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Legal Information

Censorship

The Broadcasting Services Amendment (Online Services) Act 1999 became effective on January 1, 2000. In accordance with amended Australian Government legislation, Vicnet is now obliged to notify users within Australia about issues relating to Internet content.

As outlined in the legislation, Vicnet is not required to filter or in any way block content, nor is Vicnet required to ensure that members install or operate these filters recommended for use. The legislation does, however, require us to give our members reasonable information and tools to make an informed decision. Read this censorship page, also the...

Content Regulation info

Complaints about Internet content

Members of the public may complain to the ABA about Internet content which is, or may be, prohibited by law. The law defines Internet content as stored information which is accessed over an Internet carriage service, including material on the World Wide Web, postings on newsgroups and bulletin boards, and other files that can be downloaded from an archive or library. More info: Complaints to ABA

Electronic Frontiers AustraliaCan software effectively block access to pornography on the Internet? The issue of bias has to be considered in filtering software designed to protect people from accessing "undesirable" Websites:

  • Who decides what you see and what you don't?
  • Can a filter really make the Internet experience "safe" for kids?
  • Does it give you a false sense of security?
  • Do you know or control what sites are "blocked"?
  • Can any software adequately replace parental guidance or supervision?

The current Internet censorship issue for Australians is The Broadcasting Services Amendment (Online Services) Bill 1999. On May 26th 1999 the Australian Senate passed this sweeping Internet censorship legislation, despite being voted against by the Australian Labor Party and the Democrats. Read the Government position at the ABA site

"In mediaeval times we burned witches at the stake. These days, we try to censor the Internet. Neither measure has done much to effect the levels of evil in the world. Despite the rhetoric, it is fair to suppose that not even Senator Richard Alston believes the censorship of the Internet he has proposed will have any practical effect..." The Age

Check out the latest on Australia's new mandatory censorship law...

Libraries call for internet commonsense

Librarians have a responsibility to protect their users' freedom to read and to access information appropriate to their needs, and use of the Internet is no exception, says Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) 4 May 1999

The laws in USA - protecting young people's eyes or strangling free speech?
News release of Nov 23, 1998 re censorship at public access locations, e.g. US libraries:

Electronic Frontier Foundation Statement on Loudoun Ruling:

For the second time this week, a U.S. court has handed down a ruling upholding the strongest Constitutional protection of free expression on the Internet. A U.S. District Court ruled today, in Mainstream Loudoun, et. al. v. Board of Trustees of the Loudoun County Library, that the Loudoun County, Virginia, policy requiring filtering software in public libraries violated the First Amendment by preventing adults from using library computers to access a wide array of mainstream, constitutionally-protected materials. The net result of the decision is that there is now no Internet access at any Loudoun County public library.

Those that seek to expose the weaknesses and biases of filtering software can themselves be censored, or subject to legal action.

The filtering industry itself concedes limitations:

The bottom line, according to Michael Sears, SurfWatch's general manager, is that there is "no way anyone could block" every offensive site. Further, he said it is impossible to guarantee that innocuous sites won't be thrown out with the bathwater.

Some Filters Examine the Intent Under the Content

The Issue of Internet Censorship

Fifty years after the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with its guarantee of free expression for all, the world's newest form of mass communication is under attack around the globe from laws, policies and police actions seeking to restrict content.

Pro Censorship ("Safety" & Filters) Against Censorship ("Freedom")
The Australia Broadcasting Authority will be responsible for investigating complaints (and ordering offending Websites be immediately removed), as a result of censorship legislation coming into effect 1 January 2000.

ABA Family Guide to the Internet
Internet Watch Foundation Launched to address the problem of illegal material on the Internet, with particular reference to child pornography. It is an independent organisation to implement the proposals jointly agreed by the government, the police, & UK service providers. Wants the Internet to be a safe and secure place to work, learn and play.

American Family Association Large pro-family organization strongly supportive of protecting children from pornography
Family Friendly Libraries a national grassroots network of concerned citizens, librarians and library trustees that believe in: more common sense access policies to protect children from exposure to age-inappropriate materials without parental consent.

Enough is Enough taking the lead in fighting to protect children in libraries from Internet pornography.

Cyber Angels Our Net Patrol is the largest neighborhood watch in cyberspace. We hunt and track child pornography sites and child predators online. We help people who are harassed and stalked online to identify their stalkers and report them. Cyber Moms monitor chat sessions. Has info on filtering software

Family Research Council
Large national pro-faimly group that is active in protecting children from' Internet pornography.
Good article by Cathy Cleaver, "The Internet: A Clear and Present Danger?"

K.I.D.S.
Keep the Internet Decent and Safe -- "A grass roots organization dedicated to protecting children from Internet pornography in our public libraries,Santa Clara County, California". Includes transcripts of public testimony given in Santa Clara County

Library Watch
 "Library Watch Online Magazine covers the news related to Public Libraries using public tax dollars to distribute materials to children that are pornographic, obscene, and/or otherwise illegal.

Morality in Media
An anti-pornography group that has been outspoken on Internet porn in libraries.

