Australian ISPs Plan Government-mandated Net Filtering Plan

Next month, the Australian Government will begin working with ISP’s to test a government-controlled internet content filtering system. This will be the first big step towards a mandated filter system that will block access to any information that the government deems illegal. Critics point out that the national communications office can’t — or won’t — define what those sites might be and that changing definitions of ‘illegal’ have the potential for mountain of troubles.  While these sort of systems exist in China and Saudi Arabia, this will be the first big roll out of its kind in an open democracy. You can be sure that there are people watching this closely.