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CSIRO Media Release |
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| Mr Julian Cribb | (02) 6276-6244 | |||
| Mobile | (0418) 639-245 | |||
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14 April 1999 |
Ref 99/75 |
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Blocking access to certain Internet material by Internet service providers or 'backbone' providers will be largely ineffective, a recent CSIRO report has concluded.
Instead, CSIRO recommends the use of filtering software by Internet users, enabling them to choose whether to filter Internet content, and to what extent.
The report, titled 'Blocking Content on the Internet: A Technical Perspective' was prepared for the Federal Government's National Office of the Information Economy (NOIE) last year. It sheds light on aspects of the recent discussion on censorship of the Internet.
The report found that blocking schemes implemented by ISPs (Internet service providers) can easily be bypassed.
Furthermore, it says, news of blocking can readily be distributed via the Internet itself, helping some users to avoid the blocks.
Dr Phil McCrea, CSIRO's electronic commerce adviser and co-author of the report, says that any move to implement mandatory blocking may unintentionally create 'holes' in the emerging global digital infrastructure.
This could isolate Australia in the emerging digital economy and work against its desire to become an electronic commerce hub for South East Asia.
Dr McCrea says two approaches to blocking may be used. Material in a 'black list' of web sites can be filtered by an ISP before reaching a client.
But he warns that this approach will never be 100% effective - illegal or offensive material may still get through and entirely harmless sites may be blocked.
More effective blocking might be carried out using a 'white list' of approved material, but creating and maintaining such a list is expensive and takes a lot of time and effort.
CSIRO recommended the Government work with the Internet industry to promote the use of voluntary user-initiated content filtering, and that filtering software be made available to users free of charge.
This software is already available from a number of sources. Regulators would need to work with ISPs to ensure they offer users access both to filtered and un-filtered services.
Under this scenario, parents can use the software to decide which sites are suitable for their children, and limit access to unsuitable sites.
When parents want to surf the Net more widely, a special password, for example, would enable them to bypass this filter and access the wider Internet.
This approach leaves the decision of what's suitable for families in the hands of the families themselves, and complements the self-regulation measures taken by the Internet Industry Association.
More information:
Phil McCrea, 02 9325 3205, mobile 0411 102 548,
e-mail: Phil.McCrea@cmis.csiro.au
Copies of the CSIRO report may be obtained from the
world wide web at
http://www.cmis.csiro.au/projects+sectors/blocking.pdf
(needs Acrobat Reader to be launched)
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
(Australia's largest scientific research organisation)
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