Users Betrayed as Australia Adopts a Copyright Censorship Regime

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/06/users-betrayed-australia-adopts-copyright-censorship-regime

by DiabloD3 • 11 years ago

128 38 11 years ago

PebblesHD4• 11 years ago

Yet again, and of course as usual, the government of Australia demonstrating how much they value their citizens by totally ignoring them in favour of big business. Good job Tony.

PebblesHD4• 11 years ago

Also, of interest: http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/computers/gadgets-on-the-...

In moves surprising nobody, leaders and party figures have already suggested using these new laws as a stepping stone to blocking other objectionable content such as pornography and who knows what else.

crdb3• 11 years ago

Whilst I agree with your sentiment as a legal permanent resident of Australia, I think it is dangerous (if very seductive) to blame Mr Abbott. He's been the party attack dog for so long that people focus their energy on making it personal with him (much as the Democrats focus on Bush and the Republicans have a thing for Obama).

First, from the little I've been tracking this issue, it appears it was the "relatively moderate", friendly, centrist, old guard Turnbull that was behind these moves. Chances are it's done as a favour to someone in Washington who needed something from someone connected to the Hollywood lobbies. Not the strongest of motives and the kind of thing that popular opinion can reverse.

Second, legislation doesn't magically happen in a vaccuum when the PM says so. Australians, you MUST get in touch with your local politician, both to let them know (politely) how you feel about certain issues, and to give them arguments to use in Canberra if you want any chance of legislation being passed the way you like it. It's not about Labour vs Liberals. Whoever has been locally elected, is now responsible for listening to you. They also don't do much thinking so it helps to do it for them: "This proposed legislation infringes individual rights like this, this and this; moreover, as per the Constitution, that" goes much further than "I am pissed at you for letting the PM get away with it".

This is of course not a personal response to your comment, but a general note that I thought about and that was triggered by your Tony note. I've found Australians relatively politically disengaged, with the general opinion - at least in Sydney - basically being "they're all scumbags anyway, things will work out in the end", followed by some expletives about Gillard, Rudd or Abbott depending on where the Australian leans...

tacticus• 11 years ago

Turnbull is certainly not centrist nor friendly.

PebblesHD4• 11 years ago

A very good point, and well written. My only observation is this: politics doesn't happen in a vacuum, but the current government has set about ignoring polls and comments from the public on a range of other issues making me less inclined to believe they will shift for this one. That being said Labor isn't innocent of this either.

My local member has on several occasions refused to even answer calls or meet me to discuss this, based only on the fact that as a young adult my opinion must not be valid.

triggercut• 11 years ago

First, from the little I've been tracking this issue, it appears it was the "relatively moderate", friendly, centrist, old guard Turnbull that was behind these moves. Chances are it's done as a favour to someone in Washington who needed something from someone connected to the Hollywood lobbies. Not the strongest of motives and the kind of thing that popular opinion can reverse.

With Netflix, Fox backed Presto (and the possibility of HBO) all starting up their streaming services over here in the past 6-12 months, It makes commercial sense to get rid of the free competition.

imron• 11 years ago

Unfortunately, this wasn't just Tony's fault. Labor backed the bill also.

sigh why is it only the Greens and Independents who are willing to stand up for what's right.

vacri5• 11 years ago

The greens aren't really interested in this issue; it just panders to their inner-city elite demographic. Also, I wouldn't clump the independents together - the PUP or the DLP aren't usually up for what's right.

Joakal2• 11 years ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_austral...

Look at the history, collectively, it got Labor/Liberal support from Federal and State governments as far back as 1995.

Jedd• 11 years ago

Conveniently there are no laws (currently) that compel people to support or vote only for either of the two big parties.

A subtle point that seems to be lost on most of my fellow citizens. Mind, it seems to be a regrettably common misconception elsewhere in the world too.

Joakal2• 11 years ago

"The Coalition has never supported mandatory internet filtering. Indeed, we have a long record of opposing it," the statement said.

"The policy which was issued today was poorly worded and incorrectly indicated that the Coalition supported an 'opt-out' system of internet filtering for both mobile and fixed-line services. That is not our policy and never has been.

"The correct position is that the Coalition will encourage mobile phone and internet service providers to make available software which parents can choose to install on their own devices to protect their children from inappropriate material."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-05/no-internet-filter-say...

