New Zealand electoral system and their version of MMP, has only served to highlight just how just how inadequate I’m beginning to feel political representation is in Australia. [↩]
4. Maybe he’s on the side of broadening the Greens appeal and trying to capture some of that ’small l’ vote. [↩]
5. Again, favourite as in, OMG how could prominent and important members of our Government be so ignorant. [↩]

So you’re probably getting the picture that I think this is a serious problem. Today there’s been an interesting  podcast interview of Internode’s Mark Newton by Ben Grubb at Tech Wired Australia (via STOTC). It touches on all the pertinent points about why the Government’s proposal is simply unworkable.

After the Rudd-Labor victory at the 2007 federal election I had high hopes that the days of Government ignorance around internet policy which we had seen under the Howard Government, and especially with Sentator Helen Coonan as Minister, were behind us. However, as Labor continues to pursue the deeply flawed policy which aims to implement ISP level internet filtering from which users cannot opt out, increasingly my hopes seem to have been ill founded. Mark feels the same way:

The current government is shaping up to every bit as beligerant as the previous government in this area. The previous government almost never publically announced something until they had already decided to do it…It seems to me that Senator Conroy is following exactly the same tac.

The interview again highlights that the proposed solutions will be very expensive and totally ineffective. Not to mention the problems that censorship raises. I’d already considered how expensive the implementation is likely to be, but Mark notes that support costs will be raised as huge numbers of users start ringing up asking why a totally innocuous website has been blocked when it shouldn’t have been.

They also briefly touch on how this is a threat to Network Neutrality (which is something I’ve got on my soapbox about before).

The whole interview is well worth listening to, but here are Mark’s excellent suggestions for how you can help stop this crippling of the internet in Australia:

I think writing letters to MPs is probably more effective than email campaigns. I think the typcial MP will look at the amount of effort that a citizen has expended to express their point of view and judge that point of view accordingly. And if someone has just fired off a three minute email message or ticked a box to join an online petition or somethign like that, I’m not sure that’s really worth much. On the other hand, writing a real letter, printing it out on real paper, putting it into a real envelope with a real stamp and putting it into a real mail box will get your voice herad a lot more effectively.

Organisations like GetUp! have an effect because they get heard in the halls of power in Canberra. GetUp! have a campaign address, I’m not affiliated with them, but I’ve noted it on their website they have a campaign address and you can send to campaigns@getup.org.au^[1]. I’m sure that if they get enough public response out of this issue theyl’ll take it up, because that’s what they’re for, that’s what they do. They take issues where the Government has pitted itself against citizens and they represent citizens to the Governement. [My emphasis]

1. Find out how best to suggest a campaign to GetUp by reading their FAQ. [↩]

A quick search on Google News seems to indicate that this issue still doesn’t seem to be getting the main stream media coverage it deserves. In fact, it seems to be getting more coverage overseas than it is in Australia’s media - including from Chinese news outlets. As you would expect, it’s getting some good coverage by bloggers:

• Gizmodo - Australia To Build Great Firewall Down Under [Censorship]
• Amnesia Blog - Australia’s Great Firewall without an opt-out
• Boing Boing - Australia’s Great Firewall: just like China, Syria and other “free” countries
• The Technology Liberation Front - Australian ISP-Level Content Filtering Report Released
• Somebody Think of the Children^[1]
• Larvatus Prodeo - New Govt same as the old (may be worse)
• TechCrunch - Australia Joins China In Censoring The Internet
• No Internet Censorship for Australia - ACMA Trial shows filtering unworkable

It’s encouraging to see big and - crucially - widely read blogs like Boing Boing, Gizmodo and TechCrunch on that list, but what we really need for the politicians to take notice is main stream news coverage^[2][3]. The most relevant article I could find in the MSM - after searching for quite a while^[4] - was ISP filtering gains momentum in Australian IT. Which starts to highlight just some of the pertinent points:

Some industry observers believe internet users, not ISPs, could be forced to subsidise the program, with early estimates pointing to $60 million a year.

… Senator Conroy hailed the Enex trial a success, within the closed-environment test conditions. However, the results were broadly negative. It showed that most filters could not identify illegal or inappropriate content — as defined by the Australian Communications and Media Authority — using most non-web protocols.

There was also this story on Sunrise where - against their usual style - they actually talk some sense.

Finally,  a little satire to lighten the mood^[5].

1. These guys are where it’s at when it comes to discussing internet (or any other kind of) censorship in Australia. Some recent posts include: Filters mandatory for all Australians: DBCDE, No opt-out from ISP filtering: Two black lists and you can only opt-out from one, Mobile filtering: ISPs choose technology, Gov set minimum level? and New Zealand talks Aussie clean feed. [↩]
2. You can help get this issue some news coverage by writing to news outlets and telling them why this is such a bad idea - logically. [↩]
3. The other thing we need is your voice. How can you help? [↩]
4. If you know of any other MSM articles I’ve missed let me know in the comments, please. [↩]
5. Even though this is really bloody serious. Damnit! [↩]

There’s been an issue that’s near and dear to my heart hanging around like a bad, expensive smell and it just won’t die the death it deserves: Government enforced ISP level internet filtering.

Censorship of the internet is a bad idea for very many reasons. While censorship per se is somewhat a question of ideology, I suspect most Australians would feel strongly that Government censorship is, by-and-large, something to be avoided. Regardless of that, there are many non-ideological reasons why centralised internet filtering - specifically - is a bad idea. Here are some to get you started:

1. Cost - The proposal currently being pursued by the Government is very expensive. Many millions of tax payer dollars are being spent to trial - and ultimately implement - an ineffective solution which will degrade the internet for all of us.
2. Cost - Not only is the Government directly spending everyone’s money on a flawed concept, it will also end up costing internet users more as our ISPs pass on the significant costs of implementation to their subscribers.
3. Ineffectiveness - The solution is ineffective. None of the proposed technologies have performed well in testing. In fact, they’ve performed so badly that it seems like there’s a good chance the whole thing could be a more expensive (if that’s even possible) version of the now infamous NetAlert fiasco. Anybody who actually wants to access illegal/blocked content will still be able to do so with a bare minimum of technical knowledge (the kind of knowledge most highschoolers have these days). Somebody Think of the Children highlights the Government’s ability to engage in doublethink^[1] when it looks at the differences between the report into the trails and Senator Conroy’s press release.

By allowing the government to implement this policy, we are effectively degrading the internet for everyone and lining the pockets of equipment vendors. The way to stop this happening is by making your feelings known to your representatives in parliament - put some pressure on them.

If you’re interested in this issue (and you should be if you enjoy the free flow of information available on the internet^[2]), Somebody Think of the Children is a good place to keep up to date with all the goings on. You can also find out more about what you can do to help stop the madness by visiting http://www.nocleanfeed.com.

I suggest you write to your local MP and state senate representatives about this issue and help spread awareness (i.e. tell your friends and family) about what a poor piece of government policy (and spending) this is. Then encourage them to contact their MPs as well. If you’d like any help, I’ll be happy to do what I can if you get in touch with me.

1. I say doublespeak because this goes well beyond simple ‘spin‘. [↩]
2. Who doesn’t love Wikipedia? [↩]