Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Standing with the Poo

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  • Keith Ng,

    And yes. I'd like to see private companies annually publish all the (non child pornography) sites they block, and the reason.

    But wouldn't publication defeat the point of *any* block?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 543 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    But wouldn't publication defeat the point of *any* block?

    How so? If the site still cannot be accessed, knowing its name is not going to help you reach it.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Keith Ng,

    How so? If the site still cannot be accessed, knowing its name is not going to help you reach it.

    Oversea proxies, anonymising proxies, Tor, etc.

    Even the Great Firewall can be readily bypassed, and that's a massive, massive apparatus of state. This is a voluntary filter, enforced by ISPs, with no consequence if they fail. It wouldn't be very hard to get through.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 543 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    But wouldn't publication defeat the point of *any* block?

    I'm talking about private commercial web-filtering software like Watchdog, which individuals or businesses are choosing to use. In which case, they can always be circumvented by using another computer, and users will know (if they can be bothered finding out) that a filter considers the AIDS quilt site to be porn, for instance.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • richard,

    How funny -- looks like we now know how to make a bunch of libertarians inordinately happy, without excessively exerting yourself or (in the US, at least) going to the trouble of repealing the Civil Rights Act.

    Like Keith, I very much suspect that this black list is the result of the owner of a piece of private property exercising his/her right to do whatever s/he wants with said property -- so Perigo and co should be thrilled to see this happen, and they should be thrilled in a HAPPY way, not in an o-my-stars-pass-the-smelling-salts-they-are-finally-taking-us-seriously way.

    Poor lambs.

    Not looking for New Engla… • Since Nov 2006 • 268 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Poor lambs.

    I gather Keith planned to register at SOLO so he could commiserate with them, but was blocked by the world's most inscrutable Captcha.

    Although it was probably just because he was a weakling.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Keith Ng,

    Too subhuman to pass the CAPTCHA.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 543 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    I recall there were other theories proffered about losing eyesight :)

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • richard,

    I was also wondering what sort of mouth-breather pays ruinous airport internet fees to read the Perigo's, um, solo effusions.

    So many questions, so little time.

    Not looking for New Engla… • Since Nov 2006 • 268 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Meanwhile, Lew at KiwiPolitico looks at the Atlas Shrugged movie apparently about to go into production.

    Could be a very awesome trainwreck.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • HORansome,

    Yet David Farrar and Lynn Prentice aren't troll farming out of the same remand cell... Which isn't a bad thing, BTW.

    It's one of those days; I read "troll farming" as "raising those plastic toys with brightly-coloured hair" and wondered what I had missed in the news.

    Tāmaki Makaurau • Since Sep 2008 • 441 posts Report Reply

  • HORansome,

    Not just an awesome trainwreck, a potential trilogy of trainwrecks.

    Although, I have to say, I'm still sore about there being no part 2 to "Battlefield: Earth." That was some of the best worst movie material I've ever had the pleasure to see on the big screen.

    Tāmaki Makaurau • Since Sep 2008 • 441 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Campbell,

    heh - Battlefield Earth was my first thought too - no cult should make their own hero's movies for them, it just ends up too embarrassing

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    Not so much censoring but definitely manipulating...
    BP buys up oil spill search terms to skirt bad publicity

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    But wouldn't publication defeat the point of *any* block?

    Well, if any government wants to censor don't they actually have a moral and ethical obligation to be open and transparent about how they're applying legislation? I know it's tiresome to keep acting as if I'm a citizen in a democracy and my government is open and accountable to its citizens. But there we go, and here we are.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • recordari,

    In an unguarded moment after something posted here I had the misfortune of reading some of Perigo's ravings. 'Sterilise... blah blah.'

    As described above, the wire brush hardly did it justice. If you stumble upon it by accident, then it won't take long for your own content filter to hit the 'GMTFOH' button, and if you meant to be there, well then there you are. No amount of filtering is going to help.

