Internet service provider iiNet has dropped out of the testing phase of the Government’s internet filtering scheme, saying the plan is “fundamentally flawed”.
Managing director of iiNet, Michael Malone, says that his company pulled out of the trialling process due to irreconcilable differences over the ideology behind the trial.
Malone claims that Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, who is leading the charge for the filtering scheme, has refused to define what type of materials will be blocked under the new plan.
“There is no firm definition of ‘unwanted content’,” Malone says.
“This is a policy vacuum because there is no clear definition of what ‘unwanted content’ is, and when you have a policy vacuum, people get frightened. There is no transparency, the Government is relying on people to trust them…no wonder people are frightened.
“Conroy has kept extending the line of what would be allowed under the system. It started with just child porn, but now this leaked blacklist from last week has revealed the extent of banned sites such as gambling sites and pornography.”
Malone also points to the inclusion of websites of a Queensland dentist and anti-abortion activists on the leaked blacklist, and says there is no information on how a business can be taken off the list if added by mistake.
“You have SMEs that have been put on this list. The whole thing is a debacle. We have a minister for communication who cannot appear to communicate.”
Malone says the leaked blacklist has begun to show how it will be difficult for any filtering legislation to pass through Parliament.
“This plan is truly a dead parrot. That parrot isn’t even dead, it’s off the perch completely,” he says.
“There is no political support for this, and yet the Minister is surprised because I imagine he’s been told of the filtering system’s capabilities without thinking of public ramifications.”
The decision to drop out of the filtering process has sparked more debate in Government, with Opposition communications spokesman Nick Minchin saying the lack of large ISPs is a bad sign.
“We have the three biggest ISPs not participating. You’ve really got to start to doubt the credibility and veracity of this trial itself,” he says.
“This is a damning indictment of the incompetence of Senator Conroy and the Government in their approach to this whole, very unpopular policy of compulsory mandated internet filtering.”
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Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
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