Is it possible to control the Internet? Australia plans to find out as it’s testing a country wide Web filter that requires Internet service providers to block sites with illegal content, like child pornography and terrorist materials. With the effort costing $82 million, opponents think it’s just going to slow down the Internet and not do anything to block the offending content.
Currently only beta testing, the filtering will be a two tier program for which the first will be a required block list and the second will be an optional block list for parents that want to prevent their children from seeing inappropriate content. The move could put parental control companies like NetNanny out of business in Australia. This effort is being funded as a result of the Australian government’s own research which shows that filters are 92% effective blocking offending sites and unfortunately block 3% of content that shouldn’t be filtered.
This tip is for the Spark Minute week of 12/15/08 which can be heard daily on Green 960 and 910 KNEW in San Francisco, CA.