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Williams,

    On Craig's point above...

    should you wish to, here's a link to the ABC background briefing on the Australian filter (albiet from a while back). Early on, the journalist notes that the blacklist of sites to be blocked will be secret and not subject to review in any way whatsoever:

    When someone complains, ACMA uses the same guidelines to classify internet content as the Classification Board does to rate films, books, magazines and television. But the similarities end there. While the Classification Board recognises it might occasionally get things wrong, and has an independent review board, ACMA does not; its secret decisions are final, and the blacklist is also secret and not subject to FOI requests.

    Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Stowell,

    Not exactly filtering, but wiki-leaks source in US intelligence seems unlikely to leak any more.

    Whakaraupo • Since Nov 2006 • 2120 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Semmens,

    Not so much censoring but definitely manipulating...
    BP buys up oil spill search terms to skirt bad publicity

    This happens all the time. For some reason I tend to get invited to lots of fancy dress parties, and i like to buy decent costumes from the United States, rather than the rather lame and expensive hire ones available in this country. I have a regular place I buy from (in Idaho of all places), but I was trying to find it from a friend's PC. According to Googles first several pages there are no fancy dress hire places that do mail order in the United States, every link sent me to the United Kingdom. This is total crap, because compared to the sort of stuff you can get from America British mail order costumes are way over priced and they are glacially slow to process your order.

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report Reply

  • David Mir,

    I would be loath to stand with Perigo on this one simply because I don't believe the Australian government filter has anything to do with this, and Perigo is basically taking an opportunistic pot-shot.
    As some have mentioned, the internet kiosks in Australian airports are privately run. They are either run for profit by IT firms or ISPs, or provided free for promotional purposes by larger corporates (I believe Optus and Samsung both do this). In either case it is in the interest of both the airport and provider to implement some sort of filtering, it doesn't take a genius to work out that a public space in an airport terminal is NOT an appropriate place to view graphic content, and allowing such would leave the operators open to all sorts of potential mischief and lawsuits. Filtering on public kiosks is the norm rather than the exception, and provides a significant chunk of content filter providers' target market. All thats happened here is that Perigo's site has fallen foul of whatever filter list the Airport uses, probably because of some of the injudicious comments posted by some of it's users. I doubt you'd be able to get on Stormfront.org there either, for the same reason.
    I think the Australian government filter is ridiculous, stupid, impractical, and undemocratic, but it has nothing to do with this.

    Sydney • Since Jan 2007 • 17 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    I would be loath to stand with Perigo on this one simply because I don't believe the Australian government filter has anything to do with this, and Perigo is basically taking an opportunistic pot-shot.

    Yes. I've updated the post itself to note that now.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • HORansome,

    I've been meaning to ask this for a while, Russell, but is it possible to somehow show on System that the post has been updated (and then tell the RSS feed about the update)? I ask because you sometimes update your Monday/Tuesday (today, Wednesday) post with details about Media 7 and whilst I don't mind refreshing the original post from time to time to see the updated information, it seems like this is something some technology should be doing instead.

    Tāmaki Makaurau • Since Sep 2008 • 441 posts Report Reply

  • David Mir,

    Bravo Russel, top form with the update :)

    Sydney • Since Jan 2007 • 17 posts Report Reply

  • Christopher Dempsey,

    What a numpty.

    A numpty alright and all out mad as batshit but I'm thankful he's there; proves that we really are everywhere.

    Regardless, Australian proposals to 'filter' the big bad foreign interweb have the air of Don Quioxte about them; quaint and entirely unworkable to my supremely un-techie like mind. What on earth is the point then?

    As I said to one wingnut many moons ago who was railing about marijuana smokers taking over the local park, for their annual J day festival, thereby corrupting the young that a) they probably knew more than we give them credit for and b) people are far better making sure that the young are cared for, and loved to the n'th degree by their guardians - this more than anything else will 'filter' alot.

    Parnell / Tamaki-Auckland… • Since Sep 2008 • 659 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Eade,

    You know the only thing that makes me fell creepy about modern porn distribution is that it seems to be being made underground with very young girls and for an industry historic for abuse. That bothers me. The production side of the internet is not totally clean in this regard.

    auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 1112 posts Report Reply

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