Internet filter plan delayed

The federal government has again delayed the introduction of its internet censorship
policy but has convinced the nation's biggest service providers to block child abuse
material voluntarily.
Opponents of the government's proposed internet filter, including search engine
giant Google, welcomed the decision by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy to
defer the plan while a review of what material should be blocked is undertaken.
The review follows concerns among some of the world's largest internet providers and
the US government that the filter would amount to censorship.
Senator Conroy acknowledged there were concerns about whether current material on
the "refused classification" (RC) list reflected community standards.
Legislation to impose mandatory internet filtering would therefore be delayed until
the review, which is expected to start this year and take about 12 months, is
completed, Senator Conroy said on Friday.
He also announced that Telstra, Optus and Primus would block a list of child abuse
URLs (internet addresses) compiled by the Australian Communications and Media
Authority.
"There are some sections of the community that have expressed legitimate concerns
that the (RC) category under the national classification scheme does not accurately
reflect current community standards about what type of content should be refused
classification under the law," Senator Conroy told reporters in Melbourne on Friday.
"As the government's mandatory ISP filtering policy is underpinned by the strength
of our classification system, the legal obligation to commence mandatory ISP
filtering will not be imposed until the review is completed."
RC content includes child sexual abuse, bestiality, rape and other extreme violence
and material advocating terrorist acts, Mr Conroy said.
He also announced a range of measures, including an annual review of refused
classifications, to ensure only specific content listed under the legislation was
blocked.
Greens communications spokesman Scott Ludlam said the latest announcements proved
the government's scheme was deeply flawed.
"The review of the open-ended and controversial RC category, along with enhanced
transparency and accountability measures represent the first signs of acknowledgment
that critics of the filter have a point," Senator Scott Ludlam said in a statement.
Google's Australia and New Zealand managing director Karim Temsamani said although
the company was pleased to see the government had taken the community's concerns
about the filter on board, it remained opposed to the idea.
He said Google already had a global ban against child porn. It removed any such
material and reported it to authorities where appropriate, he said.
"Our primary concern has always been that the scope of the proposed filter is far
too broad," Mr Temsamani said in a statement.
"It goes way beyond child sexual abuse material and would block access to important
online information for all Australians."
Telstra and Optus supported the moves to block child porn material while the
classification review was under way, but the companies would not say unequivocally
whether they supported the government's overall plan to filter internet sites.
The Australian Christian Lobby said the decision by the telcos to voluntarily block
child abuse URLs showed "great corporate responsibility".
Senator Conroy remained adamant that the internet filter proposal did not amount to
censorship.
"I don't think any Australian actually tries to describe blocking child pornography
or bestiality or pro-rape websites as censorship," he said.
Telstra public policy and communications director David Quilty said the URL blocking
process was expected to take several months to get up and running.



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