National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families seeks to "reduce sexual exploitation and violence in America by increasing public awareness of the availability and harm of exploitive and abusive pornography, particularly in the lives of children; supporting the enactment and enforcement, within the Constitution, of limitations on pornography". Lots of information here, including The End of Librarianship? By Bruce Watson. and
The Internet in the Library: The Community Library Learning Center or Neighborhood Porn Store?

The SafeSurf Rating Standard is a voluntary rating system designed to protect children, as well as the first amendment rights of their parents. It was developed with input from thousands of parents and Net citizens, worldwide.

SafetyEd International is a non-profit organization incorporated in the state of California, and run by volunteers with many years experience in internet safety education and child advocacy. Internet Safety: proactive educational programs and resources, and child protection and child advocacy.

Web Wise Kids direct safety education program for pre-teens and younger, and can be utilized by parents and teachers as a way to steer children towards positive experiences online while also giving them tangible ways to stay safe.

Australian Families Guide to the Internet from the Australian Broadcasting Authority

Recreational Software Advisory Council The RSACi rating system is a content-based rating system designed to provide a blocking capability through the web browser. The RSACi rating covers of Sex, Nudity, Language and Violence.

Family-Friendly Sites The purpose of this site is to indicate, via FFS emblems, places on the Internet that voluntarily abide by FFS guidelines of conduct.

Safe Sites for Younger Kids - part of the VICNET Kids Site that covers:
Music - Sport - Film - TV - Holiday Activities - Younger Kids - Toons - Clubs - Cool Info

In a half-dozen countries, Internet access providers (including public libraries) implement filtering technologies and other voluntary measures to make prior censorship of on-line communications a reality. Human Rights Watch Report: Freedom Of Expression On The Internet

Peacefire Youth Alliance Against Internet Censorship. Features Blocked Site of the Day: examples of sites the filters stop you seeing due to their anti-semitic, homophobic, right-wing, christian bias

Electronic Frontiers Australia. Support the national campaign to STOP! the implementation of irrational and unnecessary laws governing the Internet in Australia.

Electronic Frontier Foundation - a civil liberties organization working to protect your rights on-line. Brings you Blue Ribbon Campaign for online freedom of speech, press and association.

Coalition to Stop Net Censorship. "The First Amendment is the cornerstone of our free and open democracy. However fear and ignorance assail the exercise of free speech in every new medium. For the sake of the next generation that inherits this country and this technology, we must ensure that the Internet remains open and democratic."

Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties a non-profit Civil Liberties organisation, based in UK

Global Internet Liberty Campaign advocates...
  • Prohibiting prior censorship of on-line communication.
  • Requiring that laws restricting the content of on-line speech distinguish between the liability of content providers and the liability of data carriers.
  • Insisting that on-line free expression not be restricted by indirect means such as excessively restrictive governmental or private controls over computer hardware or software, telecommunications infrastructure, or other essential components of the Internet.


American Library Association

American Civil Liberties Union

Anarchist Librarians Web - dedicated to those who are fighting to keep filtering software out of libraries, be they librarians, library workers, or patrons.

National Coalition Against Censorship

FREE! The Freedom Forum Online. News about free press, free speech, free spirit and journalism issues worldwide.

Petition Against Content Regulation from Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc Please sign this petition to help fight against unnecessary Internet content regulation by the Australian government!

Organisations supporting the Petition:

Filtering Software

  • Cyber Angels Our Net Patrol is the largest neighborhood watch in cyberspace. We hunt and track child pornography sites and child predators online.
  • Blocking Software Examined details on all the major filters, what you get, what you don't. As an example of what filters block, take a look at Cyber Patrol...
  • Cyber Patrol According to the manufacturers: "used to manage Internet access, limit the total time spent online and restrict access to Internet sites deemed inappropriate". According to Peacefire, it does or has blocked the following sites:
    • The MIT Student Association for Freedom of Expression
    • Planned Parenthood (still blocked)
    • Nizkor, a Holocaust remembrance page
    • The Ontario Center for Religious Tolerance
    • Envirolink, a clearinghouse of environmental information on the Internet (still partially blocked)
    • The AIDS Authority web site (still blocked)
    • The AOL Sucks web site -- "Why America Online Sucks"
    • The HIV/AIDS Information Center of the Journal of the American Medical Association
    • Mother Jones magazine online (still blocked)
    • The Boston Coalition for Freedom of Expression (still blocked)
    • The Jewish Bulletin home page -- blocked because of personal ads that the manufacturers of Cyber Patrol found offensive.
    • The alt.atheism and soc.feminism newsgroups (still blocked) read more

    • Not only the left, but the right are also unhappy with Cyber Patrol: Filtering out Morality "CyberPatrol software blocks pro-family sites but puts gay activists on the company's board". The American Family Association has been blocked for "intolerance", with its Christian religious zeal and homophobic doctrine.

  • Net Nanny allows you to monitor, screen and block access to anything residing on, or running in your PC, whether you are connected to the Internet or not, and in real time. Net Nanny allows you to filter and block:
    • Internet web sites
    • Newsgroups
    • Chat channels
    • Personal information
    • Words and phrases
  • X-Stop is the software that was being used by the Loudoun County library, Virginia. Subject of the first ever lawsuit filed to challenge filtering in libraries on First Amendment grounds (more on this story).
  • Cybersitter almost all parties on both sides of the blocking software debate have distanced themselves from CYBERsitter. Read why