Australia Force-Feeds Unwanted Online Casino Filter to Residents

Groups including both opposing political paties, the Greens and the Liberals, and anti-censorship advocates have criticized the scheme.

Despite protests against the infringement of liberty and doubts against its workability, an Internet filtering system proposed for the whole country of Australia moves closer to implementation with the beginning of trials. The plan to force Internet providers to begin mandatory censorship of what has been termed "unwanted content" will undergo testing within the next few days.

The government is willing to spend tens of millions to prevent citizens from accessing child pornography, as well as several grayer areas, such as online gambling and political diatribes. Groups including both opposing political parties, the Greens and the Liberals, and anti-censorship advocates have criticized the scheme.

Already, a backlash has formed against the government action, resulting in the nation's largest Internet service provider, Telstra, refusing to participate in trial runs. Word has leaked that a report commissioned by the Labor Government itself found the technology flawed.

The report, by the Internet Industry Association says that legitimate sites are frequently blocked while sites to be censored pass through. Further, Internet speeds are drastically slowed by the filtering system.

During the election campaign, Stephen Conroy, who is now Communications Minster, promised voters that any filtering plan would allow for residents to opt out if the blocks were not desired. But an additional, mandatory tier was added to the original concept. A blacklist of sites has been created but is secret to the public.

Even Down Under, politicians fight to give people what they don't want and will constantly reject: controls on the lifestyle choices they make.