There seems to be a recent spur in interest in telecommunications (specifically internet) infastructure within Australia. The first thing that comes to mind is Labor’s FTTN (Fiber to the Node) proposal, along with the OPEL (Optus/Elders) WiMax network, but a recent change that slipped under the radar is the $84m that was spent on internet filtering for Australian users.

The irony of the situation is that the software was cracked within 30 minutes of its release[1], which raises concerns as to the effectiveness of the filter for protecting Australian children from undesirable internet content.

Dear Senator Coonan,

I am writing this letter to express my distaste at your superfluous waste of taxpayer money, specifically regarding the $84m of my tax payer dollars you spent implementing a pornography filtering system for Australian internet users.Whilst I an understand the need to protect children from threats on the internet, I, along with the majority of the Australian telecommunications industry, believe that responsible internet usage is the role of the parent/guardian, not the role of the government.

There are a number of easily accessible, free, commercial filtering applications available in the marketplace today, all of which are suitable for rudimentary filtering of questionable content. (Given that it took a sixteen year old a mere thirty minutes to bypass the filtering mechanism, I would hazard a guess to say that those $84m bought you a “rudimentary” system, at best.)

It is the government’s job to protect its citizens from dangers such as drug use and alcohol abuse, but in this democratic society, it is not the job of the government to influence lifestyle choices of Australian citizens. It is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to influence the choices that their children make, it is not the role of the government to enforce their conservative attitude towards internet content.

Regards,

Curtis Bayne