[Offtopic] Free government pornography filter

[victor rajewski]

And then there is onion routing (TOR) which renders any sort of filter
obsolete (just ask the Chinese)

vik

On 8/26/07, Stephen Digby <digby.stephen.p at edumail.vic.gov.au> wrote:
>  The Australian Government seems to be hell-bent on wasting money on an ineffective home and ISP filter systems which are very
> likely to be bypassed easily by simple strategies including the huge and growing number of "anonymous proxy" sites.
> These sites provide a window within a window. The school, home or government computer registers that the user has gone to the proxy
> site..... and stayed there. The inner window then allows the user to go anywhere, look at anything without any trace.....
> As in so many areas of law enforcement (in or outside school), the only real deterrent is a "climate of fear" regarding severe and
> public punishment for offenders caught by traditional methods - surveillance, informers, mistakes by the perp (e.g. storing images
> on local machines for later viewing).
> ====================================================
> Stephen Digby, Learning Technology Manager
> mailto: admin at cheltsec.vic.edu.au
> Cheltenham Secondary College www.cheltsec.vic.edu.au
> Ph: 613 955 55 955  Fx: 9555 8617 Mb: 0431-701-028
> ====================================================
> I photocopied a mirror just to see what would happen... Now I have an extra photocopy machine.   Steven Wright
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: offtopic-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:offtopic-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Cameron Bell
> Sent: Saturday, 25 August 2007 4:39 PM
> To: Information Technology Teachers' Offtopic Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Offtopic] Free government pornography filter
>
> Which is why I find it amazing that there are many schools that still think that banning, blocking, filtering and removing access
> will solve everything.
> Kids are now downloading porn straight to their mobile phones. That bypasses any filters we have in place.
> Cheers
> Cameron
>
> stephen at melbpc.org.au wrote:
> > Student cracks $84m porn filter
> >
> > By Nick Higginbottom and Ben Packham,  August 25, 2007 12:30am
> > <http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22304224-421,00.html>
> >
> > Schoolboy takes 30 minutes to bypass filter Leaves impression filter
> > still working Cracks upgraded filter in 40 minutes
> >
> > A MELBOURNE schoolboy has cracked the Federal Government's new $84
> > million internet porn filter in minutes.
> >
> > Tom Wood, 16, said it took him just over 30 minutes to bypass the
> > Government's filter, released on Tuesday.
> >
> > Tom, a year 10 student at a southeast Melbourne private school, showed
> > the Herald Sun how to deactivate the filter in a handful of clicks.
> >
> > Parents easily fooled
> >
> > His technique ensures the software's toolbar icon is not deleted,
> > leaving parents under the impression the filter is still working.
> >
> > A former cyber bullying victim, Tom feared a computer-savvy child
> > could work out the bypass and put it on the Internet for others to use.
> >
> > Tom, who spoke to Communications Minister Helen Coonan about cyber
> > safety during a forum in May, said the Federal Government should have
> > developed a better Australian made filter.
> >
> > "It's a horrible waste of money," he said.
> >
> > "They could get a much better filter for a few million dollars made
> > here rather than paying overseas companies for an ineffective one."
> >
> > Cracks replacement filter
> >
> > In response to the Herald Sun's inquiries, the Government added an
> > Australian designed filter, Integard, to the website yesterday, which
> > Tom cracked within 40 minutes.
> >
> > Senator Coonan said the Government had anticipated children would try
> > and find ways to get around the NetAlert filters, and suppliers were
> > contracted to provided continuing updates.
> >
> > "The vendor is investigating the matter as a priority," Senator Coonan
> > said.
> >
> > "Unfortunately, no single measure can protect children from online
> > harm and ... traditional parenting skills have never been more important."
> >
> > Family First Senator Steve Fielding, a long-time campaigner for cyber
> > safety, said cracking the software showed the need for compulsory
> > filtering by Internet providers.
> >
> > "You need both. You need it at the ISP and at the PC level," Senator
> > Fielding said.
> >
> > "The Government has not listened to common sense and it leaves kids
> > exposed."
> >
> > The filters are designed to stop access to sites on a national
> > blacklist, bar use of chat rooms, and can be tailored by parents to
> > stop access to sites.
> >
> > Filters 'don't address bigger issues'
> >
> > Tom stressed the filters were missing the mark by a long way
> > regardless of how easy they were to break.
> >
> > "Filters aren't addressing the bigger issues anyway," he said.
> >
> > "Cyber bullying, educating children on how to protect themselves and
> > their privacy are the first problems I'd fix.
> >
> > "They really need to develop a youth-involved forum to discuss some of
> > these problems and ideas for fixing them."
> >
> > The $189 million NetAlert scheme includes $84.4 million for the
> > National Filter Scheme, plus funding for online policing, a help line,
> > and education programs.
> >
> > The Government will also offer the option of filtering by internet
> > service providers.
> >
> > Under its filter program, households can download the filter from
> > netalert.gov.au or have it sent out on to them.
> > --
> >
> > Cheers, people
> > Stephen Loosley
> > Victoria, Australia
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