Australia's Web blacklist leaked
- 19 March, 2009 12:57
- Comments (32)
The secretive Internet filter blacklist held by the communications watchdog ACMA has been leaked, revealing the government has understated the amount of banned Web pages by more than 1000.
Multiple legitimate businesses and Web sites have been banned including two bus companies, online poker sites, multiple Wikipedia entries, Google and Yahoo group pages, a dental surgery and a tour operator.
Betfair CEO Andrew Twaits was furious the government has potentially annexed tens of millions of dollars in revenue after its Betfair.com gambling site was blacklisted.
The blacklists were reportedly leaked by a Web filter operator to wikileaks which has published the full list of banned URLs.
Outraged privacy advocates say the government has effectively lied about the amount of URLs included in the blacklists, totalling more than 2300, and the type of content which it would ban.
Electronic Frontiers Association (EFA) spokesman Geordie Guy said the list, dated August last year, would now be far more extensive in both the amount of URLs banned and the type of content included.
“The list is quite a bit bigger than what we have been led to believe; we were told it contained about 1600 pages in its current incarnation, and ACMA reports have claimed as low as 1300,” Guy said.
“Because this is a secret that has been leaked, everyone will be after it.”
“Every Australian will want to know what they were not they were considered so irresponsible to not leave alone.”
Guys said the leakage is proof that the list will be continually leaked if the Internet content filters are enforced, which he said will completely undermine its effectiveness.
Users republishing the banned Web sites will effectively break the law and risk an $11,000 fine from the watchdog.
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Comments
The ACMA blacklist includes more than just RC (refused classification) content ... it also includes sites classified MA15+ and up, because they are also prohibited content as defined by the Broadcasting Services Act 1992.
But only content classified RC will be filtered on a mandatory basis; that is, only a subset of prohibited content will be filtered. According to Conroy, anyway.
There still is not enough transparency in the whole process though.
Alan
Purely hypothetically (as only ACMA legally knows what's on the blacklist) if wikileaks was on the blacklist computer world would be breaking the law and could be liable for the $11K fine for linking to a blacklisted page.
Of course if you go to the link, you'll quickly see what the first banned website is. ;)
Anonymous
A disturbing trend
In examining the list, pre-Rudd all look like porn/kiddy porn sites.
Post Rudd a real trend to ban gambling sites.
Did Kevin do a "deal"
Full transparency is REQUIRED and if not judicial review must be incorporated, cause Kevin I dont trust you as far as you could kick Conroy's sorry butt.
william_nguyen@idg.com.au
Refused classification also includes R18+ games, right?
Does that mean reviews for games which aren't classified to be banned by the Australian web filters?
duncs
According to <a href="http://www.classification.gov.au/special.html?n=294&p=191">http://www.classification.gov.au/special.html?n=294&p=191<a>
<em>Computer games classified G, PG, M or MA 15+ may be sold, hired or demonstrated in Australia. Computer games that have been Refused Classification (RC) cannot be sold, hired or demonstrated in Australia.</em>
That is, if a game is classified higher than MA15+ or is refused classification, then it is prohibited in Australia.
One would assume that a review of such a game would fall under the definition of "sold, hired or demonstrated" and would therefore also be prohibited.
Geoff King
Leaked sites list
Censorship is alive, and well under Chairman Rudd.Already,Wikileaks ia unavailable.Welcome to the new order. What will theey ban next ? Sex between consenting adults ? Kick this legislation into the garbage, where it belongs.
Anonymous
"That is, if a game is classified higher than MA15+ or is refused classification, then it is prohibited in Australia."
Incorrect. You can own any game that has been RC'd, as long as it does not contain illegal content (eg child porn). You simply can't bring them or sell them in Australia.
name
not exactly if a game has drug references it is illegal to posess it.
remember fallout 3 with the "morphine" issue.
they modded all of the game coppies but if they dident it would be illegal to bring into the country.
god knows why but i wish god would hurry up and take mr Atkinson so we could finaly get a R18 in this god forsaken country..
Anonymous
Well...
It would be hard to enforce that lil fine if they are not in Australia... I doubt any country with any sort of freedoms like the Bill of Rights would allow Australia to come to their country to enforce the take down of the list or collect the money. But who knows...
Anonymous
It is _number_ of URLs, not "amount" of URLs. Why do I have to point this out to a journalist?
Anonymous
no problem, I live in a democracy
I live in Canada, which is still a democracy. I can publish the list. I won't do it here, I wouldn't want Computerworld AU staff dragged off for offending the Chinese^H^H^H^H^H^H^HAustralian authorities.
Perhaps we should initiate steps to eject Australia from the Commonwealth due to failures in its civil society.
I wonder...
What will Google say when they find out blacklist includes multiple pages under domain google.com...
Maybe Australia should request special version of Google like one in China.
Anonymous
Betfair Award
Queen Elizabeth II gave "The Queens Award For enterprise and International Trade" to Betfair in 2008. The award is proudly displayed on their site.