That's a second backflip. But I think it is a complete 360 turn.

robbiep• 11 years ago

... So they're back where they started?

empressplay• 11 years ago

Apparently the ISPs are just going to use DNS poisoning, which anyone will be able to circumvent by using an overseas public DNS server, like Google's 8.8.8.8

programmernews32• 11 years ago

Or run a private DNS server on their laptop.

supercoder• 11 years ago

Unless Google is liable for 'facilitating' piracy with their DNS server and have to block it for Australians.

mkj• 11 years ago

8.8.8.8 is 54ms away, must be in Australia

prawn4• 11 years ago

I get the impression that most ISPs are not really interested in disrupting personal piracy habits if that's what their customers want.

toothbrush• 11 years ago

That's not really the point though. The fact that a minority of tech-savvy users will be able to get around it doesn't change the fact that it's a very effective measure against Joe Sixpack and his family having unfettered access to information.

More generally, this is why i'm very sceptical of technical solutions to political problems. Years from now, you might find yourself along with your technically proficient minority of friends being the only people able to still access the Internet freely—most of it might have already become a corporate-controlled walled garden. I for one don't want to have to end up living in digital almost-exile just because we were too lazy to Do Something™ now, when there is still hope.

I admit that this is at once probably rather tinfoil-hatty but also almost reality (how many people would be able to find whatever they're looking for if something like Google Search were blocked? 5%? Never mind if DNS poisoning was added to that). We on HN would be fine, but this would seriously impede democracy, given how the other 95% would be stuck without access to information.

forgottenpass• 11 years ago

Once it has been made illegal, every continuing legal step in the cat and mouse game is easier and easier to pass.

Using a different DNS server is not a "workaround," once enough people do it, it is "escalation" that demands a response.

5id• 11 years ago

It's sad to think that with these laws being passed, regardless of what position you take, that we still don't have any Fair Use provisions in Australia. There was even a discussion paper [http://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/4-case-fair-use-australi...] put forward by our Law Reform Commission suggesting this. I would have though the productivity benefits associated with education and innovation alone would make this a no brainer

PebblesHD4• 11 years ago

I believe one of the only amendments to this bill that got through was a requirement that Tony Abbott provide a formal response to that paper.

tux1968• 11 years ago

Don't really think people from any other county should be looking down on Australia. This is the progression in every country, just at varying degrees currently.

People will look back on the first few decades of the Internet as the wild-west era. Kids will be born knowing nothing but draconian rules and enforcement for the Internet. And the powerful elite will once again have squelched anything that challenges their dominance. Business as usual.

fapjacks• 11 years ago

I truly believe it is a core duty of technical people to subvert this control mechanism in whatever way we can. For example by inventing and writing freeing software like Tor, FreeNet, encryption, et cetera, and educating nontechnical voters, and calling and writing our elected officials.

vacri5• 11 years ago

It's also worth noting that this kind of legislation flows from the US entertainment industry. The US leans heavily on Australia to toughen up IP laws, and there really is no grassroots movement here that's interested in them. Some would say that Murdoch is involved as well, but we do get infected with US law via treaties.

SturgeonsLaw• 11 years ago

I'm glad there are others in the information war who don't share that defeatist attitude. SOPA and PIPA were defeated and the exposure of the NSA phone metadata program has spurred an unprecedented movement to encrypt the web. The fight isn't over by any means.

belorn• 11 years ago

A big problem I have with every law like this is how inherently inconstant and big business favored its enforcement is.

Say for example that you are a content developer and finds that illegal copies are sold on ebay. You ask them to take down one seller only to find new ones every day, and thus you go to the police and ask them to block ebay.

I doubt the person will ever get a day in court. There could be thousands of illegal copies listed each day and yet the political nature of blocking laws means that enforcement is depended on who does the accusation and whom the accused is.

TazeTSchnitzel• 11 years ago

Or, say a large game publisher pirates your content.

Guess whose site will go down. Hint: not yours.

paulhauggis• 11 years ago

At this point in our society, does this even matter? If you go against the status quo, you will be silenced by special interest groups and other users online for only expressing your opinion.

They did it to themselves. When you create a system where anyone and everyone can be silenced for their opinions, this is the result.

Bravo!

Users Betrayed as Australia Adopts a Copyright Censorship Regime

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