It seems that the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy is still having trouble herding enough ISPs into his Internet filtering trial and we are about to enter February without any clear indication of when the trial will actually begin.
An unidentified spokesperson for Senator Conroy reportedly tells us that the trial is imminent, will involve up to 16 applicants and ISPs will be clustered in the trial, which will mean that the original six-week test period is likely to drag on over months.
Along the way the Minister appears to have decided to rename his trial as the ISP-level objectionable content filtering trial, if Suzanne Tindal reporting on ZNet yesterday is any indication.
An obvious expansion of his original title which was the plainer Internet Service Provider level filtering trial.
Meanwhile..........
- GOOGLE has unveiled a plan aimed at letting computer users determine whether ISPs are inappropriately blocking or slowing their work online.
- On the last day of 2008 the Bergman Institute for Internet & Society at Harvard University released the Final Report Of The Internet Safety Technical Task Force To The Multi-State Working Group On Social Networking Of State Attorneys General Of The United States.
While all investigations of this nature will have flaws, there are three telling statements in the Executive Summary that Senator Stephen Conroy should note as he and the Prime Minister relentlessly drive Australia towards a national Internet censorship scheme.
Bullying and harassment, most often by peers, are the most frequent threats that minors face, both online and offline.
and
The Internet increases the availability of harmful, problematic and illegal content, but does not always increase minors' exposure. Unwanted exposure to pornography does occur online, but those most likely to be exposed are those seeking it out, such as older male minors.
and
Minors are not equally at risk online. Those who are most at risk often engage in risky behaviors and have difficulties in other parts of their lives. The psychosocial makeup of and family dynamics surrounding particular minors are better predictors of risk than the use of specific media or technologies.
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