Many of you will of heard of the current proposal for Mandatory ISP Filtering. The stated objective is to prevent access to Refused Classification (RC) material, particularly child pornography. It is my position that this proposal will not achieve this objective, while significantly reducing the rights of citizens to lawfully use the Internet.
My objection is that the proposal will not work technically as criminals (ie: terrorists, pedophiles, etc) already use strong encryption, peer to peer networks, VPN and proxy servers to avoid detection; none of which will be prevented by this proposal. Yet law abiding citizens will have their Internet filtered by a secret list controlled only by the government of the day.
There is a ‘Straw Man‘ argument that to oppose this mandatory filter is to some how support terrorism or child abuse. My position is that the money being wasted on this flawed proposal would be better spent on enforcement programs by police, and Internet safety education for children and parents. The Australian Federal Police have had several successes against pedophile rings and I would encourage the government to be spending more on this work.