Australia Tried To Do A Kentucky
Wednesday, 8. April 2009, 05:19:43
A proposed move by the Australia government to block online gambling sites servicing Australians was leaked to the public. And if appearances are not deceptive this move was even more audacious than the Kentucky Governor’s efforts about six months ago. At least the Kentucky Governor got an order from the court, which was arguably illegal, before trying to put his plans to effect. The Australian Government had simply compiled a blacklist and was to instruct the Internet service providers to block the sites on the list. The list was prepared by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and the more than 2,000 sites on that list were considered “indecent”. They included online poker rooms like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. Sites that contained hyperlinks to the “indecent” sites were also in the blacklist.
The proposal was leaked by wikileaks.com. This site takes the lead against government censorship and a supports the freedom of information. This revelation created such uproar that the government was forced to acknowledge the existence of the proposal and discuss the matter in the public domain.
The ABC TV’s “Q&A” program was one of the forums that discussed the issue. The program was aired on the 26th of March. More than 2,000 viewers has sent web and video questions on the controversial censorship proposal. Senator Stephen Conroy, Communications Minister, was there to defend the Government. Introducing Conroy, Tony Jones, the show’s host, said, “We’ve never seen anything like the avalanche Stephen Conroy has generated.” On the show Conroy admitted that certain errors had been made in the planning of the proposal. He accepted that images taken by artist and photographer Bill Henson were put in the blacklist by mistake. He said that a dentist’s web site came to be on the prohibited list as a result of the “Russian Mob” hacking into the site. Very clearly the basis for including web sites in the list was faulty. Sites that had changed their hosting providers and cleaned up their operations several years ago were put in the blacklist. Referring to the Bill Henson web site in particular and the errors in general Conroy said, “I’ve asked ACMA in the last few hours to go through their entire list again to see if there are any other examples of this.”
Conroy left the Australian public unsatisfied on several counts. Fundamentally such censorship is against the freedom of speech. The complete list is not in the public domain nor are the criteria for placing web sites on the list made available to the public. Equally important it the impression that Conroy left behind that the government does not possess the ability to block the intended sites without blocking other legitimate web sites as well.
The concerns among the online poker fraternity in Australia are more pronounced. Despite online poker being illegal since 2001 under the Internet Gambling Act, the activity is thriving. If the government’s proposal goes through it could mean the end of Internet poker in Australia.
The proposal was leaked by wikileaks.com. This site takes the lead against government censorship and a supports the freedom of information. This revelation created such uproar that the government was forced to acknowledge the existence of the proposal and discuss the matter in the public domain.
The ABC TV’s “Q&A” program was one of the forums that discussed the issue. The program was aired on the 26th of March. More than 2,000 viewers has sent web and video questions on the controversial censorship proposal. Senator Stephen Conroy, Communications Minister, was there to defend the Government. Introducing Conroy, Tony Jones, the show’s host, said, “We’ve never seen anything like the avalanche Stephen Conroy has generated.” On the show Conroy admitted that certain errors had been made in the planning of the proposal. He accepted that images taken by artist and photographer Bill Henson were put in the blacklist by mistake. He said that a dentist’s web site came to be on the prohibited list as a result of the “Russian Mob” hacking into the site. Very clearly the basis for including web sites in the list was faulty. Sites that had changed their hosting providers and cleaned up their operations several years ago were put in the blacklist. Referring to the Bill Henson web site in particular and the errors in general Conroy said, “I’ve asked ACMA in the last few hours to go through their entire list again to see if there are any other examples of this.”
Conroy left the Australian public unsatisfied on several counts. Fundamentally such censorship is against the freedom of speech. The complete list is not in the public domain nor are the criteria for placing web sites on the list made available to the public. Equally important it the impression that Conroy left behind that the government does not possess the ability to block the intended sites without blocking other legitimate web sites as well.
The concerns among the online poker fraternity in Australia are more pronounced. Despite online poker being illegal since 2001 under the Internet Gambling Act, the activity is thriving. If the government’s proposal goes through it could mean the end of Internet poker in Australia.
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