So here we have a situation where a business that the Queen who is still the head of state in Australia has endorsed, being on the blacklist.
Unbelievable.
Anonymous
AUSCANZUKUS pty.ltd
AUS=
AUSCANZUKUS pty.ltd
AUS= Australia
CAN= Canada
NZ= New Zulund
UK= United Kingdoom
US= United Stooges
Can you say eschelon .....
the following vids should help, if pain persists see your gp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH35CVig3fQ&feature=channel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRn5-LQCg2s&feature=channel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YOh-rpvjYg&feature=channel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9pAv-z2ens&feature=channel_page
Anonymous
Book Burning
is what this is..
and you can't even write down what books are being burned!
australia is totally under the control of the new world order pigs.. and i wouldn't be surprised if 'conspiracy theory' sites are eventually considered 'terrorist sites'.
my government is burning books.
i am ashamed.. but not surprised.
they're fluoridating most of us already..
fluorodated to the point of apathy and stupidity.
'it's good!' i can hear people say.
'gotta stop child porn and terrorism!'
i hate child porn too,
i hate that kids could learn how to make bombs and make computer viruses too'
but blocking websites doesn't stop that stuff.
they're just emotional subjects used as a pretext..
to burn books.
when the internet started the catchphrase was 'information wants to be free'..
took 'em 15 years to take it away.
Crunchy Steve Jay
Go right ahead
I think the majority of Australians would appreciate Commonwealth countries threatening us with a blackban over the blacklist. It would help the campaign to stop this curtailment of free speech.. It isn't going to happen, though, the majority of Commonwealth countries are looking at similar filters, including Great Britain and Canada.
PJ
Who cares?
Never mind that...the Elite-owned Media/Showbusiness will soon launch another "National Geographic: The Stupid Paranoied Americans" documentary (example: Bowling for Columbine) that we non-americans love so much (even our anti-americanism is completly americanized lol!) so that way we keep being arrogant towards americans without even thinking of looking at ourselfs in the mirror...
...same elite that runs USA is the same elite that runs the whole Western World...
We are all getting the Communist v2.0 boot in our arses.
Anonymous
Every Australian ...
"Every Australian will want to know what they were not they were considered so irresponsible to not leave alone."
Could you re-write that in English please?
Anonymous
People with brains know how to use proxy surfing to get around it. They have been getting around the censorship in China.
But the problem is that the government knows that - It is not the people with brains, the people IN THE KNOW who they are worried about. They are worried about the people who are still under their spell waking up faster.
The people in Canberra who voted for this should be rounded up and shot in violent revolution. That will send a clear message to the NWO.
Anonymous
Do I have to explain this?
They are not targeting peadophiles, terrorists, and porno venders.
That is the guise. Look through the list at all the NON-above websites they have banned - That is the real targets.
This is the Zionist mafia using the above guise to 1) Censor their competitors
2) Block information exposing the Zionist conspiracy aka NWO.
Anonymous
basically, yep
the internet has enabled people to cut through the theories and get to the real conspiracy.. in a way, and a speed, that was impossible beforehand.
zionism is definitely the key part.. the big taboo.. but it's a means to an end really, not the end itself.
world government won't be better than sovereign countries. it's obvious by the way 'global' things that are introduced are set up.. the way 'global' issues are handled.
it may be possible to have a fair, honest, decent government, but you just have to see who's running the show now.. how innocent people are killed every day by war, hunger, and disease. the league of nations then the united nations were set up by these gold worshipping inbred fools who want everything, they're so greedy. the deaths, agony and misery of millions of people is not important to them.
they were also set up with a promise to help end war, hunger and disease. it's just gotten worse.
a world government run by these psychotic monsters will be hell.
if we could just wake people up to the fact that fluoride should not be swallowed.. that it collects in the brain (the pineal gland) and lowers IQ levels.. and then get it out of our water.. then we would be getting somewhere.
Anonymous
get around filters
use proxies to get around that.
find a free proxy from a site by searching google.
open internet options in internet explorer
under connection tab, hit the lan settings button
enable proxy and put in the new proxy, including port number
if it does not work try another proxy ip.
eventually anyone can get around goverment site filters.
PS this works in China as well.
Anonymous
Blacklist is alrerady banning more than just pedophilia!!
Lets just say I've seen the list and it's not just filtering out pedo-incest-bestiality junk.
Actually, only under half the list is related to that, the rest are gambling sites, soft, mild & hardcore porn sites, gore sites. Even the famous Abby Winters and Tube Kings are on it. I Shoot Myself is on it too. If anyone has ever seen I Shoot Myself content is is not even remotely porn related. It's barely erotica. The fact that this is being censored is of great concern to me.
Stephen Conroy the lying inbred mongrel clearly stated in an ABC interview "only content that can't be rated" will be on that list. Well, this just proves even material that can be rated makes that list.
The list is illegal to distribute & the www.wikileaks.org page linking to the list is already blacklisted and you can't even load it. So if you want to take a look at it you need to google search "proxy site" (like www.freeproxyserver.net) and use a gateway to access the list.
