Australia is planning tough web rules to protect kids online

The BBC and a couple other news sources have reported on the fact that Stephen Conroy, the Australian Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy has announced that Australia is planning tough new rules to protect children from online pornography and violence. Follow the link to the article: Australia plans tough web rules – BBC Article

The plan will require ISP level filtering to ensure that a “clean” connection is delivered to schools and homes. And Australians wanting unfettered access to the web will be able to contact their supplier to opt out.

Critics have accused the Australian government of being oppressive. But according to reports, Mr. Conroy has been unmoved by the arguments of critics:

“The minister stressed that if people equated freedom of speech with watching child pornography then he would always disagree with them.”

What a novel idea … government mandated ISP level network filtering to protect minors from online pornography and violence — while giving adults the right to opt out. M2Z has voluntarily offered to filter out obscene material at the network level for our proposed free and anonymous service. And for adult consumers verifying their age, the filter can be turned off by request.

It’s interesting to see that Australia’s leadership is coming to the inevitable conclusion that this is the right approach. How long before the US will as well?

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