It's times like this the movie 1984 & the Hitler quote grimly & eerily portend our fate:
"The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation." - Adolf Hitler.
So now that the Australian government are proven lairs and are not only banning pedophilia but anything gambling, gore and porn related, do you guys think their list will keep growing to eventually include political content sites and anything anti-establishment?
Hang Conroy you criminal!
Anonymous
bahahaha there blockin the wiki zombie survival list... wat a bunch of idiots... now how will we know wat to do when the zombies come?!?!
Anonymous
girls gone wild is doomed....lol
Didn't they try this with the BIBLE ?
It's gonna BOOM---A---RANG
Anonymous
hey isn'T Australia the country who just had the 2009 SEX PO. How can they have a sex po where they demonstrate the latest and greatest sex toys and porn tapes but they want to ban internet websites? Isnt that a double standard? If they are worried about underage viewing of these web sites the parents of these kids can set parental controls on their computers.
Kings Of Peon
Man they're doing it all wrong. Ban the stuff that is enjoyment from the harm of others, but why sites like Fulltiltpoker? Nobody is harmed from that site. If your child is gambling online (and wasting REAL money - gambling virtual money isn't harmful) you should be aware of this!
Oakley Mansell
I think that all the stupid things that cause stupid things to happen are stupid.
Winston Smith
@29: Don't worry. The internet filter is also Liberal party policy, so even if Labour gets thrown out, you'll still get your government mandated brain washing.
astrid
so much concern from an army of anon cowards. you're so concerns about an ankle high brick wall in way of your wank fest.
two internet rules. 1. you lose when you compare your argument to hitler. your right to view porn is in no way a right or at all compared to the shoah and the killing of innocent people. ever. 2. you aren't voicing your opinion or making your vote heard to a community as anonymous.
the internet has no right to stay the wild west. even news sites will be developing new standards and charging. sites like the tube sites or porn sites that change one letter to mimic disney are false storefronts that are harmful when viewed by children/minors. these sites should not have the same access to marketing click through revenue at the expense of curious kids.
hard to process for some adults, those more explicit sex chats-- having that chat with an 11 year old nephew about anal sex is not my idea of a fab saturday night.
how can you expect parents to keep up with content when huge providers like open DNS can barely? family usually calls our home and we aren't even IT professionals.
accountability and taking the anonymity out of it is a fantastic way to start. if you aren't embarrassed, don't hide, lie or attempt to post questions on what downloads where, how you can get red tube from filling in your browser search or how your partner won't find your sad little collection of masturbating videos.
have an open conversation with your partners and be frank about what you really have a right to.
then, we can approach a public forum and finally regulate the internet in a way that doesn't allow a religious agenda at all. information and honesty win over the easter bunny and god says no.
boris
I have run a script thru the list and 97.43% of the march 2009 sites no longer exist. Complete waste of time as the websites just move.
Marcus Ditzel
Dear "astrid" you cannot complain about a sad army of anons because I doubt that is YOUR real name. My real name is Marcus Ditzel and I AM open and honest about thinking the filter is a terrible idea. I believe it is you who are hiding behind an alias.
The quote from Hitler is totally relevant there. it's about the state being able to get away with anything as long as they do it under the guise of helping the children.
The filter is not just about porn. You can see that. Abortion sites, gay sites, political sites that question the regime, poker sites, euthanasia information...etc. BUT even if it was just about porn, why should the government benefit from stopping people watching porn? It's a huge waste of money. If people have a problem with porn why can't they just not watch it?
The internet will slow down a lot and there will be no way to get even a tenth of their target material. In the process they will get a lot of perfectly harmless stuff like the much talked about travel agents and dentists.
I had thought that Australia didn't fit in with Saudi Arabia, North Korea, China and Iran but it seems I was just deluding myself thinking I lived in an open minded and enlightened country.
The government obviously know they are in the wrong on this. If what they were doing was in the best interests of the people and they had nothing to hide why would the document that constitutes what is illegal to look at be illegal to look at it's self?
Australia has no bill of rights but the law is supposed to be transparent and accessible to the citizens! Does a secret blacklist seem in keeping with that moral ideal?
There are more issues than the ones that you are happily regurgitating here but I disagree with you on even the few issues you are talking about. You, like a good robot have gone straight for the idea that the filter will be good because it'll stop all the porn. Well no it won't! It would take the entire population of Australia searching for porn and blacklisting it all in order to get it all and that's already excepting your preconception that this should be done.
You assert that taking the anonymity out of the internet is a GOOD THING. Well not if the proposed internet censorship starts. Then allowing your name to be connected to anything you say about the government could get you a convenient label like terrorist or pedo so you can be marched to prison.
To summarise I find no part of your post valid or reasonable and I find your self righteous belief that your morals are great and that everyone else is a degenerate to be disgraceful. I really hope you post again because I can tell you're just going to say that I'm a filthy sodomite who hates the country and loves bestiality or child porn.
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